was just wondering how many people here love cycling? myself i have always loved riding bikes (ever since i was a toddler/my first bike was a blue tricycle with a pink elephant sticker on the seat.awesome :thumbsup: i just always loved the freedom of getting away from it all,completely under my own steam.i got my first mountain bike when i was 13 (1988) it was a dawes ascent fully rigid (501 steel tubed) behemoth of a bike.it weighed quite a bit (with plastic grips harder than a Glaswegian bouncer :biggrin: i loved that bike (did my first 100 miles on it when i was 15/was a lot fitter than i am today :blush2: anyhoo over the years bikes came and went.i gave up cycling completely for a time (when i discovered drinking/smoking and driving :blush2: i do not do any of those things any more though :angel: which brings me to my current bike [IMG]http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h365/racefaceec90/DSC00472.jpg[/IMG] i p/x'ed my anthem x2 bike towards it (partly due to servicing costs) but mostly because i wanted to go back to a steel ht bike again.am absolutely loving it.the only downside is that my depression/laziness gets in the way of me riding as much as i would like to (but i will kick it's rear though :thumbsup: anyway i'll shut up now (thank the gods you say :biggrin: p.s i usually frequent singletrackworld mountain bike forum.if you haven't yet visited it is a great forum http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/

Used to own a Custom Planet-X Compo myself, i got one of the original prototype frames from the designer himself, simply by ringing him up and asking if he'd be willing to sell me one at a discount because i probably wouldn't be able to afford them at retail release, designed it from the ground up with Shimano XT groupset and a Physlo fork. Definitely my favourite mountain bike ever, but unfortunately had to sell it a couple of years back in order to release some much needed cash at the time.

Now i ride one of these http://s.wiggle.co.uk/images/felt-q920-09-zoom.jpg


Not nearly as plush as my old Custom job but it's still a fantastic ride, and extremely tough. I'm just back from a 3,000Km cycle across Europe and barring a single puncture, i had zero problems with the bike. Cycling in its various forms, is definitely a good way to fight the depression, it's just getting on the saddle at the start that's the hardest part.