Started commuting at the beginning of this month on an 80-something Schwinn LeTour from craigslists, which was a gift from my brother. After the first ride I was completely hooked. I ride to work every day now. I wake up in the morning looking forward to my ride in, and being stuck in the office, especially on nice days, is so much easier knowing I get to ride home. I have no idea why I didn't start this years ago!

I'm pretty much a complete newbie when it comes to repair and maintenance, so it's been a blast learning that stuff. So far I've replaced the front derailluer (the original was bent), added wider tires (a set of gatorskins), new brake pads, a shiny rear rack, sks fenders, and a brooks b17 saddle with matching bar tape (pricey, but awesome -- and I did get a bit of a deal at $100 total for both on ebay).

The fender install was quite fun. I didn't have enough clearance to install them normally, so I ended up using River City reach around fender hardware. The hacksaw and hammer, which I image don't see much use in the world of bike maintenance, were the stars of that project!

Anyway, my new found hobby wouldn't exist without these forums, so I thought I'd put up a hello (and thank you!) post, complete with bike pic. Thanks for all the helpful info, BikeForums!