Hello all, This is my first post here, is there a faq from this newsgroup somewhere, somekind of
guideline?
I have just bought my first good bike, my last one, a portuguese 200 bucks supermarket bike, did
brought me a lot of fun, but after one of those babies was stolen (yes we had two of them), I bought
my wife a better bike from a big french sports store, and then I could really feel the difference a
better built product with better parts makes.
Now I have some questions,
I want to use this bike as a fitness tool, on tours with a little "rock and roll" (The plan is to go
to the alps when it gets warm again, april/may 04) and possibly some small triathlons and "adventure
races". My choice after reading a lot, was a hardtail around 1000 bucks with good parts
Regarding the brake system, it's a "magura julie" disk brake, on the first tour, it impressed me how
nice they worked, very smooth, but then I started thinking, is it maybe too much? V-brakes are
lighter, efficient, plus I can repair them if I have a problem in the middle of nowhere. Is this
really an issue? At some point if I feel the need I can always replace them and the weels, can't I?
The fork and frame have the places for vbrakes too.
Another thing is how do I work with the fork, a Duke xc, it has an adjustment for the rebound speed,
what's good for what?
I have some concerns about the maintenance of those parts, I'm thinking of keeping my old bike as a
learning ground for bike maintenance, maybe I can find a workshop, so I can take care of some things
myself. I have read a lot about it lately and have learned many interesting things. Any thoughts
about that?
If you are still with me, thank's and sorry for the long post, the main reason I decided to dive
into MTB is because I used to work as a rafting guide and used to kayak several days a week, now
I live 700 km away from the next rapid, and I needed something to replace/incorporate to that,
in order to stay in shape and closer to nature. Mountain-bike it is, and it has a lot in common
with kayaking!
Thank's for any thoughts,
Dubi