Full Circle.
My first MTB was a Trek Antelope. $250 Dirt cheap at the time. I don't think the price has changed
much since then. I bought a pair of power straps for the pedals. I replaced the original bars with a
pair of straight ones. I had really nice pair of grips I wish I could find those same grips today.
They were soft rubber and had ridges on them that kind of reminded me of the ridges on a heat sink.
Of course back then ('88 '89) it was a fully rigid, cro-moly steel, heavy as hell POS. The tires
were the skinniest nobbies I'd ever seen, imagine a road tire with small nobs about the size of an
unpopped kernel of corn. I think it might have been considered a "Hybred" at the time. Sure sounds
like "HYPE BRED" to me now.
Damn, did I put a world of hurt on that bike and myself. I went through 2 sets of wheels, but that
was it. Never replaced any other part on that POS. The first time I took it off road it felt like I
was riding on knives. Those tires just cut right through the soft ground, but were great on the
hard stuff. One of the best trails I've ever ridden was about half way between Columbia MD and
Downtown Silver Spring, just past and to the left of the Rocky Gorge Driving Range on Rt. 29. Had
to ride partially down a private drive, past a couple of mean ass dogs, then cut down towards the
river that runs under Rt. 29. You could ride for days back there and never see a person. I remember
seeing massive, swarming 4 to 5 foot ant mounds, damn that freaked me out. Had no idea MD had ants
like that.
I rode that bike all the way up to '98 on and off throughout the years. Beat the hell out of if on
the Avalon trails before anybody new they were there.
A few years back I was re-introduced to MTBing and bought my Schwinn Homegrown. What an upgrade that
was. Nice light weight aluminum frame, nice front suspension fork, xtr/lx group....Damn, I was
stylin' big time. I had 2 and a half years of fun on my pride and joy. I almost cried when I sold
it.....NOT! (just thought that would sound good ;-))
It was time to get back to basics. What was it that made that Antelope so appealing? What was it
that made my Homegrown so appealing? Each bike had something to offer. The Homey gave me the tools
to go places I would have never attempted on a fully rigid. The Antelope gave me the challenge of
riding things I never should have attempted, got the lumps and bumps to prove it. Basically the
challenge was gone with the Homegrown, I needed to get it back.
What better way then to go fully rigid again ... with a twist, one speed.
I'm glad I learned most of what I know on a rigid. Knowing how to handle that type of bike made
riding a suspension rig pretty much feel like child's play. I'm not saying that I'm an expert rider,
I'm still re-learning some of the skills it takes to ride a rigid, but damn it's fun! It
doesn't/can't get any better!
Go rigid SS people....trust me.
Peace, Bill(thinking about trying power straps again)Wheeler
The mind serves properly as a window glass rather than as a reflector, that is, the mind should give
an immediate view instead of an interpretation of the world.
:-]