Wow, this reminded me of something I hadn't thought about in years. I had a friend in high school that had dealt with a bout of cancer when he was younger, and I think he had some metal bits keeping his legs together. The cancer made him a bit of a risk taker, so one day he joined me on his shiny new mountain bike to go ride the trails in Forest Park, Queens, NYC.

Of course, when we got to a clearing with a steep drop to one side, he wanted to ride down it. I told him there was no way I was doing it, but I'd ride around the long way so I could gather his corpse at the bottom. It seems that he lost his nerve by the time I got to the bottom, so I climbed to the top, and carried his bike down the slope so we could continue. I guess during this time, a group of youth from the "bad" side of the park had happened upon us, and while I didn't think much about it, my not so able bodied friend hadn't gotten rolling and was quickly surrounded by them. One of them was waving around something that looked like a pistol, so I dismounted and started backing away from them while trying to convince my friend to do the same. One of the kids smacked him over the head with a small plank of wood and struggled with him a bit before finally getting his bike. Either my department store bike wasn't worth it, or they just didn't want to deal with me, so I got left alone.

I let my friend hop on my bike, as it was a long walk with his legs back home, and I jogged along side. I'm not sure how the experience affected him, but I know he milked the small bruise on his forehead for all it was worth. Personally, I think growing up on NYC desensitized me, and as I was no worse off physically or materially, mentally I just shrugged it off.

Growing up with modest means, I was just happy to have a bike and never lusted or really even knew about the fancy rigs. It's not like there wasn't a nice bike shop near where I lived, but there were nice shops for everything in NYC, and I guess that is some more of the desensitization. So, without the history you guys have, I'm open to anything built from quality materials and components. I enjoy riding, and if somebody undervalues a quality ride for being old, I'll gladly take it.