| While your here.....two things that you might want to get are:
1) a Blackburn Mountain Rack....they come in black and silver
2) a Mt. Pump.....easy to make if you have a machine shop but
a handy device for holding the pump behind the seat tube.
3) a Nashbar catalog
I dont know much about shoes or shorts, as i ride in the good old
Reeboks and any pair of shorts that are clean.
A Vetta Gel saddle might be in order, a pair of gloves, tires (
Ritchey duro-k's or specialized ground controls), a mountain pump).
Clothes, helmets and shoes will probably very specific to the bike
shop you go to. Not only that, Miami is flat as a pancake (at least
700 miles from the closest mountains....which happen to be here
in Atlanta), and they may not carry any mountain bike gear. As mountain
bikes go, there aren't a whole lot of racks specifically designed
for them. A couple of water bottle cages might be in order (blackburn).
If the prices are better here, consider extra deraillers, shifters,
hubs, etc.
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| Hello Noel,
Welcome to the world of mountain biking. I live in Colorado and just
spent 2 days this past weekend riding on trails in the mountains
(46 miles).
I happened to have a mountain biking magazine on my desk and thought
it might be some help:
Mountain Bike Action Magazine
Post Office Box 9502
Mission Hills, California 91345-9985
Regular Subscription Price $17.95
Foreign countries - add $6 for one year
All Canadian and other foreign use International money order in U.S.
funds only. Do not send cash.
There is a special in this magazine which says if you order using the
order form in the magazine, you can get it for 12.98. If you order,
maybe they will give you the same deal.
This information is from the October 1988 magazine. I just picked it
up this morning.
Accessories:
I generally use regular cycling shorts or touring shorts. I ride in
trail running shoes by NIKE. I find that you need some type of grip on
the bottom of your shoes so regular touring shoes aren't that great if
you are riding on trails.
I ride with toe clips (no strap). I can get out of them easier. I
took a $50 ft fall a couple weeks and didn't come out, the bike came
tumbling with me.
The first reply mentioned BIKE NASHBAR. This is a great catalog for
bicyclist if you can get one. Sorry, don't have any info on that
catalog. There is another catalog put out by PERFORMANCE.
Although Florida is flat, I'm sure you can find mt. bikes there. My
cousin lives in one of the flatest areas of TEXAS, over 300 miles from
a town larger than 100,000 and he can get mountain bikes in his small
town.
Bike racks - look at Yakima, Thule and Graber. These are roof racks
which are fairly expensive. You can get racks for mountain bikes or
regular road bikes.
Happy cycling
Michael
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