I just recently got into this....very fun, good exercise.

Originally, I bought a cheap mongoose from wal-mart. It's okay for running around the neighborhood, but after 3 or 4 rides on real mountain trails, it became apparent that it was not going to hold up to this kind of use.

So I dropped a few bux and got a real bike.

 

Ahhhh, I used to bike daily when I lived on the west side of the state. Parks and awesome trails everywhere. My poor Canondale F700 hasn't seen any action in years....

 

Yep... I used to ride. At the time, I had more in my bike than my little (crap) car was worth.... that and even had a 'tiny' sponsorship as part of the 'grass roots' stuff that GT was doing.

For the record... I was riding a GT Avalanche LE, full shimano XT, RS Judy... etc...etc...

 

I have a crappy walmart Mongoose, but there aren't too many mountains around here, but we have a few hills. It's holding up well so far, though the seat has been protesting due to my fat ***.

 

Haro V4, haven't ridden in a while though.

 

Thats a nice bike! I know what you are talking about when you said wal-mart bikes. I took a mongoose up a trail in north carolina. It didnt make it down with the chain on

 

I am too old and too slow to MB---but I ride Raleigh to school whenever the weather is good, plus, since I teach, I ride about 100-120 miles a week in the summer time. Here is a stock picture of mine:



I have clipless pedals, a double paniers in the rear, and a rack and pack above those. Lights front and back. I went to a mountain bike handlebar, bar ends, and I have more of a road saddle.

Tim C.

 

I bought a Trek 3700 not too long ago to try and get some exercise. I just got off of my bmx bike days I had a haro mirra pro. Haven't had a chance to hit any trails, but I have had fun trying to ride trials around town here, balancing on 4x4's and what not. Look up Ryan Leech on Youtube I would love to be able to ride like that guy.

 

I bought a Trek 3900 this summer to ride to school and work. I've done some around the mountains here in MT but not much.

I recently read an article on a mountain bike race from Germany to Italy, from the way it sounded a lot of amatures try it. Sounds like something I'd like to try but I haven't found any other info on it. Anybody know anything about it?

 

I found this site...seems to have a lot of nfo about it.

http://www.bike-transalp.de/englisch/

 

I used to be pretty big into mountain biking, I havent been serious about it in years though.
Ive got a '97 Cannondale Super V 500. Its very light and I couldnt be happier with it.
Its a shame Cannondale got into ATVs and dirtbikes and went bankrupt though, they were awesome bikes.

 

Cannondale is still around and still making great bikes. Chapter 11 saved them from death and allowed them to get rid of the motorsports division with help from Pegasus their new owner.

 

I rode mountain bikes with a passion in the 80's. I built my first mt bike in '81 using a Schwinn Varsity frame and 'cruiser bike' parts, as pretty much only custom bike builders made mt bikes at that time, and as a college student, they were way out of my price range. I also rode road bikes for about 5 years before that. Although I haven't been on a bike in years, my advice to anyone looking at bikes is still the same ... buy the best bike you can possibly afford. Riding a quality bike is a whole different experience over riding dept. store bikes.

BTW That sure is a nice looking Specialized. As I remember, the Specialized Stumpjumper was one of the first commercially available mt bikes ... I finally bought one in '91 and while it's a nice ride, it sure looks alot different than yours!

 

There aren't too many place in northern Ohio to MB---but down in Southern Ohio in the National Forrest and in the State Parks---great places. I normally stick to the Ohio Canal Towpath or some other railroad right-of-way bike paths now. Facing two knee replacements, I just want to stay as healthy as I can be...

TSC

 

do you have the paddles up and down shifter, or the crappy grip shifts?

I used to be in it, then i disassembled my bike to clean and lube it all and didnt put it back together b.c i couldnt get the cranks off the main bearings. I was also gonna repaint the whole frame once everything was off of it.
-Patrick