Joined
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2,707 Posts
I love cycling for many reasons.
The diversity of riding styles from fixxy SSers to crazy DH rigs that look like motorbikes.
The wonderful and wide range of riders from the Racing snakes to the Weekend Warriors.
It`s a wonderfully broad church that allows freedom of expression and lots of FUN!
Personally speaking I`ve found my own idea of this Nirvana has evolved over the years.
I stated dirtbiking when I was 9yrs old(1976) on a Raleigh Grifter,3 twist shift gears rigid and big fat(for the time) tyres. I went EVERYWHERE on this bike and totally LOVED every minute and had the bike until I was 13(1980).
After that I moved onto `Racing` type road bikes for a while, but at the age of 19 (1986)bought my first `proper` MTB,a steel fully rigid yellow and blue Raliegh `Team`.
I had this bike for years,used it for commuting and fun and it got me through my first jobs University and beyond.
Then at the age of 30 (1997) I discovered the joys of Suspension and bought a used Dawes FS edge with approx 3" travel both ends and Vee brakes. Took me right back to my Grifter days, LOVED it!
The bug well and truely `bit` at this point and I enjoyed getting very muddy!
2001 saw the purchase of a NEW Cannondale Jekyl 700 with a Lefty.A bit tight in the `Ballroom` area but a great bike.......UNTIL the front wheel failed catastrophically and a world of pain was revealed.
This was not an easy time and my confidence was severly shaken in the bike,so much so that I sent it back and had a Marin Wolf Ridge built with D321 rims and plain gauge spokes for my trail bike(2002).
This `burly` build allowed me to rebuild my confidence and it was a really good bike for me in many ways.
After a brief flirtation with road bikes again(which proved to me I was ALOT safer OFF road than on it!),I decided I would like to assemble my `ideal bike`.
In 2005, I built a Tomac Eli with Mav DUC321 Hope brakes and all the `nice` stuff(my mid-life crisis bike). I was very pleased with the bike and it did everything that I needed..........
Strangly enough about the same time as I was building the Tomac I came across the concept of `29er` MTBs on the web, most natably the MTBR 29er forum.
Well it got me thinking, I`m 6'2" and 250LBS perhaps this makes some sense.
Soooooooooooo, on impulse I bought a GF 293 off Ebay in Oct 2005 to `try` the 29er thing.
The rest as they say is History.
Rode the 293 in preference to the Tomac even though it was(on paper) no where near as good!
I`m TOTALLY hooked on the 29er thing.For me, this is my Nirvana (NOW) at the ago of 39 and 359days.
I`m now looking foreward to building up my new Lenzsport Behemoth with 5/5" travel and a AM build.
I`m older,less fit,heavier and (allegedly) wiser;but the grin is still that of the muddy 9yr old who has found his Nirvana!
THANK YOU to all you crazy,wonderful and grinning 29er forum members for helping me acheive the `higher plane` of conciousness.
Cheers,
Dr FG.
The diversity of riding styles from fixxy SSers to crazy DH rigs that look like motorbikes.
The wonderful and wide range of riders from the Racing snakes to the Weekend Warriors.
It`s a wonderfully broad church that allows freedom of expression and lots of FUN!
Personally speaking I`ve found my own idea of this Nirvana has evolved over the years.
I stated dirtbiking when I was 9yrs old(1976) on a Raleigh Grifter,3 twist shift gears rigid and big fat(for the time) tyres. I went EVERYWHERE on this bike and totally LOVED every minute and had the bike until I was 13(1980).
After that I moved onto `Racing` type road bikes for a while, but at the age of 19 (1986)bought my first `proper` MTB,a steel fully rigid yellow and blue Raliegh `Team`.
I had this bike for years,used it for commuting and fun and it got me through my first jobs University and beyond.
Then at the age of 30 (1997) I discovered the joys of Suspension and bought a used Dawes FS edge with approx 3" travel both ends and Vee brakes. Took me right back to my Grifter days, LOVED it!
The bug well and truely `bit` at this point and I enjoyed getting very muddy!
2001 saw the purchase of a NEW Cannondale Jekyl 700 with a Lefty.A bit tight in the `Ballroom` area but a great bike.......UNTIL the front wheel failed catastrophically and a world of pain was revealed.
This was not an easy time and my confidence was severly shaken in the bike,so much so that I sent it back and had a Marin Wolf Ridge built with D321 rims and plain gauge spokes for my trail bike(2002).
This `burly` build allowed me to rebuild my confidence and it was a really good bike for me in many ways.
After a brief flirtation with road bikes again(which proved to me I was ALOT safer OFF road than on it!),I decided I would like to assemble my `ideal bike`.
In 2005, I built a Tomac Eli with Mav DUC321 Hope brakes and all the `nice` stuff(my mid-life crisis bike). I was very pleased with the bike and it did everything that I needed..........
Strangly enough about the same time as I was building the Tomac I came across the concept of `29er` MTBs on the web, most natably the MTBR 29er forum.
Well it got me thinking, I`m 6'2" and 250LBS perhaps this makes some sense.
Soooooooooooo, on impulse I bought a GF 293 off Ebay in Oct 2005 to `try` the 29er thing.
The rest as they say is History.
Rode the 293 in preference to the Tomac even though it was(on paper) no where near as good!
I`m TOTALLY hooked on the 29er thing.For me, this is my Nirvana (NOW) at the ago of 39 and 359days.
I`m now looking foreward to building up my new Lenzsport Behemoth with 5/5" travel and a AM build.
I`m older,less fit,heavier and (allegedly) wiser;but the grin is still that of the muddy 9yr old who has found his Nirvana!
THANK YOU to all you crazy,wonderful and grinning 29er forum members for helping me acheive the `higher plane` of conciousness.
Cheers,
Dr FG.
