Alex Hansen
Howdy,
I'm looking to buy a mountain bike. I'm wondering if any of you have
an old one you'd like to part with these days, maybe because you got
something new & improved for Christmas. :)
I'm 5'10" (for sizing), and am looking for a hard tail with front
suspension and just about any kind of shifters other than the
grip-twist kind. Rapid-fire is nice. I'd love to get into a 29'er,
but I imagine that's likely beyond my budget.
My budget is around $300, which I know limits me. It does not need to
be pretty. In fact, there is value in a non-eye-catching bike (dirt
is my friend).
My wife and I moved to San Jose, Costa Rica a little about a year ago
(her birth country). Before I left, I did my first triathlon here in
Portland and was training for my second (Pac Crest Half-Iron Man). I
have a friend in Costa Rica who was also doing triathlons down there
so I asked his opinion about what style of bike would be most
appropriate, specifically whether or not a road bike would work. He
assured me that a road bike was a sure thing, so I found a really
AWESOME one here through the help of OBRA. Getting it down there was
no easy task, but this was the big move, and I LOVE that bike, so it
was worth every penny.
I hope to be able to use it outside some day. Right now, my only
riding is on a stand in my back yard.
Sadly, once I got there and started getting my bearings, I realized
that the road bike was a no-go for me, at least for now. The roads
there are in terrible condition, the drivers are insane and dangerous
to a level of crazy only exceeded by India (and since I've just
returned a few days ago from a 9 month round-the-world trip, I feel I
now have sufficient authority to speak on that subject). Also, the
risk of me being mugged and having my fancy bike stolen at gun point
is HIGH if I ride alone or even in a small group. I LOVE that bike,
though, and especially considering how much trouble I went through to
get it there, let alone how perfect it fits me, I'm strongly hesitant
to give it up. About the only way I can safely ride that bike,
though, is to find myself a team to ride with, but I'm not currently
in any kind of condition to keep up with a team. It IS something I
definitely want to do, though, but the only way I can get there is to
have a bike I can safely ride in the mean time to build up my
endurance (and also to use for fun rides with friends).
As it happens, Costa Rica is a great country for Mountain Biking, and
in fact that seems to be the main kind of biking all my friends there
do. So, if I want to be able to ride outside (like a big boy), both
for fun and for training, mountain biking is it for now! Alas, since
my wife and I just blew most of our life savings on moving to Costa
Rica and that Round-the-World trip I just mentioned, and since neither
of us will be able to earn any more until we get back home in just
over a week and start building our new lives, my budget for a bike now
(plus the shipping I'll be paying) is an admitted pittance.
In any case, I know you didn't need to know ANY of that, but hey... if
it helps you consider selling a bike you might not otherwise have
parted with (at least not at my price point), well... then it was
entirely worth it.
Thanks for your consideration!
Cheers,
Alex