Jana Pleyto
Sandra 1Bikes in Boxes
August 30th 2007 02:10
Big W sells Bikes in Boxes; they are the IKEA of the bicycling world.
My Girlfriend's sister made the decision to upgrade her mode of transport from the pads of her feet to the seat of a bike and it was this decision that led me to meet her on the corner of Swanston and Lonsdale on a cold Melbourne afternoon.
Big W sells most things from electric carving knives to books on Whales. No Dictaphones though. No matter, we were there for the cycles.
We locate the bike area in the corner of the store near the photo arena. The bikes are there all lined up in racks like swords in an armoury waiting to be removed and thrust into a worthy foe.
And so many bikes there were: BMXs, Ladies Bikes, Men’s Bikes, Huffy’s, Racing Bikes, Dunlop’s Children’s bikes and Mountain Bikes. With so many to choose from; we thought the only way to make an informed decision about the correct bike was to take it for a spin through the aisles.
After doing so myself, I would highly recommend the prospective cyclist do so too. Take your new wheels for a spin through the shelves of moccasins and toasters to fully understand its handling and skidding capabilities.
The aisles in Big W are fairly wide thoroughfares and conditions are quite similar to those a rider may find on the road or the alley depending upon where you riding at the moment in time. For example: An oncoming trolley stacked high with DVD players could be an oncoming truck stacked high with DVD players. A pallet containing rice cookers could be a family enjoying a picnic on a sunny Tuesday and an irate blue shirted Big W duty manager could be an irate blue shirted senior constable.
Once you’ve made your decision, don’t be glum because the fun has not finished yet. Oh no. It’s really just starting. Because like IKEA; you have to put the thing together yourself. You can imagine the joy we both felt as we dashed home to give it life.
The bike we stuffed into the boot of a taxi was called BLADE (this may change to Gloria). Its Model Number was and still is MQ 2000 and its specifications include: 2 braking systems, 4 reflectors, steel bell and a padded saddle. All for the cost of $79-.
It’s sitting on our balcony now missing handlebars because the box containing the bike contained nothing else to assist in its construction. Nothing except a ninja star shaped piece of metal with holes to fit all the bolts that weren’t present in the bike’s makeup. In fact the thing that assembled it to the stage of evolution it is in now was a socket set my girlfriend got from IKEA. Damn you IKEA. Damn you to Hell
My Girlfriend's sister made the decision to upgrade her mode of transport from the pads of her feet to the seat of a bike and it was this decision that led me to meet her on the corner of Swanston and Lonsdale on a cold Melbourne afternoon.
Big W sells most things from electric carving knives to books on Whales. No Dictaphones though. No matter, we were there for the cycles.
We locate the bike area in the corner of the store near the photo arena. The bikes are there all lined up in racks like swords in an armoury waiting to be removed and thrust into a worthy foe.
And so many bikes there were: BMXs, Ladies Bikes, Men’s Bikes, Huffy’s, Racing Bikes, Dunlop’s Children’s bikes and Mountain Bikes. With so many to choose from; we thought the only way to make an informed decision about the correct bike was to take it for a spin through the aisles.
After doing so myself, I would highly recommend the prospective cyclist do so too. Take your new wheels for a spin through the shelves of moccasins and toasters to fully understand its handling and skidding capabilities.
The aisles in Big W are fairly wide thoroughfares and conditions are quite similar to those a rider may find on the road or the alley depending upon where you riding at the moment in time. For example: An oncoming trolley stacked high with DVD players could be an oncoming truck stacked high with DVD players. A pallet containing rice cookers could be a family enjoying a picnic on a sunny Tuesday and an irate blue shirted Big W duty manager could be an irate blue shirted senior constable.
Once you’ve made your decision, don’t be glum because the fun has not finished yet. Oh no. It’s really just starting. Because like IKEA; you have to put the thing together yourself. You can imagine the joy we both felt as we dashed home to give it life.
The bike we stuffed into the boot of a taxi was called BLADE (this may change to Gloria). Its Model Number was and still is MQ 2000 and its specifications include: 2 braking systems, 4 reflectors, steel bell and a padded saddle. All for the cost of $79-.
It’s sitting on our balcony now missing handlebars because the box containing the bike contained nothing else to assist in its construction. Nothing except a ninja star shaped piece of metal with holes to fit all the bolts that weren’t present in the bike’s makeup. In fact the thing that assembled it to the stage of evolution it is in now was a socket set my girlfriend got from IKEA. Damn you IKEA. Damn you to Hell
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