Mountain Bike Almost Ready

Got my old ’93 Rockhopper almost to the point where I’m ready to ride it.  To recap, I’ve replaced the fork, headset, stem, chain, brake shoes, and brake cables, and cleaned and adjusted the hubs, derailleurs and brakes.  I also put a rear rack on it.  This weekend I’m hoping to take it out for its maiden voyage, with the two-fold goal of testing the bike out and finding a quick way into the Patapsco State Park trail network from home.  According to the trail map, it looks like the Morning Choice Trail runs along the back edge of the Belmont property, so the initial plan is to ride into Belmont and try to find the trail.  My eventual goal is to plan a commuting route to UMBC that is mostly single track.  I also want to be able to use the bike for commuting in wet and/or snowy conditions.

Once I get a feel for the bike and re-acquaint myself with the local trails, I’ll add a set of fenders, swap out the platform pedals for SPDs, and possibly also swap out the tires.  I would like to find a set of tires that rides well on both road and dirt, although I’m not sure such a beast exists that doesn’t compromise one for the other.

In other news, I’m back to a weekly commuting routine, at least for the next week and a half, until Thanksgiving.  Today will be my first ride home in the dark, although it’s still early enough that it’ll be mainly dusk/twilight.  The headlight and flashers are ready.