Advice for someone new to this
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Topic
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First – the route
My wife and I are buying a town-home near the Vienna Metro (just south of it). She will be walking to the metro and I will be biking the whopping 3.2 miles to work just off of Gallows Road. My plan is to take Lee Highway. Does anyone have experience on this road? The lights aren’t super close together but my hope is that it keeps it relatively safe for bicycle traffic. Any feedback on Lee highway between Blake Lane and Gallows Road would be greatly appreciated.Second – the bike
I don’t currently own a bike. So I’ll be needing to buy one of those two wheeled contraptions. As the bike will only be used for commuting to and from work and to and from the grocery store I’m not trying to spend a lot and I’m trying to keep it simple to keep the maintenance down. My inner cheapskate wants me to buy a Vilano Edge for only $250 and call it a day. My inner maintenancephobe wants me to purchase a Spot Dualie. Any advice on this? I am concerned that I will struggle on the hills particularly on Lee Highway between Blake and Nutley but I’ve never ridden a single speed bike so I don’t know how steep a hill needs to be before it becomes daunting. I have a psychological obsession with belt driven bikes since discovering them. Less maintenance is always better to me. The only reason my car runs is because it tells me when the tire pressure is low and when it needs servicing. But I’ll be storing the bike indoors, so is a belt really worth all that extra money?Additional info:
My fitness – I work out 4-5 days a week, walk 18 holes a golf once a week and generally am very active. I feel fairly confident that I will do alright, but understand that everything uses muscles in a slightly different way.Budget – Max is $900 would much rather spend less than $500.
My office has a gym/shower so getting a little sweaty on the way to work is no problem.
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