Here's my new ride. It's not exactly a commuter, but more of an everything bike. The occasional commute to work. My evening rides through the Upstate New York countryside. It's also the bike I use for shopping around town. I went for a mountain bike because some of the farm roads I ride on are far worse than many of the hard pack trails I ride on. My town has some wicked nasty roads!!!!! Beautiful scenery, horrible roads. Go figure.

The gearing on this new bike, a 2009 Trek 4300, is kind of interesting. My old Diamondback hardtail was geared much lower overall. It's as if Trek just assumed that an entry level mountain bike would see as much road time as trail time, so they geared it up a tad. My LBS, the awesome Steiners Sports in Valatie NY, must have also assumed the same thing. The handle bars are jacked way up, making for a nice upright ride through the countryside.