New Love Life- MTB Fitting Question

[telegirl]

There were two things that I said I would never do when I met my husband. The first was tele ski and the second was mountain bike......In fact, I went to great lengths to explain why mountain biking would be no fun and why telemark skiing should be outlawed (all in good fun, of course).

Now, I don't own a pair of skis that aren't teles - I use them to backcountry, as well as resort. If you like cross country, you would love doing back country on teles. But please take Sarah's advice and DO NOT let your SO teach you. In fact, I know a great tele teacher in VT if you are anywhere near the Pico/Killington area.

As for mountain biking, it really is one of my great loves now. Especially in Vermont- And it gives me a totally different outlet and workout than road riding. Everyone has great points - I don't have a WSD- I have a Rocky Mountain hard tail and love it to death. People keep trying to make me try full suspensions, but I really don't want the extra weight to lug up the hills. A good shop will let you test differnt ones on some trails and see what you really like.

Good luck!

[anakiwa]

Thanks so much everyone for the great advice!

Rest assured- he's put in as much time on cross-country skis this winter as I have on tele. (I'd actually taken some tele lessons and bought skis a few years back- so I had that equipment and didn't really need instruction. I have a more 'careful' style and am slower, but we're still able to ski together.) It also turns out that my old road bike (a Trek 5000 with a top tube that's way too long for me)- fits him very well- he's 2-3" taller but his proportions are different and it seems to work for him.

I appreciate all the comments re hardtails vs suspension- I think I'm just not ready to get hardcore enough to think about full suspension though (even if this is as much about perception as reality).

I have enough bikes in my garage that don't fit me (reach is too long- even after changing stems/ seat position etc) to be pretty frightened of any stock bike that's not WSD. I realize that every bike is different, but I think I'm unlikely to find a good fit on a non-WSD bike.

I've been watching ebay pretty closely- but after one experience with a seller who was very willing to answer questions (only not the ones I'd asked) about fit- I'm thinking I may be better off spending a little more money and going with the LBS.