I am happy to end my Bad Luck Bike saga with a positive conclusion. If any of you recall in my previous blog, after falling into the vintage craze of Williamsburg, I was swayed into purchasing a brown vintage cruiser, advertised online as a “1960s cruiser in great shape, no need for a fix up”. The girl selling the bike stated that the only reason why she was parting with it was because after six months of owning it, she only rode it once. After a short test ride and swapping the cash with a Park Slope artist about my age for the ancient (but cute!) thing, I returned the bike to my neighborhood only to find, after only a ten-minute ride, that I had been duped into buying a lemon!

After sending a disappointed email to the conniving merchant asking for my money back, I got an instant reply from the demon bike dealer saying she did not feel morally obliged to take the bike back since I took it for a test ride and it was fine. She insisted that the damage must have happened in the car while the bike was being transported to my neighborhood. Besides, she had already spent the money I gave her.

It took about two weeks of staring at my idle bike sadly stored in my living room before I decided to take action and walk the bike over to a local bike shop three blocks from my house. For $10, yes $10, Peter (the owner) told me with honesty that, although he didn’t cure the bike completely, he replaced a cable, which made it ride much better.

Now, to prevent this from happening in the future, I will share what I have learned through the perils of purchasing a bike:

• Not to knock Craigslist, it is a very useful way to search for apartments without brokers and find items being sold in your neighborhood, but be wary when purchasing on that site. Anyone can advertise there, and while it’s supposed to be an honest space to sell your stuff, anyone is still anyone.
• If you’re buying a bike, don’t trust that it’s in good shape if the person who is selling it claims they only rode it ONCE.
• I know you might be excited when you see it, but TEST RIDE FOR LONGER THAN 30 SECONDS.
• Trust local bike shops. They are honest people, especially if you notice that everyone in the neighborhood is on very friendly terms with the owner - that is a good sign.

And, I have to say, after about a month and a half of riding it, I have encountered zero problems. Now, if I could only get myself to stop biking past my ex-boyfriend’s subway stop every week . . .

-Courtney Centeno, account executive

Last weekend I spent 3 days at the Cape with my family. I’m one who loves tropical beaches - white sand and palm trees, but there is nothing like the New England beaches!

First, I’d like to get it off my chest that every time I saw one of those “SOS” stickers opposing the wind turbines, I had to refrain myself from egging the cars they were stuck on. Well, maybe I didn’t even have a carton of eggs available to me, but come on people! I’m from Massachusetts. If we claim to be a liberal state, then we should all quit whining and accept the fact that this could arguably be one of the best choices we’ve made. Plus, wind turbines actually look quite pretty.

Aside from the passive-aggressive turbine protests, Cape Cod offers quite a view for the traveler. As a most recent broken bicycle owner, I mournfully looked into some travel bike trips on the Cape as I can’t imagine a better bike ride than one that trails along the coast. The New York Times online has a great bike guide for Cape Cod visitors and/or residents.

When I was about fourteen, my aunt and I rented a tandem bicycle for the day and biked around Provincetown. I highly recommend doing this, so fun! To me, biking offers the best opportunity to tour a place without letting everything whiz past you in a blink and still allowing you to reach your destinations at a faster pace than walking. I know what you’re thinking - “duh!”

-Courtney Centeno, account executive

After receiving a tip from a friend that Craigslist has a large market for bicycles in Brooklyn, I did my own research and returned with a 1960s brown vintage cruiser.

I bought the bike from a young lady about my age in Park Slope. My roommate accompanied me and watched as I took the cruiser for a 30-second test ride to the first corner. It seemed like a perfect fit, so I handed over the cash and my roommate and I loaded the bike in the back of her Element and drove back to our neighborhood in Williamsburg.

I became slightly panicked when, after bringing home the bike and eagerly taking it out for a ride, almost immediately there was something wrong with the chain! While crossing a street, I suddenly lost resistance against the pedals and began pedaling like a foolish maniac as my bike sort of just stood there like a stubborn horse in the middle of the road. I managed to drift toward the sidewalk where I checked to see if the chain fell off, but it appeared perfectly intact. Now, I’m not a bicycle expert, but I started feeling that maybe I was ripped off.

This discouraged me, as I always like to think that Craigslist is one of the few websites out there that is still fair and has not been overrun by commercial advertisements. I frantically emailed the girl who sold me the bike, explaining the problem while typing with crossed fingers, hoping I didn’t get scammed! I was a bit ashamed of making accusations so quickly when the girl immediately responded to my email, apologizing and saying this never happened before and suggesting I check the chain while requesting that I keep her posted on the issue. I have a friend scoping out the situation today.

If all turns out well, and I’m sure it will one way or another, I will still use Craigslist as an expedient for finding cool used stuff. After all, I did find a great apartment in Brooklyn that my roommate and I are very pleased with! You can’t win them all, but, at least when purchasing a bike, make your test ride longer than 30 seconds!

-Courtney Centeno, account executive