Hi all,

I've been a member here for some time, but mostly lurk, to soak up the info from the more informed. More recently I thought I might should be a more active member, thusly I have some questions.

I got into cycling with the purpose of being a "mountain biker". That is, I bought a bike with the sole purpose of riding the trails. This was all fine and good until the time change(due to DLST) and the days got shorter. To make up for the lost daylight, I decided I would commute back and forth to work. I've been doing so now for about 2 months and have not intention of stopping. I love it.

My first bike(other than the thing I got from a box store which has been discarded) is a Raleigh M80. I've ridden the crap out of it, on both trails and street. I've since purchased a new mountain bike from the LBS and would like to convert the Raleigh to a commuter the best I can.

My plans are to replace the fork, tires, and possibly raise the handle bars. I'd like to add a rack and fenders as well. I really want to upgrade the whole bike. Not only to make it a better ride, but just because I enjoy learning how to do such things. I want to be able to work on my bikes and not depend on the LBS.

I'm going to have to do this piecemeal due to budgetary constraints. In what order should I do this, or rather, what is going to have the biggest impact on my ride?

Right now I'm using the new bike for commuting for the simple fact that it's a new bike and I really dig it. I also like it's geometry better, mostly the height of the handle bars. It also gets free tuneups for a year from the LBS, so I want to ride the crap out of it.

That said, I also feel that the new bike will be a much greater temptation for bike thieves and I don't want to tear it's wheels up on the pavement for a great deal longer. My biggest problem is the new bike just feels so much better.

When I ride the Raleigh it feels foreign to me now. I've compared the frames of the two and they aren't too much different. I think the main thing I feel that makes the two contrast so greatly is the height of the handlebars. For this reason my thinking is that I should change the fork first with a rigid fork. This way I can cut the tube to the correct height and be done with it.(not to mention I like the lockout feature of the new bike when riding on the roads, the current fork is suspension).

That said, I don't know if new tires would be a better "first upgrade, or conversion" I've read alot that say that tires make all the difference in the world.

I don't post much, but when I do it's awful wordy, sorry about that. I really have learned alot here and would love to hear ya'lls informed input to my specific situation.