Looking, test riding, and buying a bicycle (or two)

If you recall, a touring bicycle is hard to find—at least, for me.

Shop ‘til you drop
Joan and I looked, priced, researched, and test rode bicycles all over Atlanta. Some bike shops were helpful; others were downright arrogant. But most of all, I found that most dealers didn’t really understand what I wanted in a touring bike. I was pretty much on my own.

I narrowed the search to one brand: Surly. With a great reputation for its steel touring bicycles, especially the Surly Long Haul Trucker, this looked like the right bicycle for us. But there was a problem. I didn’t dare buy any bike without a good test ride, and only one bicycle shop in Georgia actually stocked the Surly brand. The good news is that the shop is about two miles from my home.

Loose Nuts Cycles
Located in an old building near Grant Park, Loose Nuts (I know, I know) is a local bike shop (LBS) that caters to neighborhood bicyclists. And when I went there, they had a Surly Disc Trucker right there in the store. It was a Long Haul Trucker with disc brakes. It was green and it was just my size.

“You want a test ride, just go to Grant Park,” I was told. Unlike all my other test rides, I didn’t have to sign a release form, leave a credit card, or hand over my car keys. But they held Joan hostage until I returned.

Test ride
I rode for a long time—so long that Joan began to worry. Not about me, but whether she’d be released to go home.

When I returned, she rode a smaller-framed Surly. Because this was the exact day that the 2014 Surlys were announced, we got a deal on these out-of-date 2013 models. What’s the difference from year to year? They change the colors. That’s about it.

Colors
Surly’s colors are nothing if not inventive. They have colors such as:

• Sparkleboogie Blue
• Cash Black
• Tar Pit Black
• Agent Orange
• Necromancer Black
• Beef Gravy Brown
• Burned Nougat
• Foamy Hospital Green
• Smog Silver
• Blark Blue

Our bicycles are “Super Dark Green.” We can hide in the forest and never be seen.

---

Next time: Learning to ride and learning to fall