Cycling is like life. Cycling with no goal is meaningless. What meaning is there cycling in circles? Or living aimlessly? Meaning comes from direction and destination. Join me in my life's journey on a mountain bike :)

Blogging since 2003. Thank you for reading :))

The bicycle

Merida
Matt Black is Merida Matts XT Edition. It is my third mountain bike, the second "complete bike" that I've bought and the first with any suspension (it's a hard tail). 6061 aluminium 26" frame like my earlier mountain bikes (so I can swap inner tubes and tyres). Most of the (30 speed) drive train is, as the name indicates, XT. But the hubs are non-series Shimano. Owned since Sep 2014, but it was in Aug 2015 that I did my first overseas ride with it.
Weight unladen: 11.4 kg (original specs)

Tank
Like Lieutenant Gruber in 'Allo 'Allo, I too have a little Tank.
Little Red Tank: Tank Race Team, with Cane Creek S2 headset, Easton aluminum frame, Amoeba seatpost, Deore brakeset, Deore front derailleur, 27 speed). Other components from my old faithful Iron Horse, see below. Weight unladen: 10 kg (with bike computer and slick tyres but without mobile phone, tools, spare tyre, lights, waterbottle, airconditioner, stereo). Weight laden (with fat tyres but without waterbottle): 12 kg. Owned since Jun 2005

Iron Horse
My first mountain bike was my Iron Horse AT20. When I brought it into high-end bike shops, some people start laughing ... but hey, it's a classic!
Chrome-moly, rigid frame
Mavic rims
Deore shifters
XT hubs, cassette and chain, LX integrated crankset (replacing Bontrager, which replaced no-brand crankset)
LX front and rear d
XTR cantilever brakes (borrowed)
27 speed
Weight unladen: 12 kg Original weight before parts upgrade (probably) 16 kg.
Owned since Feb 1995. This photo shows the bike in its near original state (saddle, seat post, shifters and freewheel have been changed). Other photos in this website show how the bike has been transformed. Some changes are visible (new crank) while others aren't (new bottom bracket and derailleurs).