Form Or Function?

This Could Be Me!

Now that spring is (slowly) on its way, I've been experiencing cravings for not just rollerskating, but also cruising around on a bicycle. It's been a few years since I've ridden one. I crashed good and proper on my last bike, and while I didn't ever swear off riding it, I just sort of...didn't want to after that. Then it got stolen, and I was a little relieved to be rid of it.

But now that I've receiving my inheritance from my Grandma Perkins, I thought maybe I would invest in a bicycle and go out riding again. Like, instead of staying in and doing a workout video. Maybe I could even go out and ride around for fun, like I used to when I was a kid.

The problem is that I'm drawn to really adorable bikes like this. And this. So cute! Oh, and this too. Notice the prices? These are not only the cute bikes, they are also the less expensive ones.

But they don't go up hills well, or rather, my legs don't. What I mean is, when I have a bike like this, I tend to ride it downhill and then walk it uphill because I basically have an asthma attack when I try to propel my bicycle uphill on these one-speed wonders.

What I should be wanting is a bike like this. It's a much more sensible model with different gear settings that I can use to help me go up hills, and it's really not at all expensive. It's just not cute.

Well, there's also a sort of hybrid. Here it is in all its wonderfulness -- 21 speeds, pretty color, wide tires, padded seat, cute -- everything I want in a bike, but for three times the price. I must decide, but how? Maybe I'll check craigslist and DI for really vintage bikes.