Although I’ve never been dissatisfied with my mountain bike, I squeezed out every bit of life from it that I could. Let’s face it though, 27 years has passed since I rode on a fresh set of wheels. The geometry, technology and materials have all progressed far beyond what I could have rejuvenated from that “vintage” machine. It was time to grow and rediscover a sport which I have thousands of miles, hours and dollars invested in. One that forged the friends who have been with me now for decades. And now a sport that will invigorate the adventure in new generations as Ryder and soon Ethan can become afflicted the way I have. It was time, long over due for a new mountain bike.
I set down this road following the trip to Colorado in 2018 even though there were unscheduled ER visits. The hook has only been set deeper since discovering that many of the campgrounds we go to adjoin open space areas with an abundance of trails.
Following that trip to Colorado, I started researching availabilities and developed an extensive spreadsheet which I tracked every bike I encountered which I remotely had interest in… even if I knew I couldn’t afford it or it was just wrong for me… Data is king. Adding in the complexity of all the COVID related supply chain issues and difficulty locating what I wanted, I narrowed down my focus and as a couple models appeared to be somewhat local in my size, the time had finally arrived.
Yesterday I put the cash down on a new Trek Fuel EX7 as an early Christmas present (x-mas 2021, 22, and probably 23). It checks all the boxes and then some and I simply can’t wait to get it out on the dirt later this week to see how she does.
