Perfect Holiday Gift, Black Friday 2008, Consumer Promotions website

Senior Citizen Loves Her New Bike
I'm a 70+ retired teacher who used to ride a bike everywhere, back in the 70's, but had not ridden for at least a decade. I wanted a good way to exercise outdoors, so decided to try biking again. I bought my Dektra chainless about 2 months ago, and with the help of my son, got it assembled, seat and gears adjusted, and ready to ride. It took me a few rides around the neighborhood, out of traffic, to get the hang of it again - notably, getting on and off without losing my balance. (My previous women's style bikes had a lower bar so one could easily step through, and this one has a higher bar.) At first the 3rd gear wouldn't operate smoothly, but I called tech support and got the instructions. Actually, the instructions are in the material enclosed with the bike (the sheet on from Shimano about the 'bell crank,' but those of us who are not familiar with that term might have a hard time locating the information.) The adjustment is pretty easy, but it's a little hard to see what you're doing because of the way the mechanism is oriented. They say to 'look at the two yellow lines from directly above,' but in fact, you can't see them from above. They are turned toward the ?drive shaft? (not sure of the right name for this part) and are really hard to see.

Once I got my 'bicycle legs' back, so to speak, I started to ride regularly on a nearby bike trail, about 5 miles at a time, and even making a 15-mile round trip to a nearby nature center. It's really great!

A note to other 'seniors' who haven't ridden in awhile: back when I used to ride all the time, nobody wore helmets. I don't think they had even come onto the market or been promoted. (I did say I'm over 70, didn't I?) But this time I bought one, and a good thing! On one of my trips, the bike skidded on some loose gravel and I fell on the back of my head. No problem. I had my helmet on. I also carry a cell phone, just in case.

In short, I'm very happy with my bike and expect to get a lot of enjoyment out of it.