Steel in a worthy steed

After fretting about the lack of steel-framed touring bikes in London, the two piggys finally have their steel steeds. Not without a great deal of stress mind you, but Piggy1 assures Piggy2 that it's all character building... hmmm.

Originally, P2 had wanted a touring bike built around the Surly Long Haul Trucker, and Shimano Deore-level components, but blanched when the price tag hit home... £1000+, whereas her estimates had led her to believe that she could have built this wonderful machine back home for around $1800. For that matter, why are the Surly LHT frames £325 in London but only $300 in the US?

Nonetheless, recovering from her initial shock, P2 fell back to her second preference - the more affordable Fuji Touring.

It was quite an ordeal finding a retailer with appropriate stock as it seems touring bikes have gone out of fashion. Three long days of online shopping later, a few phone calls dispensed at random, then a day trip visiting local bike shops (well, London bike shops...), she finally found a Fuji Touring. And here she'd thought that she'd be doomed to ride on an alu framed bike (Dawes and Ridgeback alu touring bikes are the most abundant here).

Unfortunately, the last Fuji Touring bike in London was an '05 model sitting on the shop floor, having been breathed on, tinkered with and poked at by all manner of people walking past. She'd have to see to it that the bike was properly disinfected before taking possession of it.

On her first test ride, she had to come back into the store for instructions on how to use the STI shifters (she'd figured the brakes all by herself!). First time with STI and drop bars... exciting!

On her second ride, she came back into the store as the chain had come off after not shifting properly. The nice man in the shop fixed that up in no time.

On her third ride, she almost rode into the back of a large BMW backing out of a single-lane car park. She was pleased to find that the cantilever brakes worked admirably, although one of her shoes did stick in the cheap pedal cage. Almost toppling sideways, the day was saved by a gutter on which her foot alighted immediately upon being freed, her pride remaining mostly intact as she endured a few concerned looks from nearby pedestrians.

At last. being overall satisfied with the bike, she returned to the store, intact, to the applause of her rapt audience (being the nice man at the store, who was pleased that the bike returned in one piece after having witnessed the shaky start).

So that's the story of how P2 got her bike. P1 became immediately anxious about a bike for herself, and having also tried the Fuji Touring, decided that this would be the bike for her too. But where to find one?!?!?! By this time, it was common knowledge to the rest of the city that the last Fuji Tourer in London had been snapped up by P2. This fact, of course, did not escape P1's attention.

After another day of trawling England's online bike stores, P2 found another supplier of the coveted item. She promptly sent the supplier an email enquiring ever so nicely about a reduction in the price of the bike, and could they also polish it to make it gleam?

A day later and no response from the supplier. P2 was not impressed. P1 was almost in tears trying to convince P2 to just call the store, they must be too busy to respond to email. Stubbornly P2 refused, but not for long as P1 becomes very persuasive when she needs something.

Cajoled into submission, P2 called the store and spoke sweetly with the person on the other end of the line. Yes they would discount the bike by £100, and they could even courier it express for next day delivery. What charming people, P2's faith in customer service returned and P1 was vindicated in the knowledge that she had been right about their service.

Both piggys are now eagerly awaiting their new shiny bikes, not quite clones but close. The proud owners will post pictures immediately upon arrival of their new acquisitions.

The End