JK> Good to meet you.  I'm too am not that great at anything, but my
 JK> strongest  point is cross-country.  I just got my first real serious
 JK> bike this sumer, a  Giant ATX 870, aluminum frame.  Not a bad bike, but
 JK> the harshest ride on  pavement.  I don't care for road-touring due to
 JK> my dislike for cars passing  me.
 WB> Cool, that was the bike I was about to buy before I decided on my
 WB> mongoose comp-SX.  I agree with you about cars passing you,
 WB> especially on the highways.  Still using grip-shift or have you opted
 WB> to upgrade to shimano rapid fire?  I had grip-shift for a short while
 WB> and HATED it (constant shift delays, money needed to improve
 WB> performance etc.) So now I have all the goodies with rapid fire like
 WB> a bassworm, stronger derailleur spring, and a "cog-hog" pulley.  So
 WB> my shifting is what I consider "superb" ;^/
I'll go out of my way to avoide the Highways, so I end up riding side road 
all the time.  I shelled out the extra dough for the Shimano Rapid Fire 
shifters, and the difference is quite noticable.  I think that they are as 
you mentioned, more responsive.  Other than that, my bike is still pretty 
much stock.  I plan on upgrading the parts this coming summer when I get some 
more cash saved up.  I'm not the greatest rider in the world, and I'm 
learning all the time (the hard way), but one thing is for sure, chicks dig 
the paint job on the Giant.  But thatsonly a little side bonus.  I chose this 
bike because it had a good frame, game with reasonable parts, and best of all 
it was on sale.
  So where are you calling from?  I'm up here in Edmonton, land of the deep 
snow, and good winter biking.
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