Hubbub

In the early 80s I bought my first real bike, a Miyata 210. For its time, the 210 was considered a well built touring bike featuring a triple butted chrome-moly frame, 18 speeds, and down tube shifters. At 28 pounds stock plus additional mass from a heavy “U” lock and other accessories it was no lightweight.

Throughout my teens, I rode that Miyata all over town using it both for transportation and just something to do in nice weather. For my first couple years in college the bike was my only means of private transportation. It got me to class, to the grocery store, and out riding occasionally on the weekend. That was in Lawrence, KS, seemingly the one place in all the heartland with steep hills. My riding days came to an end after my sophomore year with the acquisition of my first car and it was all downhill from there.

Cycling always has been attractive, especially the independence and simplicity of using a bike for transportation. Human powered transportation, exercise and a healthy lifestyle, and a machine that I could maintain myself all appeal. The only problem: riding my old Miyata caused pain.

Now and then, wherever I was living, I would haul the Miyata out of retirement and ride to the store or go for a 30 minute ride on a warm, sunny day. But most times I would find a reason why the bike wasn’t practical and why I needed to drive. I rode less and less and the rare ride I did take caused unhealthy pain. Eventually I associated the bike more with suffering than anything else and I simply stopped riding.

Years later, living in beautiful but traffic-clogged Seattle with so many active, health conscious, environmentally minded people, the idea of cycling gained new momentum. Yes, I still had that Miyata 210, now over 20 years old. I took it to Gregg’s Greenlake Cycle, had it tuned, and resolved to get back into riding regularly. Over a couple months I commuted to work by bike several times/week—probably about seven or eight miles each way. It went pretty well considering the 15 year hiatus. But the discomfort and pain only got worse.

Looking back, the Miyata might never have been a good fit. With its long top tube and down tube shifters, it encouraged (forced) the rider into a bent over, low position. In order to see, I had to crane my head back so that my eyes could look ahead instead of only down towards the pedals. This caused some pretty significant neck pain—enough to discourage me.

Without knowing what to look for, I acquired a couple used bikes. The Vision R40 recumbent was an interesting experiment. Its ergonomic sitting position indeed resolved the neck and low back pain. However, a recumbent’s turn radius and maneuverability are inherently limited and the low-to-the-ground positioning made me feel invisible and extremely vulnerable in traffic. The second used bike was a Specialized Stumpjumper. This bike performed well and had the smoothest, most reliable shifting I have ever tried. Alas, the frame size and geometry, combined with a very long stem, had me leaning over as much or more than the Miyata.

At this point I had three bikes gathering dust and still no viable cycling solution. Finally I got wise and sought advice from an experienced cyclist (thanks Mike!). We spoke to people at several bike shops and eventually began to key in on the common threads of advice. I ended up at Bicycles West where the sales people were excellent and helped me choose a bike that works.

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1995 Specialized Stumpjumper

1981 Miyata 210 touring bike