New "Princess" in the House

As an earlier not-so-subtle hint implied, I have acquired another bicycle... a Pashley Poppy. I sometimes wonder what is wrong with me and why I can't manage to simply steer clear of adding bicycles to the flock, but they really do just seem to find me. In this particular case, the Pashley had been gathering dust in a bike shop in Texas, and I was able to purchase it with a really incredible discount a few weeks ago. I almost couldn't say no... and I guess I ultimately didn't. In fact, I drove poor Sam insane with my daily, "But it's such a good deal!" and "So, how mad will you be if I buy this?" type of questions/statements. I finally decided to just go for it and deal with the aftermath later. I suppose I figured if all else failed, I would get to use it for a bit and then could likely sell it without much of a loss to someone else. And who doesn't want to pass along bicycle love?

Here is a stock image from Pashley of the Poppy.

Stock Pashley Poppy set up

The frame is the same as the Pashley Princess or the Pashley Princess Sovereign; however, the Poppy has been painted in a more contemporary color (Pashley's terminology, not mine). In addition to the paint color change, the tires are the cream Schwalbe Delta Cruisers (rather than the black Schwalbe Marathon tires), the saddle is a Brooks B67s (rather than the B66s), the handlebars are a more flat bar (rather than the porteur or touring style handlebar on the Princess), the grips are a cork blend of some sort (rather than the black rubber standard of the Princess), it has a Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hub (rather than the SA 5-speed), and a partial chainguard (instead of the fully enclosed chainguard). The Sovereign also comes standard with a front wicker basket, while the Poppy does not (however, mine did come with the basket), and the standard kickstands are also a bit different. The Poppy's has what I would term a more "modern" looking Pletscher kickstand. There are other subtractions for this particular model. As you can see, there are no skirt/coat guards on this bicycle, no rear rack, no wheel lock, and no lighting system. In some ways, it seems like a stripped down model, but on the up side, the bicycle is also a little less than 10 pounds/4.5 kilograms lighter.

While the bicycle is fine as it stands, I will be making additions/changes to this bike. For example, I'm not fond of the handlebars on this bike, and while I had tried out a different style, I wasn't thrilled with those either, so, I will probably trade out for the mustache bars to see how they feel. If those don't work, I will find something more along the lines of the Princess models. There are also plans to add a rear rack because I need a place to carry items - nothing fancy, but something that will work for some light items, and I'm very tempted to hunt down some crocheted skirt guards for 26" wheels (which seem to be a bit more difficult to find).

As for the ride, well, I forgot how upright the Pashley is! I kept asking Sam, "Does this frame seem different from the Princess?" To which he kept saying, "No. It looks the same." I think I'd just forgotten how it was to ride this bicycle, despite the fact that it really hasn't been that long since I sold the Princess Sovereign. I even had to pull up a side-by-side picture of the two to ensure that I wasn't losing my mind.

Visual comparison of Pashley Princess Sovereign vs Pashley Poppy

While my reasons for selling the Princess Sovereign remain valid, I just couldn't turn down this awesome deal. It was never that I disliked the ride, but rather more of our current living situation (which has a possibility of changing in the relatively near future... but that's a post of another sort), and a desire to not house such an expensive bicycle that wasn't being used to its full potential. There really is no justification for purchasing the Poppy, other than knowing it was an extremely good deal, and well, I honestly just thought it was supposed to be mine... at least for now. Pictures of the Poppy are forthcoming, but for now, I just couldn't resist posting about the new "princess" in the house.