Yay! I got my new bike

Today I picked up the bike I've been wanting to get for a while. My wife didn't want that debt hanging over our heads, so she suggested I just pay it off and pick it up. Welll...OK! I wasn't planning on picking it up until spring, just so would't be tempted to ride it in less than gentle,dry conditions. I have to baby it for a little while!

It's an '05 Giant XTC. Holy Crap is it ever light! I had forgotten how light it was until I picked it up again. I took it home, put on a new computer, adjusted the pedals (clip-less) for my shoes to click in just right, and went for a ride around my house. I also weighed it, and found it to be only 26.8 pounds.

Compared to my old bike (which will be my winter & wet weather beater) it is such a smooth ride: gear changes, (front) suspension and all around feel. I was doing bunny hops all over the place, because I couldn't believe how light and fluid it felt.

I can't wait to hit the trails with it. I don't have a set of lights for it yet, so I can't go for early morning rides. I'll have to go in the middle of the day, since I'm off on holidays from work till January 2nd.

The bike has a lot of SRAM components, but has a Deore front derailleur, and Deore disk-ready hubs. It has Avid Single Digit 5 rim brakes, but I want to change that to Avid BB7 mechanical disks.