New Family Member 家中新成員

Last October, my son’s bike was stolen from the underground carpark of my apartment. You might think that I didn’t properly lock the bike, but the truth is that I used a set of Cable Locks to secure it. Regrettably, those security measures were not sufficient, and the bike thieves easily cut through the locks.

Bike theft is extremely common in the UK. According to published statistics, approximately 74,421 bikes were stolen in 2022, which means an average of one bike was stolen every seven minutes. These statistics only include reported cases, so the actual numbers are likely even higher. Interestingly, 78% of bike users in the UK have experienced having their bikes stolen, so I’m not alone!

兒子的單車在去年十月尾被偷了，地點是我住的 apartment 的地下停車場。 你可能認為我沒有把單車鎖好才給賊人下手的機會，但實情是我已用到一組 Cable Locks 鎖上，遺憾的是保安程度不夠高，輕易地被偷車賊剪斷了。

單車盜竊在英國是極之普遍，據資料顯示，2022 年大約有 74,421 架單車被盜，平均每七分鐘，就會有一部，由於數據僅包括已報失的個案，相信實際情況更嚇人，而更有趣的是 78% 的英國單車使用者都有曾被偷車的經驗，所以我亦不算是太走運！

Buying a bicycle in the UK is indeed not cheap. Some well-known brands can cost at least five to six hundred pounds per unit, and they often come with relatively low-grade components. As such, I didn’t immediately buy another one. Instead, I planned to wait for a change in season or seasonal sales before considering a new purchase.

Early this month, Giant UK was preparing to release their brand-new 2024 bike models. To clear their existing stock, they offered some of the older models at very attractive discounted prices. Of course, I wouldn’t miss such an opportunity.

From the Giant UK official website, I found a 2022 model Talon 3, which was basically the same as my stolen 2021 model. This relatively new version came with some minor component upgrades and was originally priced at £619. It was now on sale for £465, which is £34 cheaper than my old bike.

在英國買單車真的不便宜，一些較有名的品牌動輒五、六佰鎊一部，用上的零件亦頗低檔，所以我亦沒有即時購置另一部，留待換季或大減價再考慮。

月初英國 Giant 準備推出全新 2024 車款，好些舊有型號為了清貨，特别以低價速銷，我當然不會放過機會。

在 Giant UK 官網找到一部 2022 年款的 Talon 3，與被偷去的 2021 年款舊車屬方於同一型號，零件配置上只稍作升級，原價 £619，現減至 £465，比我的舊車還便宜了£34。

Talking about body size, Asians are generally smaller than British people, making it much more difficult to get an Extra-Small (XS) size bike to fit my son. The only one available was a light gray unit at the Giant Twickenham store. Without hesitation, we rushed there to place the order.

After some thorough inspection and setup by the technician, we managed to pick up the bike one week later. Before leaving, the technician reminded us that the new bike’s hydraulic brakes would need some time to break in. They suggested that I should return to the store for a check-up after about sixty+ kilometers of ride. Compared to the service from the previous shop where I bought my old bike, the service here was way much better.

論身形，東方人比英國人較細小，適合兒子的加細碼型號 (XS) 存貨不多，僅剩下一部淺灰色的在 Twickenham 的專門店有現貨，二話不說，即時和兒子趕去訂貨。

經店員詳細檢查設定後，終於在一星期後取車。 臨走前，店員提醒我新車的液壓煞車需要一段時間磨合，建議我跑上六十多公里後回店再作檢查及作適當調整，相比之下較先前購置舊車的店舖服務更好。

Here comes the summer vacation now with plenty of sunshine and it’s definitely the perfect time to bring my son back from the virtual gaming world to reality. After some discussions with him, we decided to take a ride to Sunbury.

暑假剛開始了好幾天，日間陽光充沛，正適合把兒子從虛擬的遊戲世界帶返現實，和他商議一輪後决定和 Sunbury 走一轉。

Having such a “long ride”, my boy would definitely like to enjoy his favourite Spaghetti Bolognese. And this cafe, Little Italy, is also the one he considers the best he’s ever tried.

騎了這好一段路當然要順便吃他至愛的 Spaghetti Bolognese 啦 ，而這意大利小店 Little Italy 亦是他認為吃過最好的一間。

One more point to note, the most commonly stolen brand of bike in UK is Specialized, taken up 27.6% of the overall figure.

順帶一提，在英國最多被盗的單車品牌是 Specialized ，佔了 27.6%。