New Wheels

I went down to The Glebe this afternoon to pick out a new bike at Kunstadt Sports, an Ottawa chain with a good reputation. After trying a number of “road” and “city” type bikes, I went with the one that felt the best: a deVinci Stockholm. Kunstadt has a deal where accessories are 30% off when bought with a new bike, so I also bought a bell, a rack and twin pannier bags for groceries or hauling stuff when I have the accordion on my back. Add to that a “Starship Troopers”-looking Fox helmet and matching shades, and the bill came to just under $900 (Canadian, of course — that’s $941 US as of this writing).

The staff at Kunstadt were friendly, helpful and really cool with me taking about 10 bikes out for a spin (“Carbon fork? I need to see what that’s like.” “Disc brakes with hydraulics? Let me ride!”). I’d recommend them to anyone in the area looking to get a new two-wheeler.

The deVinci is quite different from my bike back in Toronto, a Trek Calypso cruiser: a good deal lighter, 27 speeds as opposed to 7, and a rocket in comparison. I’m going to have fun exploring Ottawa on this baby.