Buying the bikes...

The main priority for us after leaving London for the second time and traveling to Nailsea (near Bristol) was to catch up with my dad's family – Gran, Bob & Carol, and Jane & Simon. A close second was to sort out wheels to take us round Europe! To this end the day after our arrival in Nailsea we departed bright eyed and bushy tailed to Bristol armed with enthusiasm, a list of bike shops, and a bigger list of bike related expenses to find.

In truth the search for bikes had started well ahead of this time, particularly for me, less so for Rowan. It has to be said “researcher” can not only be used to describe my previous employment, but also my nature as a shopper. This is particularly true when I am on the hunt for something interesting like a bike or, even better, two bikes. Many an hour was whiled away on the internet investigating what sort of bike is best for touring (funnily enough, a touring bike, second option hybrid bikes, rigid mountain bikes, cyclocross bikes...), brake types, gears, prices, shops – the list goes on.

From a distance I had developed a fair number of preconceptions – ideas about models that would be good, ideas of models that seemed good but had problems (here's looking at the Kona Sutra, great name and combination of parts, but dodgy rear rack and shifters we weren't sure of), and particularly an assumption that UK bike shops would be vast repositories of every model and size of bike and component we could possibly need. Oh if it were so. The first visit to a major shop (Evan's) was revealing. While having a vast range of products available, we quickly learned that it was likely to be a week until we could get our steeds. So much for a rapid return to the continent.

After a couple of hours talking through options with a very patient salesman at Evan's Bristol (Sam) we came to the conclusion that flat barred “hybrid” bikes were going to be our best choice. The primary reason for this was a desire to have disc brakes for their immeasurable superiority in the rain (yes, we accepted from the outset that rain was a possibility!). Drop bars sounded appealing due to the greater number of riding positions they allow, but the number of sub 800 quid bikes with disc brakes was very small. Flat bars with bar ends would have to do.

The final choice for both of us was surprisingly the same – the Kona Dr Dew. Bright green (hopefully) continent munching machines.

If only the shopping ended there. We also needed racks (easy), panniers (how I ended up with bright yellow I'm not sure), a lock (and I'm meant to carry this weight round europe?), bottle cages, shoes (suitable for walking and clipping into SPDs), helmets (again, my odd head size and shape meant I spent twice as much as should be necessary), bar bag, mudguards, bar ends for Rowan, spare tubes and tyre... I never thought it could happen, but I was sick of choosing bike bits by the end of it.

Collecting the whole lot tomorrow. More still to get – more spares, bar ends for me, check that the seats and grips are comfortable. Hope it all works – meant to be doing 124 km on Friday to get to Winchester where my brother is staying.

Can't wait!!!