Want of the day

I don't obsessively stalk mountain bikes on Craigslist like I stalk road bikes, but if there was any lasting legacy of that "Reveal the Path" movie the other day it was giving me the mountain bike bug. According to th seller, this is a mid to late-90s Gary Fisher Joshua X. Bike names can veer into very strange territory; there's little rhyme or reason.

I like this bike. It's well-presented, actually--I'm sure the seller didn't think much of it, but the gentle green frame goes well against the orange wall. These sort of Y-frames that became popular in the 90s don't usually set me on fire, but knowing it's a Gary Fisher along with the bike's clean, overall simplicity makes it really interesting for me.

This Joshua X appears to be outfitted with some nice hardware; I'm no expert, but Shimano's Deore XT mountain groupsets are pretty well-regarded. The selller wants $235 for it; if I was actively in the market for a nice light to medium-duty mountain bike I'd make an offer, at least.

As I descend deeper into bicycle nut territory, I find myself leaving behind my previously strong belief that for most riders, one versatile bike will suffice. I have slightly adjusted that to two bikes--road and mountain.

Oddly enough, my current steed is an ancient mountain bike converted to drop bar quasi-road bike duty, and ridden pretty exclusively on pavement. For that reason, my short-term goal is to get a new road bike, in all its modern brifting, indexed glory. But for something like this Gary Fisher, which was a pretty capable, high-end mountain bike in its day, the money seems short for such a fun toy.

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