If you have been following my blog for awhile now you will know that last summer I suffered a strange shoulder injury that basically debilitated me. I was unable to do much of anything; possibly the worst part was that I could not ride my bicycle nor my motorcycle.
I could no longer bear any weight on my arms or shoulders. No more riding my beloved Kona mountain bike. No more riding my motorcycle.
I love riding a bicycle. I love the feeling of rolling along with the wind whistling by me.
Seeing as I am still unable to bear any weight on my shoulders, I decided to get a different style of bike than my mountain bike; a bike that I can sit upright on and not have to ride while putting weight on my shoulders.
I bought a cruiser!! I call it my Raleigh Retroglide my Big Orange Cruiser.
Buying a new bike is an interesting experience these days. Of course before I bought a new bike I went online and did a bunch of research. I researched bicycle manufacturers, bicycle shops, and styles of bikes.
The bike manufacturer I settle on was Raleigh. And the style of bike I settled on was Raleigh’s Retroglide 7.
Next, decide which shop to purchase from. I did the thing where you can find a shop from the Raleigh webpage and narrowed it down to a couple shops – North Van, Langley, and East Vancouver.
Once I had narrowed my search to three shops I looked at the shops’ Facebook pages. Any shop that allows customers to post comments and reviews on their Facebook page is doing something right in my opinion. And the comments on the Bikes For All FB page were overwhelmingly positive, nay, they were gushing with praise for the shop’s approach to business!
Off I went on a Sunday afternoon to visit Bikes for All on East 7th Ave in Vancouver.
When I got to the shop I talked to sales people and discussed my situation. They listened to me and then made suggestions of a couple of other bike styles. They really made sure I was fully aware of what I was talking about!
The fact is, a Cruiser, a bike like the Raleigh Retroglide is a very unique ride. It is nothing like a mountain bike. And the staff at Bikes For All know their bikes and they know that a not everybody is going to like the ride of a Cruiser.
They pulled out a Hybrid bike and let me ride it around the neighbourhood. They pulled out a less-extreme cruiser style bike and let me ride it around the neighbourhood. They pulled out the Raleigh Retroglide 7 and let me ride it around the neighbourhood.
And you know, I liked the feeling of the hybrid. I liked the feeling of the other cruiser style bike. But I LOVED the feeling of the Raleigh Retroglide 7!!
So I bought the Raleigh Retroglide 7 – my Big Orange Cruiser!!
- Bikes For All is located at 112 East 7th Ave in Vancouver, BC.
- You can phone them at 604-872-4534.
And for the record, I have written this blog post with absolutely no compensation of any kind from Bikes For All.