Friday, March 6, 2009

Bike Girl Goes Shopping Pt. 2

In her quest for the perfect touring bike, Bike Girl did a lot of research. That research lead her to REI, where she made the reasoned decision to purchase the Randonee.

Bike Girl believes the plus sides of the Randonee are many. It's low-priced, and it is green.

Excited about her new green bicycle, she headed out to the store in Santa Monica to pick it up. When she arrived, there was bad news. The one that had been shipped to that store had a faulty shifter. The Santa Monica REI sent her out to the REI in Rancho Cucamonga.

This excursion required a long car trip out to the middle of nowhere during the week, which was pretty stressful for our protagonist. Yet being extremely stubborn, Bike Girl made the trek, picking up the bike, and returning to her homeland just in time to be five minutes late to work.

In her haste, she did not check the bike as thoroughly as she should have. It turns out the lovely, yet customer-service challenged woman who put together the bike at the Rancho Cucamonga store had put together the bicycle incorrectly. Besides that, Bike Girl found that even the extra small size had too long of a top-tube for a short lady.

Thanks to REI's wonderful return policy, the bike was taken back to the store, and Bike Girl's quest for a touring bike continued...

Related: Bike Girl Goes Shopping Pt. 1

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Bike Girl,

Thanks for you comment over at 30/Week.

Are you getting a touring bike for actual touring purposes? Tina and I rode from Tacoma, WA to San Francisco a couple of summers ago (on Specialized Sirruses, which served us really well).

I guess REI doesn't have so much of a presence back East, but I have to admit I didn't even know they sold bikes.