Will it be the Muddyfox?
After breakfast, Charlie and I spent the better part of the morning looking at the available bike options for the trip. We started at Sports Direct, a chain store on Mariahilfer Street, just three minutes from Hostel Ruthensteiner. There, we encountered the Muddyfox, a bargain bicycle priced between 225 and 275 €. These 18 speed steel bikes came with both racks and fenders, a serious option for the rest of the group. Paint jobs were sharp. Could this be real?
Next, we hopped the subway green line to a used bike shop approximately twenty-five minutes away. There were two steel frame bikes at the place that were something to think about. One was an Italian job with a single hand and coaster break. This little gem had a internal hub with six speeds. Interesting...
Back near the hostel, Radlheim Funfhaus, a repair shop that also sold used bicycles, had just opened. I rode the Batavus there in anticipation of their ability to fix it. We entered the small sanctuary.
The bicycle priest inside immediately laid his careful hands on my machine, looking for injuries. When I had entered Vienna last year, the Batavus had a broken a spoke in front and the rear wheel was out of true. This holy man of cycling identified precisely what the bike needed (in addition, new brake pads and a general tune up) and quoted me 75 €. I left the Batavus in his care. As a side note, the "Hall of Shit" on the wall contained a Muddyfox break. Questions arose...
The afternoon involved a coffee and iced tea near the shop, then a light nap at the hostel. I picked up my Batavus around six and we headed downtown for a bite. People watching and a light sandwich near Saint Stephen’s Cathedral.
A subway ride to the canal and a stroll capped the evening.
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