Originally Posted by Alawo
So, I've had to determine my motivation for riding. It's simply for my health and to allow my legs to take a break from running. I'd also like to ride with my daughter at some point. Therefore, a fixed-gear sounds suitable. But, I can't figure out why the prices are so high on a fixed-gear. And not to take this thread off topic, but does the Denali look like suitable candidate for fixed-gear conversion? I'm not knowledgeable enough about the differences between mountain bike drive trains and road bike drive trains.
It would be difficult to convert a Dinali to fixed gear use. Most fixed gear conversions use old bikes with horizontal dropouts (chain tension). The Dinali no doubt has vertical dropouts and you would spend far more on parts than the bike is worth. See here (
http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed-conversion.html) for more information.
Cig: I doubt the adjustment problems with the rear are because of mountain bike parts. Cheap parts generally are harder to keep in adjustment road or mountain, though it sounds like this time the cables were at fault. I suspect that many folks don't know how to put a RD back into adjustment (I didn't a few years back). It probably leads to the summary judgement that the bike is "broken" far too often.