New Bikes -- 2 of 3

I haven't finished writing up the Colorado trip, but I'm anxious to post photos of some new bikes. Since, on our drive home from Colorado, some lost souls chopped three of the four bikes from the top of our van and stole them, we've sadly undertaken the task of finding replacements. Obviously, it's great fun to get new bikes, but under such circumstances, the feeling is bitter sweet.

Partially to keep things simple, but largely because of a general fondness for Santa Cruz Bicycles, we selected three bikes of the same brand we could order from one shop. We were able to get some cost savings this way, too. It took a couple of weeks for Santa Cruz to gather up the bikes and get them shipped, which seemed a little too long, but all three bikes were scheduled to arrive Friday (the day before yesterday, as of this post). We'd had hopes of hitting some trails this weekend, but it was just my luck that only two of them made it. Mine missed a transfer at the UPS hub outside of Chicago and won't be here until Monday. I've spent far more time waiting for bikes and parts this year than I have riding them!

We replaced Cindy's stolen Superlight with another Superlight. This one is red. It's so red that our camera is befuddled, coming up with splashes of orange and yellow and white that are not evident to the human eye. Is it the real chameleon? This bike is brand new, whereas the old was mix of old and new.




Abbey's Kona, which had been Heather's Kona, has been replaced by this green Chameleon (which photographs without optical confusion). The Kona was very nice, quite quick and light, with the 1990s cross country geometry. The Chameleon not as light, and is in many ways a rather different bike, but it's named the Chameleon because it is based on a very versatile frame that could serve a variety of purposes, from racer to jumper, depending out how it's set up. It will be Abbey's until she outgrows it, and then we hope it will have many more riders in years to come.




Interestingly, Abbey and Cindy are now similarly sized enough that they can switch back and forth between bikes without even adjusting the saddle height.

When the other bikes were stolen, Quinn's was left sitting alone on top of our car. Although he was probably quite glad that his bike was not stolen, it's been tough for him to watch the rest of the family select replacement bikes. He's handled it very well.

Here he is navigating the steps off the deck behind our house on his old Trek. What's he doing with his tongue??



And catching a bit of air at the pump track...