I am on Mid-Summer Vacation.
Though I am not going anywhere, I am traveling in my mind.
All it takes is a little imagination,
some life lessons in how to make the most of where you are,
and a few wonderful memories of trips traveled,
to transport you wherever you want to be...
Happy July Everyone!
Come back and visit,
I will be posting from my
favorite European trips
all week.
I am on Mid-Summer Vacation.
Though I am not going anywhere, I am traveling in my mind.
All it takes is a little imagination,
some life lessons in how to make the most of where you are,
and a few wonderful memories of trips traveled,
to transport you wherever you want to be...
Happy July Everyone!
Come back and visit,
I will be posting from my
favorite European trips
all week.
I have waited a LOOONNNGGG time for a vacation.
It has finally arrived.
And though I will be resting
and playing
in my backyard,
I will definitely be HERE in my mind.
All it takes is a little imagination,
some life lessons in how to make the most of where you are,
and a few wonderful memories of trips traveled,
to transport you wherever you want to be...
Happy July Everyone!
Come back and visit.
I will be posting from my
favorite European trips
all week.
Sweden Installment 7
Our last day in Stockholm I had decided building up the bike I wanted would be the way to go. I had been seeing these after-market skirt guards all over town, so stopped into Gamla Stans Cykel (the gent on the left had so kindly let me go for a test ride a few days before) to see if they knew where I could get a set. Out from the back they brought out what are now my very own set of skirt guards. I think these will look great on the Kronan, and in the meantime they are art in themselves. Besides the amazing memories I have been cherishing for the last month, these are my only souvenir from Sweden, not quite a Skeppshult, but I will take what I can get.
Sweden Installment 5
The Kronan Test Ride
When I first stumbled upon Kronan bikes I sent an e-mail to the SF rep who kindly put me in contact with sweet, sweet Maria in Stockholm. Sadly Maria and I never were able to meet, but we e-mailed once I arrived into town and she set me up with a test ride. What a very special afternoon we had riding our single speed Kronan's around Östermalm,
then over to Djurgården
finally over to the main drag where the high school graduates were having so much fun we could smell it (the best one was the beer draining out of the truck like a river - ah to be young again!).
Stockholm was so happy to see us on the Kronan's they sent out the Royal Guard!
Our take on the Kronan Single Speed is that though a blast, these beauties are HEAVY. From Maria:
I are happy that you enjoyed your stay and that you could see the beauty of Stockholm. Our 3 -peed bicycles weights 21 kg (46,3 lb ) and the 5 -speed 18 kg (39,68 lb), the Kronan bicycle are manufactured in Taiwan. Our 'free' bikes were not adjustable seat-wise, so they could have been a little more comfy, but overall - I loved the seating position.
I loved riding the bike, I just couldn't make it up (yup, had to walk it) or down (had to turn around) the hills in Djurgården with the one-speed and the coaster brake (which scared the heck out of me at the first few heavily pedestrianized intersections). I definitely concluded that though I love the concept, a single-speed coaster brake bike is not for me and the places I want to ride in Minneapolis. And though people talk about how weight shouldn't matter - it does. My ride downtown is about 5 miles one-way (I talked about this before) - I want to do it on a Dutch-style bike, and I'm an American - so I don't have much time, therefore weight and gears are important to me so I actually do it.
When we got home I decided the Kronan Aluminum 5-Speed was the bike for me - the price is right, the look is right, the weight and speeds are better for me. Yeah, made in Taiwan - but oh well, things can't be perfect.
Unfortunately things are going to have to wait - moving here, fixing a house, and drinking $9 beers in oh-so-beautiful Sweden have delayed this purchase until later in the year. At first I was dissappointed because I had finally made a decision, but you know me if you read this blog - I like to do research and this gives me a few more months, and another biking season to make sure that the Kronan is the 'right' choice for now.
The Skeppshult will always be my true love, and I wonder what it would have been like riding the Nova on the same route - but that is to discover another day and a bike to aspire to at another time...
Sweden Installment 3
Not many American's have the special opportunity to test drive a Skeppshult around the back alleyways of Gamla Stan, I am a very lucky gal. I loved this bike - how it glided effortlessly across the cobbled streets, how I didn't feel a bump, how I could throw my purse in the basket, how elegant I felt while riding it, and how beautiful she looked (though granted, a little modern and shiny). There are actually 4 models of the Nova, I believe I was on the Nova Comfort. It's funny how putting your foot on the pedals of a Dutch-style bike brings memories flooding in and suddenly you are in the moment of how you felt the first time you got to step onto your Mom's old Schwinn and ride by yourself around the neighborhood. Funny how one unconsciously tries to separate themselves from Mom's old blue bike, the white and blue basket, and the three speeds for 30 years and then suddenly, you step on a Skeppshult and you are like a child again - wind blowing in your hair, smile on your face, and a grand view as you look straight ahead at all the beautiful people of Stockholm biking home at the end of another perfect Sweden day.
Our conclusion is that Skeppshult is the bike of the upwardly mobile - mostly well-off folks in the better parts of town. Moms on the Nova's, and good looking business type lads (mostly 30 something) on what I believe was the STC's. Skeppshult is definitely a bike to aspire to. 
After some serious discussions with Hubby about when else would I have this opportunity to buy one of these bikes a little bit (well a lot bit) cheaper than in the US, and what a great souvenir it would be, the reality of coming back to get the bike, taking it to the train station, getting it on the train to the airport, and hoping it makes it home through 3 plane transfers, as well as discussing our 2008 finances, made it difficult to walk home with the Nova on this trip. Sadly, I left her behind, but the smile on my face remains.
Thank you to Gamla Stans Cykel for the generosity, information, and memories! I plan on coming back...someday...
