Originally Posted by Hoshyoto
To answer your questions, it has a rigid fork, not a suspension one. Unfortunately I am not sure of the year of manufacture. It was donated to a church for a large yard sale, so I did not get to talk with the original owner and ask any questions. I was told that it was around an $800 bike originally, but that is second or third hand info at best, so I'm not exactly certain.
$800 is probably a little high. More likely the original owner paid around $600 for it... maybe $650 if they weren't terribly good shoppers.
Originally Posted by Hoshyoto
One additional question: I have read repeatedly while looking up info on various sites that the proper fit of the bike is for the bar to be approx 1" below the crotch. Unfortunately this bike's has no clearance when I am standing on the ground. Would changing from 26" to 24" tires make sense to correct this?
It sounds like your frame is too large for you. If you were seriously offroading this would be more of a concern but for just road riding you might be able to live with it. Your seatpost however will probably be placed pretty low and you may be sitting more upright relative to the bars than would be normal. This may in fact be okay for you as most new riders tend to prefer a more upright riding position. The only issue you might have is effective reach. It may be too long for you and you might be too stretched out. You might need to go with a shorter stem. You cannot simply change the wheels to 24" since the brakes would no longer work if you did. The brake bosses would no longer line up your brakes with the rim. Additionally, it would drastically screw up your handling... maybe even dangerously so. Your front fork and head tube angle was designed for 26" wheels. Also, it would probably run you around $75 to do it when you include a new set of rims, rimtape, tyres, nipples, spokes and rebuild labour charges.