My dilemma

I'm not sure how I happened upon Dottie and Trisha's bicycle blog, Let's Go Ride A Bike, but it is a place that I am always more than happy to visit. I've cycled, mainly for fun, for a lot of my life but it was here that I realised that cycling is more than just a sport and a bicycle is more than just a piece of equipment. Bikes can be used to get to and from work, carry your groceries home from the shops and cycling can be another mode of transport aside from the car or bus. It sounds silly but I never thought about using my bike for this everyday stuff as I more or less used the car to do these things.

It was only when I started reading bicycle blogs that I realised I too wanted to use my bicycle for more than a bike ride every now and again. I'm nowhere near the stage where I'll be car free, although sometimes I wish we were, but for shopping trips and getting to work (except for those 'orrible night shifts) I do want to use the car less.

Now, my poor bike is really feeling his age - I've been using him a lot lately and he's developing a different squeak every day. I think the road to (semi) retirement is getting closer for my dear Marin and a new bicycle to keep him company in the garage is just what he needs. Well, to be honest I've been after a new bike for ages and now seems to be the right time to do it.

When I first started looking for a new bicycle, I immediately fell in love with the Pashley Princess. Handbuilt in Stratford-upon-Avon since 1926, she's quintessentially English (a very odd thing for a Welsh girl to want!) and extremely elegant. Miss Sarah at Girls and Bicycles, another great bike blog, has put together some fab information about her experiences with her Pashley in her posts, Pashley 101, Pashley 201 and Pashley 202.




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  The Pashley really is a beautiful bike... Miss Sarah sells it well.

But! The more I read about Dottie's Workcycles Azor Oma, I'm in love!





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She seems more solidly built than Pashley, if you know what I mean, but just as pretty! Dottie has a thorough review and lots of beautiful pictures of Oma, so you can see why she's on my wish list.

Then I discovered the Velorbis Dannebrog through another review by Dottie (she's a busy girl)



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Isn't she's pretty in red? I want to try her out too.

My head hurts. There's too much choice - what is a girl to do? Truth be told, I think I've fallen for the Pashley. My first crush is hard to beat so I need to get me a sweet test ride from one of my local bike shops and take it from there!

Which one would you go for?!