It was my first day of classes. I hiked from the sorority quad all the way up to SPAC, Northwestern’s gym, which is a 0.8 mile walk. I got to my class and I was perspiring, with sweat pooling above my upper lip. After my class I trekked back down to south campus to grab a bite from my house, before I was off again walking back up North to the Ford Design Center. In this one day I walked a total of 2.3 miles, which is great – go exercise! But the problem was my time was crunched between waking up in time, to not missing lunch, and arriving with time to spare to my afternoon class.
I decided I needed a bike, but where to start? Buying a bike is an investment and I didn’t want to mess this up. I needed something durable that would last me the next three years, something easy that would get me from point A to point B and obviously, it had to be aesthetically pleasing.
Northwestern has alternative options like Divvy Bikes, that people can check by putting in a credit card. These bikes aren’t the most comfortable and if you rent a Divvy Bike every day, that will definitely burn a hole through your pocket. Students often opt for skateboards or taking the shuttle, which gets extremely crowded throughout the day.
After asking around, I realized that it’s not easy to find an affordable bike in Evanston. There are only a few bike stores in Evanston, The Pony Shop, Bucephalus Bikes, Everyday Cycles and Motion, and Wheel and Sprocket. I finally decided to check out Wheel and Sprocket, the store that both of my roommates purchased their bikes from. The store is filled with all different styles of bikes, cruisers, mountain bikes and road bikes. I had no idea what to choose, and I wasn’t about to drop $1,000 on a bike. After testing out a few bikes I chose the 7-gear Electra Cruiser, which is by no means a steal. The basic Electra Cruiser was about $100 dollars less, but I knew I needed gears – I didn’t want to be running into people on Sheridan Road. The great thing about Wheel and Sprocket is that they price match. I found the same cruiser for a cheaper price on a different website and they were able to accommodate. The model of my bike wasn’t in the store but they ordered it online, assembled it in their shop and it was ready to be picked up three days later.
Owning a bike has cut down my travel time substantially and it is also really fun. It makes heading to class and running errands enjoyable. The only thing I’m not excited about is biking in 40-degree weather – wish me luck!
Gif Courtesy of Giphy