Min nye cykel (my new bike)

I’ve been wanting a new bike for a while now. Not because I don’t already have two good bikes, but one is too fancy to be left outside, and the other needs some serious work after being ridden hard all summer and has brakes that fade and squeal when they get wet. Besides, it’s always good to have a backup, in case one bikegoes flat,gets stolen, or whatever. I looked for a used bike, but it turns out that fall is a good time to buy a new one, as every bike store is desperate to sell bikes.

I wanted a “winter bike” — one with internal gears and internal brakes. Neither of these two things are frequently seen in the US, but they’re pretty common in Denmark because bikes are ridden all year and the winters are wet. I also wanted a mountain bike. although I love my city bike, sometimes I want to hop a curb or climb a short set of stairs, and my city bike doesn’t really like it when that happens.

I settled on an MBK, which is a Danish brand with a good reputation. It has seven speeds, and roller brakes, which look like disc brakes at first glance but is actually a drum brake with a disc for dissapating heat. I paid 4,000 kroner, which is $764 currently, but around $666 effectively because — despite the dollar’s steady decline in the last two years — I get paid in kroner.

It’s quite a bit of bike for either amount really, but it is on the heavy side. The aluminum frame is offset by tough wheels and the roller brakes are notoriously heavy. Nevertheless, I’ve taken it on a few 30 kilometer rides, and I don’t notice being tired. (Although my GPS tells me that I ride a bit slower than on my city bike.)