It is time. It is time to retire the beast of purple cruising pleasure. It is time to seek out a lighter, swifter, and altogether more snazzy looking bicycle riding device. And it will be a fetching shade of green.

Here's what I have in mind:



My good ol' purple Mongoose, I believe it may be a 1992, has been hard to tolerate ever since summer when I started commuting by bike to work from Berkeley to downtown Oakland. It is so slow. I feel like shifting gears is so arbitrary. It hardly picks up speed at all. Plus, it slips out of gear a lot, which is annoying. I do like its nice basket. I wonder if putting a basket on a road bike will draw disapproval? Screw them. Screw the bike advocates and their basket intolerance.

The green bike above I found on CL, but the seller wants $300 (firm). I feel that's a little steep, but I think I should go test it out. Seller claims it's in tip top shape. It's a Marin, 1990s model, 18 speed. I have no idea about bikes. They vary in price so much it's hard to know when you're being taken.

And I say this from knowing I was taken in a bike transaction when I bought the Mongoose from Berkeley's local stolen bicycle baron, Karim.