I've never had a real lemon. I've purchased bikes, which in retrospect, were not the best suited for
me, but not necessarily bad bikes.
One was the first bike I purchased when returning to cycling. I needed a bike to get me home from work (because my husband was working at a different facility, he would drop me off at my workplace and continue to his) and purchased a retro Schwinn comfort bike, with a more upright posture. I later purchased a cheaper mountain bike, which also has an upright posture. Not quite as much of a mistake, but I could have started with a higher quality bike.
I made a
huge leap when I purchase my next bike. That was my Specialized Dolce Elite. A lovely bike. But I had to do what many people fear--get over that 'it's going to hurt my back if I ride hunched over like that' thing. Guess what? It's a lot easier riding on my Dolce Elite than riding upright! There are a lot more hand positions than you can find on a hybrid or mountain bike, which makes riding more enjoyable.
It's not so much that I have glowing reviews of the bikes I own, so much as I have learned that certain bikes are more suitable for a certain job than others. If you want a bike to go get groceries, you probably don't want a bike suitable for road racing. A hybrid, or a mountain bike with slicks, will work quite well. Just don't try to ride long distances with hybrids or mountain bikes. Yes, it can be done, but a road bike is simply better suited to long distances. A touring bike is even better for long distances, and it can also be used to carry groceries.
That's why we inundate new riders with questions. It's not that you can't start riding with a Huffy or Magna from X-mart, but as you learn more about riding, and want to make your experience better or easier, you come to realise that there's a difference, and that's when you start asking questions.
You just learned that you could have learned a new skill. You would not necessarily have saved any money for the first bike, but if you had visited the
Park Tool website, or
Sheldon Brown's shortcuts, and invested in some of the less expensive tools, any subsequent bikes would be easier to repair and the price of the tools would be amortised. That's when you could learn the joy of 'flipping' older bikes, or even fixing bikes for charity. You might also develop a pleasure in renovating classic and vintage bikes.
To sum up, it's not necessarily 'buyer's remorse', so much as it's an appreciation that some may be content with the Mongoose Serif ATB selling for $99.99, and others may decide that they love cycling enough, and that life is short enough, to go for the $1,029.99 Specialized Dolce Elite. And there's a lot of room in between, and above!
East Hill