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So after the deliberation I went with the commuter grade Novarra Buzz V from REI. Combine their annual 15% off sale with my voucher and I basically got this $400 bike for half price.

So, I have decided that I want to get a new bike. Now begins the process of figuring out what to get. Given that my usage is going to be fairly targeted (tooling around downtown city streets with weekend 10-15 mile rides) I asked my local collection of bike nerds for suggestions.

Wow – let the hate flow! Apparently there are some strong opinions out there. I should’ve known however. These are people that regularly commute long distances on their bikes. Heck, even if I use my bike to commute, I think a Schwinn Stingray could handle the 8 block distance. I just want something thats going to be comfortable to ride so that I can get some good riding time in before next winter.

And I thought this was going to be a simple process. Throw into the mix whether I should use my (rather sizable) REI dividend this year for this or for powder skis next season and the choice becomes more complicated. Then again, the dividend would just be a minor ding into the cost of some Volkls instead of a major dent into the cost of a bike.

argghh…