Lab4Us

About 3.1 miles to my LBS to have them order it for me and put it together for me...unless of course they had something in the showroom, new or used, that I just had to have.

indyfabz

I took the train to pick up my dream bike. Then I rode it home.

TrojanHorse

Hm, I drove down to San Diego to get my last bike. I could have had them ship it, sure, but I wanted to test ride it and by god, new bike day should be a holiday. It was about 3.5 hours total in the car, so not too obscene.

My current dream bike is a small builder up in Santa Cruz and you're DAMN RIGHT I'd drive up there to get it. That would be more like 6+ hours each way in the car, so it would be a weekend holiday with some riding mixed in.

Do what makes you happy.

sdmc530

Well I did a 11 hour one way to get one. It was awesome! I love road trips though. I think I would drive anyplace in the US though, nothing more fun than just driving across the US and seeing what a person can find.

The best trips are sometimes the unplanned ones.

Jeremiesmith77

Update: A week ago, I did end up driving 11 hours roundtrip to get the 62cm LHT. I don’t regret it at all because this could be my commuting/touring bike for the next 20 years.

The guy I bought it from was a really cool person that had the bike over 10 years and babied it, it looks practically brand new. He had the bike built for him when he retired and health problems prevented him from riding it as much as he wanted. I got a great price on it and it is exactly the bike I wanted. 🍻

I am building it up for my fit with trekking bars, regular seatpost, clipless pedals, and new brooks saddle in the next week or so. Ill post pics when it is done.

Jeremiesmith77

It was totally worth the drive. What a wonderful bike! Here it is after I built it up to my preferences:

tim24k

I once did 1,500 miles round trip to get a nice Bridgestone 700 to add to my stable of classic steel bikes.

Harhir

The bike looks awesome. I agree that it was totally worth it. What frame size is that? I lov that style. I have a 1994 trekking bike in a similar style and will only part with it when I can no longer ride it.

MikeRides

My mother bought her [gently used] Peugeot road bike (her first as an adult) while stationed in Germany in the 70s and had it shipped when she returned to the States. She rode it everywhere over there for 5yrs, she worked on an US Army base and lived off base and couldn't see buying a car. She still has it and rides it to this day, it's probably one of her most prized possessions. The furthest I drove to pick up my bike(s) was 50miles(or about an hour),

Phil_gretz

I'm glad that it worked out for the OP. It looks like the LHT turned out exactly as he had envisioned. That's good news, indeed.

Each of us is different. I hate driving. I really hate driving. So for me to drive anywhere at all, there has to be a compelling reason. If it's for something that can be purchased and shipped, I compare the cost of my miles (@ $0.55 per mile) and the loss of my time into the equation.

If I have to take a leave day, then I factor in the cost of burning 9 hours of vacation at my current rate of pay. When you see the numbers, it's sobering, and makes the cost of shipping seem miniscule...

I might be willing to drive 45 minutes each way for a particular bike, and have done so. Recently for a Fuji America that I thought that I wanted, and turned out really well. But I sold it in the end. So...

Jeremiesmith77

62 cm, We have gotten acquainted on my long commute (30 miles rt) over the last few weeks and I love it. The steel frame eats up road chatter so the ride is very smooth. I plan on doing a short tour this weekend to see how it performs loaded.

Jeremiesmith77

biking across the US would be more fun 😉

Harhir

Mine is a 62 cm as well. What model Brooks saddle is this? I had a Brooks 66 for years and after one rail broke and I had to replace the saddle frame I could never get the tension right. Tried other ones including a B195 but so far I have not found one yet I really like. But I am also a heavy dude.

This is my trusty 25 year old red one. Upgrade to a hub dynamo is still to be done. I already have the wheel.

breadbin

I'm glad you took the plunge and went for it OP. You cant put a price on something like this. Dont listen to the naysayers. My perfect bike is in Japan and I even thought about travelling the 10000km. Its a journey and bike youd never forget😁

Senrab62 

​​​​​​Soooooo about that 10 hours is too long, I am considering a trip that would be 10 hours one way! GF and I plan to do a short extended weekend getaway if I pull the trigger.

OP, glad this worked out for you and you love the bike. Our love of these machines and riding them is what keeps us going anyway.

Piperflyer

I wanna update. Did you get it? How do you like your LHT? More and more i look at one, the more i want to get a LHT Disc for myself.

katsup

Scroll up to post 31.

daoswald

The question is silly if you put it in the context of how many hours would you *ride* the bike?

Is a 2-hour drive too long of a drive to pick up a bike that you will regularly be doing three-hour, four-hour, six-hour, or multi-day rides on?

My hybrid, I drove about an hour to pick up from a private seller. As it's my commuter (fair-weather) I ride it several hours a week. The hour drive was nothing.

On the other hand, how far is far enough that you would just ship it instead?

aplcr0331

If the money I was saving on the bike+trip expenses was less than the cost of buying it local, I’d drive maybe 8 hours one way. Quick overnight trip would be the most I’d do.

Maybe more if there was a significant land mark cycling destination for me to ride the new dream bike up once I bought it...I’d go pretty far for that.

I’m planning some long drives to the continent for some rides in the mountains, this is my hobby so I’m willing to work a bit to enjoy it I suppose.

Piperflyer

Whoops. Silly me i guess i missed that part of the post! Thanks.

i love the look with those bars and the bar wrap / seat combo