I currently own two bikes, this post is about my much abused and neglected Townsend steel frame mountain bike. I bought this bike about 14 years ago and its spent much of that time sat in the back garden exposed to the elements. This was a cheap bike that many would describe as a 'BSO' (Bike Shaped Object), it cost me somewhere around £70 and at that sort of price you only get a basic bike. It weighs in at 15.5Kg when fitted with pump, frame bag and lights, so its no lightweight but still probably lighter than a full suspension mountain bike.
A quick service included cleaning and re-greasing the bearings, oiling the freewheel (it still sticks sometimes though), adjusting the brakes to give some toe-in to stop the noise, some oil on the chain and its ready to go. The only money spent was on some new tyres as the old ones had perished and were off road knobblies, as I'll be mostly road riding I bought some semi slick road tyres.
The point is that even though this is an old, neglected and cheap bike I still enjoy going out and riding it. So its nowhere near as fast as a better more expensive bike but I can still manage a 25 mile ride on without any problems. So Lance was right, it's not about the bike - its about being happy with you've got and most importantly - enjoying yourself!
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