Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Missed The Target

We've been shopping for a bike for my oldest son. His didn't fare so well in the fire of '09, but he'd about outgrown his old one anyway. I like to describe myself as frugal, but my wife would use another word ... cheap.

Choose you own adjective, just understand that I never buy a thing without comparing prices at every last place I can think of. So there we were comparison shopping for bikes. One of the stops on our journey was Target.

Now I'll be honest, Target isn't my favorite store. I got nothing against the joint, other than it strikes me as a a tad girly. Think about it, you never see single men roaming around Target the way you do Wal-Mart, Big Lots, or even K-Mart. The only guys you see at Target are the sad unfortunate feet shuffling husbands like myself that get coerced.

Though I do give Target kudos for keeping the shopping store snack department alive. Nothing can save unbearable excursion like a Cherry Slurpee and a hot buttery pretzel. But I digress. Back to the bikes at good ol' Target.

There was the Mongoose Crush. A tad pricey but a decent looking bike with a good manly name ... CRUSH.


Next we looked at the RIP CLAW. Still a bit high, but the name and tiger stripes had my son interested.


The INVADER was getting closer to my intended price range, but it's drab Army green and lack of flair invoked nothing from my 8 year old.

So we moved on to the FALCON.

My son's shook his head and said, "Dad, it's a bird." I knew what he meant. Yeah falcons are birds of prey, but the ability to swoop down and nab a mouse doesn't correlate that well with the mad curb jumping and dirt handling skills a boys bike needs to possess.

And then we came to this.


Really? The IMPOSTER? That's the best the PR team at Magna Bikes could come up with? My son asked, "Dad, what an imposter?"

I shook my head and said, "Trust me an imposter isn't even half as cool as a falcon."

27 comments:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

A delightful post, but I think you meant a "good manly name" not a "goof manly name"! I resist the temptation to bring Sigmund Freud into this (LOL)!

pattinase (abbott) said...

I never had a new bike as a child. Come to think of it, I still haven't.

Hilary said...

Who knew there were such names?

Geesh.. It never had occurred to me before either, but I've never owned a new bike. Get that boy a bicycle soon!

Travis Erwin said...

My goof has now been good and fixed.

Cloudia said...

Great last line to a great post.
You know I love TARGET, right? All women seem to....Girly's good (to me)
My favourite motorcycle of all time (sorry vintage BMW) was a little maroon honda magna. the bike that founded a women's bike club! The bad I made on that bike....what was your post about again? gotta ride! VVVVVRRROOOOM!

Sandra Cormier said...

My son has definitely outgrown his bike. He shot up twelve inches in the last 18 months. He's due for a new bike for sure. We'll shop for one in July for his birthday.

My daughter had been making do with my 20 year old $100 Zellers mountain bike, but she's had her eye on some classic touring bikes. She picked up an old brown one at a yard sale and will be painting it turquoise.

Teresa said...

I'd go for the Rip Claw, personally. After all you've been through this year, the kid deserves something he really likes...

tera said...

Gasp! Target IS a girly store!
I never could figure out what the deal is with that place. Ha! My husband hates going in there. Now I know! :)

Melanie Hooyenga said...

ROFL!! You always manage to make me laugh out loud. :)

I'd go for the Rip Claw, or the green one and give him lots of stickers.

Beth said...

Wonder what they're naming girls' bikes these days? ;)

Kristen Painter said...

I've never really looked for single men at either Target or Walmart (much to my husband's appreciation, I imagine) but Target generally stocks things with better style points, so I don't know why more single guys don't shop there. It's almost like insurance against being completely pathetic design-wise.

Annie said...

Nice post. So, what did you decide?

Lissa said...

LOL!! I'll take Target over Walmart any day!! At least Target is clean... :]]

Melissa Amateis said...

Hahahaha...I see at Target they have some cool "retro" looking bikes, but I'm guessing your 8-year-old wouldn't like those, either. ;-)

Charles Gramlich said...

I remember shopping for bikes for Josh. I think we got him something called the Predator. I also discovered while doing that that there was a bike called Talera. Amazing.

Clare2e said...

Can't you scribble MALTESE in paint pen above the FALCON? That's epic old-skool cool. Add a Maltese cross sticker for tattoo-style creds, if you must.

Anonymous said...

My daughter's $650 mountain bike was stolen at the University of Hawaii. Now, she has a $150 bike purchased on Craig's List. Hope that one isn't stolen, too!

Anonymous said...

Hubby loves Target! I, myself, have shopped there just once.

Lois Karlin said...

Oh man, the analysis paralysis...it's so much harder now that we have the internet as well as Consumer Reports. I find it takes days to research things, and even then you read conflicting reviews online.

Unknown said...

I like the Rip Claw. Very cool name!

And imposter? PLEASE! Let's just go ahead and call it "generic".

And you're right. I never thought about it but Target IS girly, and I rarely have seen a man in there besides a worker.

ruby said...

I hope he enjoys his new bike! I wonder what the marketing strategy was behind "imposter"

Oh how I wish we had Target here!

Anonymous said...

Not sure we've ever bought a bike at Target. Used to go to Western Auto and get Western Flyer bikes. Nowadays, when we have to get a bike or bike add-ons, we go to the bike shop around the corner. They can make sure the bike really fits the rider, and they can repair them, and, um, it's within biking distance of the house.

Target is cool--love my sparkly red Target visa card. WalMart scared me when I went inside one. Brrr.

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

My oldest needs a new bike, and I should probably get one!

Here's something for you--

http://www.bettyconfidential.com/ar/h/a/a06326.html

Happy father's Day -- it'll run live tomorrow! : )

NotSoStoneCold said...

Makes me miss the good old days of Lukes Bike Shop. A man with no teeth, a bright orange ball cap, complete with a gold trophy mounted on the bill, riding a homemade double-decker bike, now that says style!

laughingwolf said...

so, whatcha get the wee lad?

Lindy said...

LOL poor kid having a cheap dad is tuff- buy him the rip claw.

Junosmom said...

I never liked Target - I don't like the colors of their clothes for women/girls. Maybe I don't like it because I'm not a girly-girl? I do like the smell of popcorn when you first go in.

So you got the falcon?