Knotted,

The local store that sells Kona's is sort of strange. I was worried if we went there, he would never be able to get good service. They are very uppity and don't like to service a commuter. I just worry they also would not want to sell "just a commuter" as well. He liked the Smoke, though, but unfortunately the frame and geometry would have been too big. A 15'' frame.

We went to most of the local stores. Did not go to a couple I knew were completely overpriced and not worth it. Went to one and looked at a Raleigh. The shifters weren't as good as the Trek he was interested in and it had a suspension fork which Dad didn't want (was too heavy and too much extra work while moving. I told him we could switch that out if that was "the one", but we should look at more.

He agreed and we went to another store where we saw a Jamis Commuter. It was a nice bike,but they didn't have his size, so would have to order it. It was also far overpriced for what it was and this is another shop where if it is not a competition bike, you get very little attention.

I saved my favorite shop for last and he was shown a WIDE range of specialize and trek bikes, but he liked the 7000 best. It was at the low end of price, but he liked it the best. It was also very light. I wasn't sure about the shifters and neither was he, but he tried them and liked them. He liked the more gears, actually, so that was good.

We switched out the seat and fitted it and he was happy, so it was a successful day.