I've already made some noises about it on Telegram but I finally gave in and bought a bike, the first one I've gotten after school. I figured that since I got a bit of a company bonus after a globally demanding year, I should spend money on actually getting something that makes a difference instead of spending it all on a car as I'd say the car part of my life is pretty well catered for. We now live in the countryside where there's a lot of different routes for biking, so it's less of a hassle than handling a bike in an apartment block and it's also less likely to get stolen.
Originally, I wanted just to go right out and buy another Kona, as I've liked the brand ever since I got one 25 years ago (and I still have it, it's just too small!) However, the pandemic has made all bike trade and exercise equipment trade a bit challenging as everyone now wants some gear they can use with their newly found spare time / working from home time, and the Kona dealers nearby couldn't really get me anything gravel or cyclocross related, as they only had mountain bikes that wouldn't really feel ideal on the roads here. I couldn't even try anything for size, and it was the same story at a Trek dealer. I asked about stuff online and was directed towards Cube, which is a German brand about which I feel about as strongly as the hi-fi brand Dual or Opel, so not much at all! But it seems they are quite affordable even with decent parts, and as my cycling enthusiast boss recommended I get something with Shimano 105 instead of Claris or other low-end gearsets, Cube seemed to fit the bill just fine. I also ended up considering hydraulic brakes instead of mechanical ones, just because the bump in price wasn't that big.
We did a little roundtrip to Tampere, to the Cube importer which seemed like the nearest place to actually try out the bikes and to confirm measurement, and after we came up with a decent deal, the bike followed me home today by bus. It's a MY2021 Cross Race Pro in size 56. It's very light, it's very direct and I'm looking forward to riding it a lot. It came with very little equipment, just the stock pedals, a cheap generic mudguard, some USB LED lights and a bottle holder, but I'll upgrade it as I see fit in the long run.
It also fit in the Demio quite easily, which is a huge plus! Now the car certainly can be justified. (There isn't much space for the driver with the seats packed behind the front seats, though)
I failed miserably at only 170km, but I knew I would, so who cares...
ofc I was wearing the traditional New Years top hat 
