New to the forums. 35 year old male in Colonial Heights, VA near Petersburg and about 20 miles south of Richmond. The usual bikes as a kid, and a few years as a regular mountain biker, then a decade or so with no riding.

Last year I decided to try road biking, to get in shape and push myself. I wasn't sure if I'd like it, or if it'd aggravate my back, so I decided to be smart and get an older bike. Craigslist is great, and I ended up with a cosmetically challenged but mechanically great 1982 Trek 412. Suntour and Diacomp, pretty much all original, for $100.

I went out on the first ride, and it was just eh. So I slap on some toe clips. Holy difference! The next day's ride is about 15 miles, and I'm a total convert. A few 10 - 15 mile rides later and my old Trek is looking a little too old. I'm not all about flash, but I wanted something with index shifting and clipless pedals, and something worth slowly upgrading, and couldn't see upgrading what was Trek's low end bike 25 years ago.

So a barely-used 2005 Trek 1200 is on the way - it should be here in another week or two. I put the 412 back on Craigslist and got $30 more than I bought it for. Now I'm sitting here, with a new helmet just waiting to hit the road.

There, more than you wanted to know... I'll write my impressions of the 1200 after I get a few rides under my belt.

congrats on the upgrade (you'll post pics, right?), welcome to the party!

I put a pic of the old bike in the What Do You Ride thread under Road Cycling forum, and will do the same with the new one soon.