Off to buy a new, manual bike: DONE DEAL,Trek! China online?

Penny foolish, pound foolish,

but my ebike is still apart and languishing, as I also languish like a couch potato ever since a biking accident
that hurt the Sunkruiser-eZee conversion, and shocked me into a bad health relapse.

Now I am so weak I can hardly leave the house. I can't ride the ebike, even manually, for right now.
It is partly apart for repairs and painting; I can't even muster the gumption to finish fixing the bike, to just ride it!
It's like, I have boundless energy for writing and yakking online....but when it comes to doing what must be done,
other than empty the cat box or vacuum the carpets, I can't do it. Strange.....me. SLE makes a person tired at times,
so tired he just wants to lie down. I'm laying down in this Lafuma chair about 20 hours per day, wakeful or napping, in alternations. Sick.

Anywho, to the point: I want a second bike for light, light, exercise, to help me regain some strength and aerobic capacity.

I also want this second bike so I can work on the ebike (take it down, or whatever) and not miss out on biking altogether while the ebike is broken-by-me, or being painted with the brush, etc.

Have decided not to scour garage sales and such; I simply do not have the endurance to go out and do such work.

So, good old Coral Way Bike Shop here in Miami has made me a nice, fair price on a new '08 Trek Lime.
Such an odd but simple bike! I don't really need the three speed auto Shimano, but, being manually powered,
that low gear start-up will be an aid to weakling-me when I have to crest little arch bridges.

It's a good looking cruiser bike, no controls on the handlebars, no shifter, no front brake, coaster only,
but three gears auto shifting at points somewhat to be determined by the rider and how he adjusts the shift computer,
which is powered by a tiny dynamo built into the front hub.

I will enjoy having a spare bike, and although this is a waste of money, what with all the used bikes out there for cheap,
I feel like treating myself. It will cost a bit over $400 plus local sales tax.

Pictures and review later? Ohwhatagoosiam, for sure!

http://www.productwiki.com/trek-lime/
nice looking but will it really please this geeze?

looks like a nice ride - hope it works out for you!

all the best,

Mike

Thanks! I don't think it's gonna work out at all. I went back to the shop to buy the bike,
but there was a misunderstanding: the hang-tag on the bike was $399. I wheel the bike to the counter to pay.

"Oh, gee. That's the wrong price. It's $425 plus sales tax." No apology.
I'm not angry. They are selling it at a discount anyway....but the principle of the thing.

If and when a retailer screws up and puts the wrong price on a bike (easy with hang-on tags),
well, our local law dictates that THE CUSTOMER can buy that bike at that price. It is incumbent on the LBC
to see that hang tags have not gotten mis-placed (it was surely an accident and not a bait and switch).

To finish this now, I felt a bit unappreciated. They are good folks and I've mentioned their shop many a time online here.
But for $26 error on their part, my broken expectations: NO SALE.

I will walk instead. (reid laughs and "harrrumphs"). But I still recommend Coral Way Bike Shop.
I just register this minor complaint, that they fumbled the ball. And if I am to buy a new bike in the future,
why, I'm gonna really go shop around.

For instance, just curious, I called another Trek dealer, about ten miles away.
"I'd have to order it. Yes, I can match that price and sell it to you for $400 plus local sales tax.
But, sorry, we can't take deposits over the phone. You'd have to come in and pay in full in advance;
I know that kind of sucks, but you might understand the headaches we have with people changing their minds,
fake credit cards, never pick up the bike, that sort of thing, nothing against you." (I paraphrase)

Summary: No LBC is perfect all of the time. Some of them here in Miami are absolutely crooked.
Not Coral Way. Not Crandon Bikes. Not Mack Cycle....

anyway...off for a walkie; not good for my feet, knees, hips, back, or BP, but....all over a measly $26 error on CWB's part:
they've lost a customer. How smart is that? All the LBSs are busy as bee hives. They sure don't need -me-.
So, no loss, no worry. I just need to get some exercise other than from ten fingers and three thumbses.

Thank you for riding through with me on this, the day I woke up and smelled the roses as they really are: fake silk.
:|

doesn't CL have ton of bikes for sale? there are 200 listings a day here. they may even deliver it for you.

what happened to your bafang cruiser bike?

and don't be disparaging of sleeping all day, makes me feel bad. buncha other people do the same. but you also have an excuse because of the heat. hehe.

That really sucks that they wouldn't give you the bike at the advertised price, but hey, they lost a $400 sale over a $26 price discrepancy - I'd say that they got the worst of that exchange.

Dennis might be onto something with Craigslist, here in Phx there's more bikes listed every day than I can keep track of, but I've found that it's a better way to find project bikes than ready-to-ride used bikes. You might end up running all over town just to look at a bunch of junkers that would need more work than you want to put in at the moment, given the fact that you've let the ebike temporarily languish

Personally, I like the feeling of walking out of the bike shop knowing you're ready to ride w/o breaking down, instead of the "used-car" type of fear that comes with buying CL bikes (which could have been tuned up so they can just barely be called rideable, soon to break down). If you can afford it, why not? Treat yourself to a Lime (and maybe some salt & tequila to go with it )

Reid, I very nearly bought one of these for my girlfriend.

In my opinion, at either price, it's a nice bike.

I ended up finding a Pashley Princess Sovereign for $250, and will have the price of the Lime and a little more into it soon.

A new bike DOES "lift one up"!

I hope you might forgive your friendly shop and return for it.

Good luck either way.

My advise is, save your money, chances are you will not ride the manual bike if you have already been seduced by an Ebike. Just order a new fork and wheel, presto your back on the road, and couple hundred dollars richer.

I speak from experience, my manual bike never gets ridden by me anymore, just a spare for friends and such. I'm about your age and also have a damaged frame (bones).

However i always pedal some when i use my ebike.

You will get a spark of determination one day and your back on the road terrorizing children with your ebike again like on your you tube film.

RE: craigslist for bikes.
Reid said he didn't want to chase around just to get a bicycle. A shop-supported, ready to roll bicycle is imperative. Aesthetics and versatility are also governing considerations. Dealing with the craigslist flakes, freaks, hustlers and thieves isn't exactly a stress-free purchase.

Perhaps if the Coral Bike Shop got a link to this thread, we could have a poll whether Reid should get the "bro deal" in face of the unintended consequences. IMO, they should acknowledge their error and eat it or negotiate something with their lovably quirky return customer. Twenty six bux more just suggests that have Reid pegged as a sucker or fool fat to be tapped. How, other than an outlier, do you "fit" the shop's demographic?
"Ageism" can be positive or negative depending on how far up their ass the youngsters wear their hats. (No offence intended, Reid.)

It's a nice bike for either price and a good candidate for a terrestrial front frewheeling hub motor.

i don't think all the bikes on CL are stolen, and most people post up a picture and likely will go outa their way to sell their bike if they are at that point. flakes are flakes, easy enuff to spot and deal with.

but i think you should just fix your bike. leaving unfinished stuff gets even more depressing when you see it every day.

Fix it, man. Unfinished projects like that will eat your soul.

if you ever figure out a solution for being tired like that, let me know. I have it too. Real bad. I got a big belly and I can't stop eating either. Ever since I gained weight, I haven't wanted to do anything. I wasn't real motivated even when I was thin so now it's real bad.

I vote for the CL used bike.. better yet if you can find a used ebike with dead sla's. Just swap your ping when one is down.

I have to make a lump-sum answer to all my brothers here.
Amazingly, everything crashes at once: I posted that second time up above:
BAM. The post applied. Five minutes later: ATT DSL cut off for over twenty-four, no, forty-eight hours. Dang it!
The service has just gotten fixed: It took up six hours on the phone last night and today.
Hooray for "Jessica" of ATT high speed customer care. I have put a major compliment to her employee record,
because without internet access, I am figuratively CUT OFF from the world, especially since I cannot toodle around the neighborhood on a bike.

EBIKE: The Stealth Cruiser WILL be fixed and finished.
Manual bike: I AM going to get the cute little Trek Lime.
I will pay no more than four bills plus tax.

As noted by Zoot and other seniors here, I do not have the stamina (stress-worry literally can kill me),
to go shopping the various cheap sources: fences, pawn shops, garage sales for a perfectly good $100 barely used bike.

I want that emo uplift, for my spirits, of a new, shiny bike. It's worth the four bills.

I will know in one half hour if Coral Way Bike Shop will adjust and make good,
and repair this customer's hurt feelings. I know they will do the right thing. Raymond, one of the principles there,
was not there yesterday, or this misunderstanding would not have happened. He's such a nice man.
I will know the answer in half an hour. He is consulting now with partner, Ismael.
I am not a chiseler, just a normal price-shopper. IF any other Trek dealer can sell a Lime for four bills,
so can CWBS, and they will, I am sure now! OFF soon to the bike shop, before 7PM EST closing time.
For humanity, for the good of all living people, I KNOW that they at Coral Way Bike Shop, will do the right thing.
We all have pressing expenses and debts that must be met. Do not chisel your LBC: me motto.

addendum:
PS: YAY!!!!!! Coral Way Bike Shop IS making me whole again. Great shop, great dealers!


For now, a reminder, a screenshot of my favorite little video

they all descend, so many all at once (you see, boys, in particular and on Purpose, are designed by Nature
to be instinctively reflexive for both social and investigative purposes. You see in that ad-lib video,
a perfect example of the inherent, unavoidable social/networking nature of mankind, on a junior level:
they all think the same thing at the same instant. It is absolutely astounding, compare their curious actions
with those of the higher primates: no difference at root after all; all pressing on that phat, weird tire, all at once, in semi-disbelief that it is so soft on purpose (only 10PSI!)

see again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwMZp2sAiEU
the familiar video, my favorite of all. Look at the little hands?
The only sad thing is: I could never be a father at all. Oh god.....I cry for my barren, older-age.

More to come later...good news of one kind or another.

--------
Thank you all! I am feeling much, much better. It's all in the mind, as much as in the
weakling body which I will rebuild. I need a spare bike and will have one SOON.


_________________________
edit: name spelling correction: Ismael, not Ishmael

I will get the Lime tomorrow, not tonight. Something came up. I could not get to the bike store before closing time.

Instead, I went out in the car. As usual, I shortcut to Wendy's or the drugstore, through the black neighborhoods of Coconut Grove. I'm heading down short, clean, neat Plaza street. IN the road, next to the curbing, parked, not locked:

A black Trek Lime: Exactly the bike I am buying tomorrow!
I have NEVER seen this not-popular bike before two days ago, at the LBS.
It is so rare and so distinctive looking. The owner was standing in his front yard.
I screech to a halt and back up and tell the guy, "What can this be! It's the very same bike I'm getting tomorrow!"

Well, he laughs and asks how much I am paying for the black Lime Lite. Four bills exactly, plus sales tax.
"Hah! Look, if you got three bills you can take this one! It's new." And it was new. I turned down the offer.

Coconut Grove, the black area: all people seem to be riding old or new or every sort of crappy or good bike.
Without fail, they all lose their bikes to the local thieves. Too much chance that this new Lime Lite is, uh,
of questionble background. I thank the guy very kindly, and move on. You know, the cops, if they stop me,
and run a check for stolen Lime Lite bikes (serial number, you know?), off to jail I go, right then and there.

So, I will buy retail. But my gosh, of all the tens of thousands of bikes I've seen in the past six months on the roads,
I've seen only TWO Lime Lites, period! What an odd co-incidence!

Anyway, the new bike will lift my sagging spirits. It has a steel fork and can be e-bike converted later if I want that.

Here is a link to the fancy-schmancy Trek sales blurb for this oddball thing: a coaster brake bike for...what market?
Well, they sure are not selling many!

http://www.trekbikes.com/lime/
Various clickable feature details. Broadband really needed.

Pictures tomorrow, I guess. I will be a new man after all, not smart, but a bit stronger in the legs and lungs.


BIG PICTURE:
http://www.jacksbikes.com/contents/media/trek_lime_lite_2009_menblack.jpg
it's just a bike, this alu-framed, steel forked Trek..but so odd for a concept-cruiser.
Automatic shift, old-school Shimano three speed.
Brainy auto shifter, I hope I enjoy tinkering with.
And I like cruisers most of all, especially strange ones that don't look strange at all.

http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/bike_path/lime/limelite/
Maker's site, specs, pictures, blurbs

I'm getting the "MSRP $509US" version, the "Lite", which is cheaper than the acccessoried LIME, by about seventy bucks.
So, for the $400, unless I'm mistaken, I am getting a nice-enough price. I don't yet know what are all the differences
between the upscale Lime and the econo "Lite" version; not much difference, I don't suppose. More later.

I need to read the manual real soon. Ah, the Trek manual is generic and has nothing about the LIME's unique, new attributes.

Ah, but this odd bike must become eel-lec-tric POWERED some day! Yeah!
I'll install a thief-shocker, too, anti-theft, ha ha!
As the bike rolls, the miscreant gets a harmless shock from the grips, heh heh heh!
Can be done and nobody dies; just lots of laughs for all, except for the Unauthorized User
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
adding reality checks in these edit-addendums:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/trek_lime_juicy.php

About Nexus internal geared hubs....of course....he (dead now) had a vestige-only of vested interest.
OTOH, 99.9% of Sheldon Brown's writing is exactly right-on. I will not have clickedy-click coasting bike,
as is inherent to all conventional derailleures, and other not-coaster braked rear hubs most commonly seen.
The nature of a coaster brake'd bike is that it is DEAD SILENT when coasting; I like that fact very much.
I can hear the cars, the crickets, the padding of dogs' feet, practically. SILENCE, especially if I fit the Lime with
Trek's Bontrager Hank or Big Hank slicks.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/nexus.html
The three speed offers more gear-changes, even, than I really need.
But, this basic three-speed will make starting-up from a stop, easier than if it were purely a single, fixed gear.
We have no hills or grades to speak of here in Flat-or-i-da.
This bike is for toodling along at 15mph or so, max.

later, a review of the bike, overall, to be put here or at some appropriate panel.

Part of this Trek-obsession of mine owes to the fact that I first bought a Trek road bike, new, in early 1983. It cost one grand then. It was a wonderful bike,
but I eventually gave it to a dying (HIV hampered) friend, and he got some good use from the Trek before he died. And I could no longer ride "lycra style" due to a wry neck. It was not purely charity; I could no longer ride that bike.
Cervical disc problems, and I was only about thirty at that time! I got a hybrid-style bike instead, in '98.
The same sore neck problem cropped up again and again. I gave that bike away, too.
Simple fact of my life: Imperative for me to ride fully upright, or leaning back. Recumbents work,
but are too low/invisible to cars, for this congested area. I'd get wiped off the road with a putty knife
wielded by the coroners.

But, oh, to have a Trek again. Full circle at last.
http://www.bike-manual.com/brands/trek/intl/us.html
Good people make good products, and you =get what you pay for=, you know...
support and...it's not going to be a beater bike for salted, winter roads.
It will outlast me by many years.

________________________________
last edit (all edits are minor dyslexo-spelling errors and such): age correction from "34" to "30".

Reid Welch said:

But, being penny-foolish, I think I will get a lemon or a Lime after all, heh. :wink:

Click to expand...

I thought the Lime was a well conceived and executed bicycle when it was first introduced. It showed that Trek had its ear to the ground.
City bikes were a meme pretty far out on the horizon when I made a mid 80's era Norco MTB into an urban all-rounder.
Few practical Euro-bikes designed and built for daily service in casual clothing were being imported at the time.
I couldn't afford one but did see the writing on the wall. They became trendy and have now entered the mainstream.
I cheer the shift in marketing focus from "sport cycling" to a bicycling "lifestyle".

Too bad fixed wheel bikes have become so cliche and over done. They are nice riding bikes. I was an early adopter. The hipster crowd that made them popular has been absorbed into the greater number of utility riders. The new generation of hipsters is discovering that knees are important throughout ones life, coasting and brakes are not the invention of Stan and that their grandparents had some sweet machines during the early seventies bike boom. On the local craigslist, $100 10spd. bikes then are usually priced at more than twice that now.

What's next? Ebikes are already mainstream in North America if you can buy them at places like Canadian Tire and *marts. I'm a late adopter.

Reid, the only thing that put me off the Trek Lime was its name that I too associated with "lemon"
"Apple" was already taken. "Apricot" wouldn't have been any better but "Peach". . . yummm! (Except I already had enough bikes.)

edit: extraneous apostrophe

ZOOT

Thank you in particular for your kindly and extraordinarily intelligent posting above, and for the perfect post you put to page one. Wow, sir. That was so very sensitive, and also indicative of your patience with my overly-wordy postings.
You are empathetic beyond the abilities of mere mortals. You will never die for this reason.
May this panel never be auto-pruned, ever!!!!!

You are more than wise. You are the best cyclist here, period. And what? Sixty years old? I'm "only" fifty-five,
and a babe when it comes to biking. You know, as they used to say so aptly:

"He knows shit from Shinola", and don't you dare respond to this post! Or I'll get you
"Shinola": a long-ago brand of black wax shoe polish sold in the former U. S. of A.
Probably that brand and the saying was known in Canada, too.

Thank you, Zoot. You float my spirits higher, all ways, always.

r.

______________
PS: Florida, not California, is the citrus capital of this nation.
I am not buying a lemon, but a TREK LIME, ha ha!
Joy and good juice to all!

PPS: I know my shit from Shinoloa, so I am getting a sparkling, new, TREK LIME in BLACK

A much-beloved YT find:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SJxpouYg_w
PROVERBS and GRACE of eternal perfection:
"...and very attractive, too!"
"...wisdom without experience is like water without a pail to carry it in."

The video clip, of Ling Po, speaking through Harold Lloyd, and Lloyd is self-identified (idolized) by little-me,
relates to our living our lives, biking, building secure families and looking after one another. Joy!



______________________________________________

Ismael, Alberto, Ramon, of Coral Way Bicycle Shop, Miami, Florida

seated: one unidentifiable flying object
_________________________ _____________________
_______________________________________________________


Click, please, if interested to teach this amateur tech writer, the forever-beginner:
TREK LIME review thread, in build process here

-----
sole edit: name spelling correction, Ramon, not Raymond

northernmike said:

Reid, I very nearly bought one of these for my girlfriend.

In my opinion, at either price, it's a nice bike.

I ended up finding a Pashley Princess Sovereign for $250, and will have the price of the Lime and a little more into it soon.

A new bike DOES "lift one up"!

I hope you might forgive your friendly shop and return for it.

Good luck either way.

Click to expand...

It is a rainy, rainy day. I cannot have the garage space to work on taking down the hub quite yet.
I just about bet'cha, misters, that the LIME SHIMANO uses a good old cup and cone for its front wheel dynamo bearing.
Wenches may lie, but the Wrench: never! I quote northermike from page one because I'm just getting around to learn what a "Pashley" is about. I never knew the make before. And northermike has given his Love a ladies' Pashley of classic, perfected design...
Tribute to tradition and Common Sense:

From the moment William 'Rath' Pashley founded the company over 80 years ago, Pashley has embraced the needs and aspirations of its customers and translated these into what has become a unique range of cycles.

Today, our designers continue to create cycles that have a style and function unlike any others. New designs are placed in the capable hands of our time-served manufacturing team, who painstakingly hand build all Pashley cycles here in Stratford-upon-Avon.

It is this commitment, attention to detail and hand built quality that has earned Pashley its enviable position as Britain's most exclusive cycle manufacturer, with sales to discerning customers in over 50 countries.

So whatever your need... be it fun or performance, modern or traditional style, Pashley cycles offer an originality and individuality that sets them apart from all others. Cycles designed to suit your way of life, to perform beyond expectation... and simply to give pleasure.

At Pashley we say our cycles are 'different by design... distinctive by nature'. We hope you agree and enjoy the experience.

Click to expand...

http://www.pashley.co.uk/lists/all.html

People who like old school, hand-built ENGLISH-made cycles, for whatever reason, please,
see the Pashely site and see the beauty of the original bikes, even here, so little changed from eighty years ago.
Could all be e-converted easily, and then you reallllly have something different, "Guv'nor"!!!
Thank YOU, northernmike, for showing me via your casual mention, that good things roll forever.
The LIME may or may not be around years from now, but we do hope that Pashley mashes daisies flat, forever.

I like that Guv'nor plus Four best of all. Will never own one. Not sold in the USA. Too costly, must be, yet, a relative bargain:
These bikes were never cheap nor farmed out to China for inexpensive fabrication. They are made in....ENGLAND.
ERGO, Pashley gets a nod and a highlight on this otherwise, rainy, rainy day.

GUV'NOR PLUS FOUR, for iron men only who have pounds of crowns a'plenty.

Wheels: 28 inch with gold piped black rims

Click to expand...

My god, that's the size and exact type of clincher nearly universal in even 1898. 26"-sort-of-wheels came along later. 28" rolls ever so much better over the road and the roughs.

I would have one Guv'nor Plus Four, if I could...yes, I would...

repeat of link two above, please see:
TREK LIME review thread, in build process here


---
This thread is finished. No replies needed. Trek reads reid, and Trek, et al., reads you ALL.