Hello everyone, my name is Israel and I'm from Quezon City, Philippines.
I've been riding bikes on and off since I taught myself to ride when I was 9.
I bought my first mountain bike [a generic, rigid, hi-ten frame with old Shimano components] back in College [1994], primarily for commuting to classes, and secondly for excercise.
I started building up a Schwinn hardtail in early 2002 and, due to financial constraints [post-grad stude], only managed to complete it in Sept2003. Getting married in Dec2003 [and busyness at work -- being a consultant I travel quite a bit] lessened my riding time. The arrival of a baby in August2004, further reduced my time on the bike, so I console myself to maximizing my limited riding experience [nowadays at least] by learning as much as I can about bikes/biking in fora such as this one.
Although I have a hardtail MTB, I've never actually ridden off-road
[although one could argue that biking in Metro Manila streets is like off-roading
]. For the past 2 years I've joined a 50-km on-road bike advocacy ride and I occasionally bike to work. I'd eventually like to hook up with some local riders for a real trail ride [they're quite a ways off...] soon and hope to bike commute more often [probably not anytime soon, as rainy season has begun].
Here are highlights of my ride:
Schwinn Moab 3 frame [2000 or 2001?]
Marzocchi MX Comp coil 105
SRAM 7.0 shifters/r.der
Avid BBDB w/ SD5 levers
wheels: Mavic 317/Deore hubs/WTB Nanoraptors [ChengShin slicks right now - make commuting faster
]
[Sorry for the lengthy intro]