[tedo]

Nice ride Hippie.

I too enjoy cycling, and can totally justify 4k on a bike. My 88 toyota truck has only put on 2500 miles since January!

I used to work on Giant and Sram at my old design job. Our design studio rebranded Giant in 2006, introduced Sram's Rival, Force, Red, XX, X0 - X7...
Fun stuff.

I am currently building a touring bike with all the 100+ miles of goodies and confort.

As of now, I own:
1. Giant Reign X - All Mountain, Freeride. This is the best bike I have ever owned for mtning biking. Beefy enough for chairlift acces, yet pedal friendly for XC. BTW, it's a 1:9

2. Santacruz Chameleon Single Speed (fully rigid).

3. Giant Transport Utility bike. Has front and rear racks that are super strong. They only sold these in the US for 1 year (2008 I believe).

4. On One track bike for commuting 10 miles a day. Say what you must about fix gears, however I have owned this bike since 2000, and a good clean 1:1 direct drive bike is a great commuter.

Again Hippie and everyone else here: Keep riding. Keeps us fit!