Brand New Old Bike!

I finally have a bike in my possession! My dad was able to give me his old mountain bike. He has a road bike that he uses and no longer needs this one. I used to ride this bike while I was living there, but since then I haven't gotten my own bike mainly because I've been trying to find a used bike which turned out to be harder than I thought (more on that later). So far I have bought a bike basket, a side mirror and a cable lock. These purchases were made easier by the fact that I didn't have to spend money on a bike in the first place.

Here is the bike (I haven't attached the side mirror yet)...

I purchased the bike basket from a very nice woman on Craigslist. It was brand new and still had all of the hardware in it's original packaging. It felt good to keep that from just being tossed into the trash. I bought the side mirror, cable lock and helmet brand new. I've been keeping an eye out for a recycled side mirror and cable lock, but haven't had any luck and now for safety purposes (aka riding in the street) I needed a side mirror asap. I bought the helmet brand new for safety purposes as well. Once I started rock climbing I was told that buying used safety equipment is never a good idea, because you never know what it's been through and/or if it's structural integrity has been compromised. Hence, the brand new helmet.

I'm really thankful that my dad helped me out and gave me his bike after I had been looking for a bike for so long. I kept a watchful eye on Freecycle, but over the past 3-4 months nothing has popped up. I have also sent multiple offers out to ads on Craigslist with no response! I was told by a friend that during bike riding season the Craigslist ads get overwhelming offers and sometimes they are promised to someone within a few minutes of the ad being posted. I became frustrated with trying to find something online so I started to research used bike stores. I walked into a bike shop and the man working there told me that they don't have many used bikes available, because that market has been taken over by Craigslist and eBay. I'm not trying to discourage anyone from trying Freecycle and Craigslist for a bike, but I am saying that it will require a lot of time and patience.

For the past week that I've had the bike I've been riding 8 miles just about everyday. It feels really good! I even rode to the grocery store with my sister and biked home with some groceries. I'm still getting used to riding in the street (it's illegal to ride on the sidewalk in Chicago), but the side mirror will help out with that and the helmet is definitely a plus for safety. Eventually I'll probably buy a new seat, because this one is pretty old and I can feel the springs. It also needs a tune up as the brakes are squeaky and the gears aren't shifting as smoothly as they should be.

All in all I'm pretty happy that I was able to get a used bike rather than buy a new one. I'll be keeping this bike for as long as possible and I'm really excited to learn how to do all the repairs (which the boyfriend already said he would be happy to teach). Learning to fix something rather than throw it away is invaluable. It teaches responsibility and respect for your possessions and helps keep an astounding amount of junk out of the landfills. Remember the 3 Rs... reduce, REUSE, recycle.