Some days you just need to . . . shop? I can't believe I just said that. But, today was that day. We have been eyeing e-bikes ever since we learned they existed from Roger and Marlis back before we started our ride in Lucerne. We crossed the 500 mile point yesterday. Since we were about halfway done with the ride, now seemed like a good time.
What advantages to an e-bike for Sally? Three that I can think of: (1) An e-bike provides gentle assistance as you pedal. They don't move you down the road, they just give a little push, but only when you pedal. You can dial in how much push you want-Eco, Tour, Sport or Turbo. This push means (2) at the end of the day Sally is not as tired, and we have time and energy to visit the interesting sites in the town we just rode to. (3) With all the panniers and packs on the rack on the back of her bike it is a tough trick to swing her leg over it all, especially when standing on a sprained ankle. For that reason, we are searching carefully for a bike with no bar, an easy step through for mounting and dismounting. This will become more important in the coming years.
To allow us more time to shop, we decided to take the train from Speyer to Worms instead of riding. We lazily got up about 7 and made our way down to the "complimentary" breakfast in the hotel. Most places we have stayed are around $80 for the night, but charge about $10 each for breakfast. This place was $100 for the night (we thought it was $62 when we booked it online, then realized, too late, that it was quoted in British pounds, not dollars), but breakfast was free? Hmmmm.
After breakfast we headed for our first bike shop. We were a little early. We used the time to stop by the train station and check out the ticket arrangements for our train ride, then journeyed back, arriving just as the owner was unlocking the door.
Although language was a barrier, we could communicate well enough to explain what we were looking for and soon Sally had three e-bikes out behind the store, test riding (driving?) each one. None met our criteria. We felt bad having taken up their time, but we did not want to buy something we did not want. We headed to the train station again, purchased our tickets, positioned ourselves on platform 2 and waited for our train. We had found three bike shops in Worms when searching online, one of which specialized in e-bikes. We were excited to hit these stores.
Fresh off the train, we headed for the e-bike speciality shop. They had lots of models to choose from, but, again, they did not fit our criteria. The biggest criteria, the bike had to fit Sally, and none of these did.
Another bike shop we had ridden past on our way to the e-bike shop was closed between 12 and 2, a very common occurrence for all businesses, so we rode to the youth hostile and secured a room for the night, dropped off our bags, had a lunch in our room and then went back to the now open shop. A very helpful man let us test ride a front wheel drive assist e-bike. It was a close fit for Sally, but did not have the correct feature set. After an hour with him, we realized that we would have to have incredible luck if we hoped to find a bike that matched all our criteria. (1. Bosch Drive System, 2. step through frame 3. Internationally universal components 4. 400watt hour battery 5. Comfort bike configuration)
As we rode back to the hostile, realizing we were likely to be searching for days and across dozens of bike shops, we spotted another bike shop just a block and a half from our hostel. (The other shops were 5 blocks away and three blocks away. Lots of bike shops in European towns!). As we rode up, we saw lots of Bosch powered e-bikes in the window and on the floor. We quickly whittled the field down to two models, each with our desired feature set. One had a spiffy automatic shifting mechanism, the other disc brakes. Sally rode one, then the other, a dozen times, while the patient shop owners looked on. After about an hour and a half we settled on the automatic transmission model. Another half hour was required to mount a new seat, fill out paper work and pay the bill.
Now we had another problem. We had three bikes and only two of us to ride them. We rode the new bike and mine back to the hostel, then I ran back and rode Sally's old bike to the hostel. The lady at the hostel had been incredibly kind to us, so we thought we would give the bike to the hostel or the ladies who run it. We put it in the storage cellar, then headed out into town to give Sally a chance to get acquainted with her new friend.
We spent about an hour and a half riding through Worms, checking out the oldest Jewish cemetery in Europe with graves over 1000 years old, checking out the statue of Martin Luther, who started the reformation by tacking up his list of changes he wanted to see in the Catholic Church on the cathedral door, then down to the Rhine to see where the tour boats tied up at the quay. We returned to the Hostel and locked everything up in the storage cellar for the night. Sally was thrilled with her new bike, as was I. She could now tackle the steepest hills with the same effort required to peddle on the flat. Instead of me waiting for her at the top of a hill, she was now wondering what was taking me so long.
The purchase did add a level of complexity to our trip, albeit a small one. We now have to make sure we get her battery charged each night, without it getting stolen from the bathrooms like my charger and battery for my iPhone. Since the theft of my battery, we have found the campsite hosts will let you charge your devices in their office, under their watchful eyes.
Lady Luck was smiling on us today. Our shopping and information gathering led us to a great bike at a good price with the correct feature set and a good ergonomic fit. And I thought I hated shopping. No more. Look out malls, here I come!
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