Originally Posted by
GravelMN
Hi everyone,
Just to introduce myself, I'm a 50-year-old guy who got back into cycling a few years ago for healthy recreation. I started with an early 1990s Trek 820 with 1.5" hybrid tires but now have a fairly new road bike and an older 700c hybrid as well, so the 820 hasn't seen much use lately. I put the mountain bike tires that came with it back on and started riding some single-track trails and I'm hooked.
I was just wondering if there is anyone else here who rides old suspensionless steel mountain bikes or if this forum is for more advanced riders of more modern bikes. Would I be better off in the vintage forum even though there didn't seem to be a lot of off-road talk over there? I see there is a recreational cyclocross and gravelbiking forum. I guess what I do on my hybrid could be called gravelbiking because I bought it so I could have fatter tires for the numerous gravel roads in the area. I'm fixing up the old 820 so I can get even further off the beaten path.
It's funny. I never think of my 820 as a mountain bike. The salesman told it was a "hybrid" back in 1990 when I purchased it. I have since raised the handlebars and hotter thinner tires and it is still not a true hybrid. But I think of it as much.
I just started riding my 820 again after a 17 year break. I know I can't keep up with those road bikes but it is helping me lose weight, get in shape and rekindle my cycling love.