In fact, the only story of a girl actually riding a bike involved the girl taking initiative and getting a bike through a method completly independent of the person she was dating.
If you want to build/buy someone a bike, then do it, but don’t get pissy when they don’t like it. If they really want one, they’ll put more effort into it than asking you to build one for them. And that way they’ll get what they want and not what you want them to have.
[quote=“TimArchy”]Does anyone notice a pattern in these stories?
I built my girl a bike…
I bought her a bike…
In fact, the only story of a girl actually riding a bike involved the girl taking initiative and getting a bike through a method completly independent of the person she was dating.
If you want to build/buy someone a bike, then do it, but don’t get pissy when they don’t like it. If they really want one, they’ll put more effort into it than asking you to build one for them. And that way they’ll get what they want and not what you want them to have.[/quote]
wait now the bike I built gets a lot of use! However, I made sure she got what she wanted and I had the fun of building it! you are right (and so am I) that the important thing is that THEY get what THEY want!
I ride a Madison just about every day and love it. It’s a tad heavy but I have absolutely no problem keeping up with my friends who have pistas and steamrollers. Before I bought it I looked up some reviews and I’ve never heard anything negative about them. What do you have against them?
I ride a Madison just about every day and love it. It’s a tad heavy but I have absolutely no problem keeping up with my friends who have pistas and steamrollers. Before I bought it I looked up some reviews and I’ve never heard anything negative about them. What do you have against them?[/quote]
Oh and as far as girls riding bikes. In my experience they’ll ride something if they picked it out or like the color scheme usually. I have a flip-flop kilo tt in a size that fits both the girlfriend and me and she rides it and likes it. She is so into it that she wants to buy pink deep v’s, but i don’t know about that.
well whatever it is, it’s stupid. The madison is beautiful bike that performs well and looks fucking classy in my opinion. I even have mine moderatley tarcked and I still think it looks classy.
I’ll just “give” it to her sometime, probably. I’ll think of an occassion. It’s not like she wouldn’t let me ride it if I wanted to. Plus then I could use the white weinmann’s that i put on there now, yes! hah
I bought my wife a bike that she likes quite a lot and rides nearly every day. I gave her guidance/input on what to choose based on specs/equipment/etc, but made sure to give her totally free reign to make the final decision. We tried a good 6-8 bikes or so, all price points and types, and in the end it was worth it because she’s very happy and (most importantly) uses her bike a lot.
That said, she’s not crazy about riding or bikes the same way I am, but she views it as good exercise and likes the money she’s saving on gas (she’s been able to cut down on car use by half thanks to the bike). So it appeals to her on a practical level, while for me, biking has become more of a consuming passion. But in the end it’s all good, we go to dates on our bikes and take the kids out on the weekend with them, so we are doing a lot of riding, getting in better shape and generally being stoked with that aspect of our lives. Yay
Once I got back into cycling and built up my first conversion, my wife wanted to join me on rides but all she had was the shitty walmart mtb I bought her to replace the shitty walmart bmx she had that got stolen. We went to pretty much every bike shop in Hampton Roads until East Coast Bicycles in Ghent hooked her up with this:
At this point she went from being a casual rider to a regular commuter. She rode it pretty much every day until I convinced her to try fixed gear and built this for her, from an old Centurion:
She bought all the parts, I took care of the powdercoat as a birthday present. She pretty much rides the shit out of it, with a single pannier clipped to one side of the rack.
Of course I maintain them both, and the Trek is presently being restored to a full-on racing bike with ergo drops, clips/straps, skinny tires, etc.
Basically I think it’s a combination of lifestyle, personalization, and bike quality that gets people riding. Going fixed certainly helps make riding addictive, obviously.
It’s my birthday saturday. Sunday I am making my family ride out to my Aunt’s place with me. I reckon this will take close to an hour. It’s 10 miles going at 10 miles an hour I suppose. My mother works 3 miles from where we live and her engine is starting to sound less than great. I told her that driving your car only short distances causes significant wear over time. Hopefully I can get her into biking to work. My sister’s boyfriend’s truck is out of commission, so she is letting him use her car and she is finally starting to use her 800$ trek mountain bike around town. I feel like I’m making some progress with the traveling ladies in my life, albeit no tarck gf to date.
the bike I built gets a lot of use! However, I made sure she got what she wanted and I had the fun of building it! 
you are right (and so am I) that the important thing is that THEY get what THEY want!
