mutteriwiritys

Hi guys. I've been lurking around here for a while reading all kinds of biking-related topics and now I decided it's time to jump in as well..

I'm a 17 years old physical education assistant student from Lapland, Finland. My cycling background is pretty normal I guess: since primary school I've done short trips every summer to a nearby grocery store with my friends to buy sweets and enjoy the summer, in addition to riding to the bus stop and back on school days.

I've never been interested in motorcycles or cars or anything like that so I didn't even get a moped licence which I think was pretty much the norm to get at the age of 15. Now I'm turning 18 and even though I'm getting the driver's license, I've been thinking of living car free/not buying a car at all.

This summer I got more into cycling because I decided to start learning bicycles to be able to fix my bike myself if needed. Through that I got more interested in cycling overall and have rode my dad's road bike few times and tried mountain biking. I also wanted to find something to do instead of disc golf which I quit so that's been nice pass-time.

Now I've done a few longer trips by bike and also have to commute to school. I've realized that I really like bicycling. No fuel needed, no pollution, just a bike and leg power which take you almost everywhere, and a lot faster than by walking. Hills make you push harder and rise your heart rate giving a feel of success on the top where as descends let you relax and give you time to enjoy the air swooshing past.

This is just a side note but there's one thing I'm disappointed at bicycling and that's how much it's about equipment. I never had realized it until this summer that quality bikes cost a lot. And if you want to race and succeed, a good bike is important (not understating the importance of the rider's skill and physics) whether you're road biking or mountain biking. I remember reading an article from a tech magazine half a year ago comparing ~1000€ road bikes and I was wondering how could anyone even buy that pricey bike. Now I know that 1K for a new bicycle is a pretty basic price and with 400-500 bucks you can't pretty much even get anything else than city bikes or the very cheapest mountain bikes.

For about five years I rode a heavy and cheap Jumpertrek Storm, which I think was a bike good enough for me. Now it came to it's end because it wasn't worth the money to replace the drivetrain which would have had to be replaced next (I had already replaced shifter levers and tires). I started to look for used HT mountain bikes and found a pretty good bike (custom-built 26" to NoSaint MaxAri Carbon frame) which I also bought, now sitting next to me in my apartment.

Currently I have just one bike but I've thought a lot about having two bikes for versatility and to always have a working bike just in case either one isn't working (and a cheaper one for city riding). I use my bike for everything.

Quite long first post but I wanted to share a little bit of my thoughts and story.. my 0.02 they say.