The Best Bike

There were two bikes for sale at the car boot sale, side by side on the wet grass. Lina wanted one of them. Her cousin Pavel wanted to help, which mostly meant finding problems.

“This blue one is nice,” Lina said, lifting it. “But it's heavy.”

“The red one is heavier,” Pavel said. He lifted it too. “Feel it.” “It's like a small car.”

“Okay, so the blue one is lighter. Good.” Lina looked at the wheels. “But the tyres on the red one are wider.” “Wider is better, isn't it? For a bumpy road?”

“Wider is better for the road,” Pavel said. “But the blue frame is narrower, so it's easier to carry up the stairs.” “Your flat is on the third floor.”

Lina sighed. “So the blue one is better for stairs, and the red one is better for the road.” “They're not as different as I thought.”

“How much are they?” Pavel asked the seller.

“The blue one is thirty. The red one is twenty-five.”

“So the blue one is the more expensive one,” Lina said, “and the worse one for bad roads.” “But it's lighter, and it's cheaper than a new bike by a hundred pounds.”

“Which is the best, then?” Pavel asked. He was enjoying this.

Lina looked at both bikes for a long time. They were almost the same. Almost.

“The cheap one,” she said finally. “The best bike is the one I can actually afford.”

She paid the twenty-five pounds for the red one and rode away, slowly, on the wider, heavier, cheaper bike. Pavel walked behind, still finding problems.