There is an effort being made in some parts of the country to provide 29-inch wheel, single-speed mountain bikes to our missionaries, known as the '29'er. These bikes were primarily designed for off-road trail riding.

After some of our local missionaries did a test-ride of this style of bike they universally commented, "I don't want that bike". The bike is heavy, ungainly to ride with its oversized wheels, has clumsy handling characteristics, and, most importantly, is very difficult to ride up even moderate hills. And it definitely lacks the ability to cruise at reasonable riding speeds on flat terrain.

The logic in providing a single speed bike that is neither a good hill climber nor an efficient flat ground cruiser escapes us. The bike is offered with changeable rear cogs, however how impractical would it be to attempt to change a cog for each riding condition, hills to flat ground or vice versa, while on a ride, and at the same time manage investigator appointments? It would be very inconvenient and even unrealistic.

These bikes are also going to be difficult to secure safely to the bike racks on mission cars since they have long wheelbases and large wheels and may project out beyond the dimensions of the car too easily, and can be more prone to cause paint damage to the mission car.

For many years, as originally recommended by the Church, the best and most versatile bike for missionaries has been a high quality hard-tail mountain bike with multi-speed gearing. Any other design variations such as racing bikes, beach cruisers or monster '29'ers are not suitable for, or recommended to, our missionaries.

One final thought: attempting to ride heavy bikes up hills without the ability to gear down adequately invites unnecessary wear and tear on knees that may plague missionary bike riders for many years to come.

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WHAT IS A MISSIONARY BICYCLE?

A missionary bicycle promotes person to person communication.
It's never easier to talk with interested individuals than when you encounter them on the street, in a park, or outside of a supermarket, while riding your bike.

A missionary bicycle helps preserve our environment.
"Greening" our planet is a significant concern to many folks. When you ride by on your missionary bike, you're bound to get a thumb's up.

A missionary bicycle puts you in closer touch with creation.
Riding along on a beautiful day truly gives you a spiritual uplift when you see, hear and smell all of nature around you.

A missionary bicycle is one of the best forms of exercise you can get.
For low impact, high energy exercise, it's hard to beat the effective contribution cycling makes to your quality of life.

A missionary bicycle helps build humility when you really need it.
Riding along through mud puddles and up steep hills brings you to a level of drop-to-your-knees humility faster than anything except an out and out miracle.

A missionary bicycle promotes mechanical aptitudes and skills.
Any missionary who returns after his mission and intends to get married will certainly want to acquire mechanical competency and skills. What better way than maintaining a missionary bike for two years.

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How to Select and Care for a Missionary Bicycle

We want you to be aware of a costly program being pedaled to mission offices which will result in either higher prices for you, and/or inconsistent and poorer service than you expect.

If you click on the link above, you can read their FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). As you read through them, realize they are targeted at the retail bike distributor, not the customer. If you read the list closely, you'll understand why it isn't intended for the consumer to read. It's targeted at local bike shop owners to convince them to join this new type of multi-level marketing scheme. They have a targeted market: LDS Missionaries. But this market turns over often enough that they are guaranteed a new crop of customers very often.

Here are some points you should consider as you ponder their FAQ:

1. They point out 2 layers of profit-taking: The program sponsor, and the local bike dealer. Each sale results in a commission being paid to LDSBikeProgram.

2. They guarantee the local bike shop the same profit on a $200 bike as they make on a $600 bike. Can you afford to pay $100 or $150 profit to someone over and above the regular cost of a bike? Especially such an inexpensive bike as one costing only $200?

3. The promise of getting more than 2 tune-ups is to be expected. If a missionary is never transferred, that might be the case, but most missionaries never get 1 real tune-up, let alone the second promised free tune-up. For LDSBikeProgram to promise the local bike dealer they will profit more by doing more than 2 tune-ups is, in the vernacular of the day, disingenuous.

4. They promise that having local support after the sale will give the missionary more security knowing he will be taken care of. But, how many missionaries who buy bikes stay in the same area as the mission office after they buy their bike? Of course some do, but most do not. Most will be transferred to remote areas of their missions and never be around the bike shop.

5. They promise the local bike shop that they can be sure to make money by up-selling the missionary with accessories, many of which will not be necessary if a bike package is complete already.

6. They promise the local bike shop that if they participate, they should expect to deliver bikes to the mission office once per month, however we've heard that they are telling the mission offices they will have bikes delivered whenever the office needs them for new missionaries.

7. Another misrepresentation is that very few bikes are ever stolen. In fact, many are stolen and this is a major problem for missionaries. Statistics gathered by our reputable advertisers indicate as many as 10% of missionaries who have bikes, have a bike stolen at some point during their mission. That is significant and a far cry from few.

8. They also recommend sliming tires to reduce the incidence of flats. If you ask a reputable bike maintainer about adding slime to bike tires, you'll find they tell you it's not a good practice.

9. Another piece of bad advice they offer is the use of chain, or cable locks. Any resourceful crook is happy to see that type of lock because stealing the bike is easier.

We also want to help you save money. As with any direct-marketing plan, this adds to the retail price of a product to pay multiple levels of sales organizations so each level makes money, thus reducing the value/dollar ratio significantly.

As with any item in our help topics section, please give us feedback if you find information which either supports doesn't support our claims.

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One day I decided to call the mission office to see what they thought about it. I wanted to get one here and then mail it to him. I thought maybe since I was the 'mom', that I could find one a little bit cheaper, but still a good one. HAHA! Well, when I called the mission office the Elder there told me to wait until he arrived in the field, because there were many areas that were bus and car areas only. He told me it would be best to wait to see where he went.

I decided we'd wait. When he got to the field he bought a bike from another missionary for $20. Now, I must tell you that my son is a 'fix-it' kinda kid. He is always fixing something. He said to me when he got to the field... "Mom, don't worry about it. I bought an old bike for $20 from another missionary."

I was so grateful for that...you have no idea how grateful I was. I would ask him periodically about his bike. He'd say...."don't worry about it mom. I just keep fixing it when it breaks down." I had to chuckle, because it took me back the his childhood days. One day as he and a companion were riding them to the hospital to see someone, they had some 'problems'. It had stormed there the previous few days and it was very muddy. He wrote me an email and shared with me his experience in riding their bikes to see this person. It seems that they decided to take a shortcut on the way home. His bike broke.....like really broke this time. He said they had to walk most of the way home and because they had to walk, they decided to take this 'shortcut'. It turned out that it wasn't really a shortcut and they ended up pushing their bikes up this muddy, muddy hill and then letting them go by themselves down the other side. He said they would throw their helmets up the hill and then push their bikes up the hill and then repeat that all over until they reached the top.

I began to picture in my mind two muddy little missionaries that had ruined their suits. He told me he had his dress slacks and shirt on that day and he went right home and washed them. Then, I asked him if he needed a new bike. Again, he told me that he would fix it. It's amazing how the Lord works to help his missionaries. He and his companion had just moved to a new apartment. When he arrived at the new apartment, there was half a bike there. My son took this half of bike and put it with his other half of bike (his bike had broken right in two!) and made him a whole bike. I was so touched by how he was making this $20 bike do, that tears welled up in my eyes when he shared the story with me.

I had to laugh though, too. I wrote him a letter and told him I had named his bike 'Rickety Split'...lol. It seems fitting for a half and half bike. He said it worked fine. When I again asked him if he wanted us to get him a new bike...he simply said..."don't worry about it mom. I'm fine. My 'new' bike will work fine. Well, one day as I was searching the web for something for him, I came across the Missionary Mall website. They had a link to a company called CTR Bikes. They had a form where you could enter your missionary in a drawing for a new bike...BUT..you had to enter two months prior to their missions.

I was sad. I began to wish I had found this before he left. They had a place to send an email, so I sent an email asking if they could put my son in the drawing for a new bike....even though it said you had to enter two months before they left. I sort of explained the muddy bike story a little bit in the email and just asked if they could put him in the drawing for this new bike even though he was already on his mission and had been there for a few months.

One morning at 7:00 AM I received a phone call. It's that phone call where someone says your name to make sure they have the right person and then your heart stops because you don't know what they are going to tell you. I knew it was about my missionary, but I could have never guessed what was to come next.

The gentlemen on the phone asked me if my son was Elder Stewart. I replied that he was. Then, he said they had received my email and they wanted to send my son a new bike. I was shocked!!! I didn't know what to say. I had no words. I began to cry to the point that I was almost sobbing. I could barely get the words out to thank the man. I told him that I just wanted to know if they could put him in the drawing for this new bike. He said, no, it was okay because they had a fund for this type of thing.

He said they had called the mission president and had verified my story with them and they told him my son was a very valiant missionary and the story was true about his bike. He then told me they were sending him the new bike. I thanked the man over and over. It makes me cry even now to share this story with you.

I knew then that the Lord would provide a way for his missionaries to do his work, no matter what it took. I could have never provided him with a bike like they did. I didn't tell my son. I decided it was going to be a surprise. Well, when the new bike arrived at the mission home, the mission president's wife called and left a message on my son and his comp's answering machine saying they had a new bike in the office for an Elder Stewart.

There was another Elder Stewart in the mission and my son thought they had the wrong Elder. He then emailed me the next day and asked me if I had sent him a new bike. I told him no. Then, I shared the story with him. He was so touched and sooooooooo excited I can't tell you how excited he was. I told him that the Lord must have known that he needed this to continue his work and that he must have been blessed, because he was humble enough to take what he did when he got there and to make it work no matter what he had to do to have a bike. It was like Christmas that July. He sent me pics of him putting his new bike together.

He had to wait for about a week to get it and it drove him crazy. He didn't have a way to the mission home to pick it up. Some sweet members finally helped him get the bike. He then gave "Rickety Split" to another missionary. So by the kind act of this one man two missionaries were blessed, and who knows how many people were blessed because they could continue their work in the field.

I named his new bike 'Lickety Split', too, and he laughed and told me his comp was wondering what I would name it. We had a great laugh and now have a wonderful story to share about the kindness of others and the 'tender mercies of the Lord.' He truly knows what each of us need and when we need it. I loved Elder Bednar's talk during conference on "The Tender Mercies of the Lord." I see them in my life all the time.

AND yes, he did put duct tape on his new bike when he got it. I kept telling him to be careful with it and to make sure it was safe at all times, even though we had a warranty on the bike for the rest of his mission, I still wanted him to be careful with it. He told me, yetagain, "don't worry mom. We made it look old." I didn't know what he meant so he explained to me how they cover them in platic wrap, then cover that with duct tape (the wrap is so the tape doesn't ruin the paint). They do look old...LOL. It's interesting to see the tricks they learn to protect themselves and the things they need while they are in the field.

Thanks for letting me share this story. It was very touching to both my son and I. The people who did this for us are wonderful people!

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