The Montague Twins




So... these showed up today.  They are full-sized folding bikes (Montague Navigators).
The "Montague Twins" have arrived!

In January, I met some friends for a walk at Eau Claire Market in Calgary.  I got there early, so I wandered into Power In Motion and discovered these amazing bikes.

I decided that I liked the Navigator best for my purposes (for touring, and a preference for disc brakes).  I took one of their flyers and took it home to show Brent.  I figured one of three things would happen:
  1. He would come up with a reason why the bike wasn't good for touring and talk me out of it;
  2. He would say "sure, that's fine for you, but I'm not interested" (most likely outcome);
  3. He would say "Wow - that's awesome!  I want one too!"
To my surprise, it was #3 that actually happened.  Well... not immediately... on March 2 I dragged Brent down to Calgary to meet one of the bikes in person and that's when he decided that he was interested in one too.

Brent has mostly toured on a Jamis mountain bike ("The Tank").  He rode it when he and Doug did their big tour across Canada.  He took it along when we went to Australia.  He took it along on our six-month trip in Europe.  Tragically, he had to leave it behind in Rijeka (see Perils of Poor Planning).  He replaced "The Tank" with "Black Beauty", a Specialized mountain bike (about as similar to "The Tank" as he could find).  

Thanks to a very fortuitous consultation with a lovely young fellow at Mountainbike City in Calgary I have always ridden Kona Dew Deluxes.  When Brent first talked me into touring I had hardly ridden since I was a child, and when I explained to said young fellow that Brent had talked me into doing the Golden Triangle, he recommended the Dew Deluxe and I've been in love with this bike ever since.  Sadly (but not quite tragically), I had to leave "Dewey" (my first-ever Dew Deluxe) behind in Rijeka.  I deliberately left my second Dew Deluxe, "Dewie" (see what I did there?), behind in Germany in 2017, and currently own "Polka Dewey" (I've been naming my Dew Deluxes "Dewey" since before Kona named a model "Dewey"), and Radbert.  

Anyway, I digress.  

When I dragged Brent out to Power in Motion in March to look at a Navigator, I didn't expect him to decide to buy one, married as he is to the heavy mountain bikes that he normally rides.  I took him there mostly to get him to look the bike over and assess its suitability for ME to tour on.  But when he saw it, he didn't immediately say 'no', which in Brent-speak is essentially a HELLZ YEAH.

Power in Motion, which is in Calgary, is the only store in Western Canada where you can get a Navigator bike, so, being that I spend most of my time in Edmonton, I had to order our new toys over the phone.  I did that on March 4, and the bikes were supposed to be ordered and arrive before the end of March.  There was a slight delay, but then to my extreme delight, we were able to pick them up today when we were in Calgary anyway for an Easter visit with friends.

We are planning on taking the "Montague Twins" on our upcoming tour to France.  I'm hoping that, being folding bikes, they'll be a little easier to deal with as far as the traveling goes.  As patient and wonderful as Brent is for disassembling and packing, then unpacking and re-assembling my bikes, I would prefer to be able to take care of these necessities of life on my own.

It didn't take us long to pimp out "The Twins".  All it takes is a frame bag and a faded red pannier to make a bike look like "Brent's Bike".  Fuzzy spokes and a Mirrycle Mirror for mine, if you please.

Now we're down to the oh-so-important business of assigning names to the bikes.  They are, of course, "The Montague Twins"... but what will be their first names?  

I had suggested "Dick" and "Jane" because I'm entertained by the idea of saying that we're out having "fun with Dick and Jane", but Brent isn't super keen on the idea.  He's leaning more towards naming his bike Monty.  I'm not budging on the last name, so that would make it Monty Montague.

If they won't be "Dick" and "Jane", I am leaning towards naming mine "Veloria" (because, since 2015, I've decided that all my bikes should have either "Rad" or "Velo" in their names... a small nod to Germany and France - my two favorite places to tour).  As I mentioned earlier, I have a Dew Deluxe named Radbert, and I also have an early-season commuter mountain bike named Radmilla.  It's time for a bike with "Velo" in its name.  "Veloria Montague".

We'll take them out for their maiden voyage tomorrow - an afternoon ride around the Glenmore Reservoir with some friends.

Comments

  1. I love this...the history, the acquisition of the twins, the naming process...all of it! Veloria Montague sounds like a very classy lady, and Monty Montague a very dignified gentleman. I hope they are loyal, dependable comrades.

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  2. I can't wait to hear how the twins work out for you in France. I've been looking at the Navigator & Paratrooper models for a while now. They seem like they'd be great travel bikes, and I like the full size wheels. Figure I'd mostly be touring a mix of pavement and gravel. Congratulations, and please keep us updated.

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