Last time I was on a bike was 9 years ago. Bought and paid for a new second-hand bike just before Christmas, bike was couriered from a bike shop in another part of the country, arrived with a broken fork (courier damage, not the bike shop trying to rip me off), and nearly four weeks later the courier company and their insurer still haven't got their act together, I've still got a broken bike that I'm not allowed to get fixed as they want to collect it and send it to the other end of the country to assess it, they seem incapable of sending someone out to collect it, the assessment will apparently take three weeks to 'process' , and then they'll send it back to the bike shop where it started from!!!!! So given that it'll be close to four more weeks and another three journeys during which the useless couriers might damage the bike further, I've asked the bike shop for a refund and the only person who can make a decision on that is away until next week. So I can't even go bike-hunting at the weekend Meanwhile the 100k ride I was hoping to do in April is looking increasingly unachievable given the need for as much training time as possible I am so mad

And I don't even know what to look for if/when I do get the refund. Finding a second-hand bike that looked like the right bike at the right price took several weeks. A brand new bike would presumably be a quicker option and would obviously have some advantages, but would mean more money for a lower quality bike.

Rant over.