lethargic_man | The deed is done, the bike is ordered

...And once again, I have ended up buying a bike in (or at least from) Byker. :o) My father's opinion was it was signicantly better value for money than other decent-value commuter bikes he saw; and the shop was furthermore offering a 10% discount until the end of July (i.e. for the next three hours only by the time I bought it); which is why I ended up in the end choosing to buy from Newcastle. Otherwise, there would not have been any advantage, as prices seem to be the same nationwide.

As a nice irony, the shop not only is where Hardesty Cycles (<advert>Hardesty Cycles! Home of the mountain bike! Top of the Fosse Way^*, Byker!</advert>) was^†, where I bought a racer in 1996, but is now an offshoot of the Edinburgh Cycle Cooperative, which was^† the bike shop I used to use in Edinburgh.

* Not the same as the Roman road of the same name; confused me no end when I was younger.

† I think.