I’m torn as to which kinds of bicycles would serve me best in the long run. On the one hand, I don’t need anything more since the garage is completely stocked. On the other hand, having a stunning commuting bike is something that has long been a dream of mine. But is it necessary for me to have three bicycles?

My first bike was a reliable Jamis Durango that was cobalt blue in colour. It belonged to me before I had children, and my husband and I used to ride it around the town in the Midwest where we both attended college. There’s nothing fancy or creative about this mountain bike; it’s simply your standard model, with 21 gears and no suspension. There is nothing inherently wrong with it, but I find that it does not capture my imagination in the same way as the cute and girly cruiser bikes do that I see in shops and around town. Do you think it makes me a petty person to care about things like bike sweets when I have Mr. Dependable?

My most recent purchase was a Felt road bike with a frame designed specifically for ladies. This bicycle is AMAZING to me. It is a good fit for my physique, it moves along like a dream, and it did not put a significant strain on my money account. The majority of road bikes that I came across were priced between $1,000 and $3,000, but this one was just $525 and was on sale. It’s possible that there are “far better” bicycles available, but for the time being, this one is perfectly enough to satisfy my demand for velocity.

The issue is that I want to spend a lot more time this summer biking with my sons, but my Felt isn’t meant to haul the weight of Monkey Boy plus his Trail-a-Bike, which totals somewhere about 65 pounds. The Jamis, with its beefier frame, is perfectly capable of doing the task at hand; but, if I equip it for commuting, I will need to do a lot of reconfiguring if I want to take it mountain riding this summer. Every time I have the urge to ride for the hills, I don’t want to have to disassemble my bike rack, take off my panniers, and take the basket off. When I consider using a cruiser as my primary mode of transportation to and from work, I understand that a bicycle with just three gears is not going to be enough for the hills that are common in this area, and this is particularly true if I am pulling the Monkey Boy rig behind me.

But do I really need another bike?

The Electra Om was the name of the cruiser I had my eye on throughout the previous summer. Gorgeous colour, incredible attention to detail, and a really comfortable ride; but, having just three gears would be a nightmare for my knees considering all of the slopes I have to climb to reach anyplace else. Someday . . .