Partners in crime

Meet Lady Vermont, my accomplice since 2007. She is a "comfort hybrid" that I had to fully equip: kickstand, rear rack, mudguard, basket, bell and lights. Yep, she came totally naked just like most bicycles available back when I was in the market for one.

 

I desperately looked for what I did not know was called a "dutch" bike, and kept wandering from store to shop, haggard, babbling confusingly about childhood memories of "not being folded over my bike" and "having a straight back and the handlebar coming to me". Those few shop employees who even paid me the slightest of attentions quickly shut me up with firm and definitive "such bikes don't exist anymore".

Alas, I had to face reality and deal with the fact that, given the circumstances, the best I could get was this, a "comfort city and path" bicycle.

Additional information: detailed specs and geometry.

Not so bad after all, far from ideal but functional. Double suspension makes it very heavy, it weights a healthy 20 kg which is carefully NOT mentioned anywhere in Norco's literature. Yet I heroically lift it up and down one level of stairs every time I need to ride without much problem. Weight is overrated.

Thanks to dear hubby's tweaking I am able to sit bolt straight which is crucial for me. 

To be noted: all the gizmos I had to add to make that baby useful in an urban context, ended up simply doubling its price. That would have purchased some decent "dutch" set of wheels.

That's life I guess. For the moment we're both partners in crime. She is still way better than the *thing* I used to ride even before this one. Ahem! Even the *thought* of it is an embarrassment... Well, this is Montreal after all, I did fit in nevertheless, let me tell you!
One day though I shall replace her. For now I am taking my sweet time...