TrekJapan

I suppose you're supposed to do this on the intro forum but it is a mountain bike......

Used to ride in the desert in 29 Palms CA Marine Base during lunch on a cheap off the shelf bike. Had so much fun I didn't even know there were better bikes and didn't care.

Moved to Japan and left the old beat to death bike in storage with the intention of buying new. Didn't for a couple years. Bought an off the shelf road bike and rode for a few weeks. Hated it but enjoyed the being outside and exercise part. Decided to step it up a notch and bought a Trek 1.5 a few days ago and I haven't been this excited about anything since I first discovered girls.

So much so that I decided to go ahead and buy a mountain bike and I've been stressing the last few days over what to get. Checked out a LBS that I hadn't been to before and was surprised to see Giant, GT, and Specialized Hardrock there. (I'm in Okinawa Japan). I had kind of decided to start Aluminum and hardtail and REALLY appreciated the FAQ sticky on this forum.

Another bike shop has sweet bikes but it'll cost me 2 or 3K to get started. In the end even though I want the good bike I did just drop over a K on a new bike and I have no idea what style mountain bike I need or would love. That being said I decided to start cheap and make up my mind.

I tried all the bikes and nothing really hit a nerve until I got on a Giant XTC-850. I liked the feel and even though I only zoomed it around the parking lot it clicked.

Maybe I'll kick myself for getting a just beyond entry level bike but I'm pretty happy. I watched the Japanese bike mechanics get it ready to go out the door and two of them got in a disagreement regarding the shifting adjustments.

I told them to get the heck out of my way and pulled the bike down off the rack and rode it some more and came back and said "He's right".

One thing you can say about Japanese people is they are professional and I was very impressed with the level of attention they gave the bike. Once I got it back to work I rode it in a nearby field and was really impressed with the handling of the bike and how comfortable it was when I stood up and pushed it a bit.

So it's been a while since I've been on a trail but I think I'm going to proceed to start having some fun. If I goofed and should have jumped in with more money, etc.......then I goofed. Like I said I already spent a bunch this week on a bike.

Well, comments are welcome and appreciated. I'll try to post a pic in the next day or two but more importantly I'll try to hit the trail.

John

born2bahick

XTC's Suck! Here's mine.

BFG

I'd hardly call an XTC an "entry level bike"!
Well done, have fun. We know you will.