Preparations Part 2 - How to buy a bicycle

My new bicycle

I must admit that I do not have any clue about bicycles. And what is even worse: I don't know how to repair them. Going on a 2-months bike trip without knowing how to fix a flat tire is a bad idea, so I decided to join my local bike club (ADFC Berlin) and do a bike repair course. Dinking around in the bike club's workshop I had to realise that my 20 year old bicycle is not the latest in bicycle technology any more - big surprise. And when I started shopping around in bike shops I was robbed of the illusion that you just walk in, choose a bike, pay for it and walk out WITH it. I was confronted with all sorts of technical details I never even heard of before and learnt that you have to wait up to 2 months for a customized bike!

I decided to act quickly and started asking everybody who has ever ridden a bike about their opinion on what to buy. I really want to apologize to everybody who was tortured with my stupid questions, but I think it was worth it. I am proud of my new bicycle like a mother of her new born baby. (Don't get me wrong: I have nothing to do with babies, just with bicycles!) There is only one slight problem: My new bike was so expensive that I hardly dare to use it in Berlin out of fear it might get stolen... Hopefully it will soon start looking dirty and less appealing!