These days I am using this as my 'winter bike'. I'm using it on the road when it looks a bit too slippery to be out on my road bike with its skinny wheels. Because of the more upright geometry of this bike, if you haven't been out for a while, this is the easiest one to get going again on!

In August 2005 I got the chance to buy a custom built Trek 5200 (2002) carbon road bike off a mate for a decent price, it also came with a pair of Mavic Ksyrium SL wheels, which are very nice. I was thinking of getting a road bike around this time due to the fact that I was getting quite fit (for me anyway) and I wanted to go further and faster on the road. The Trek 4300 MTB was feeling very heavy after about 40 miles and I knew I could go quite a bit further with a lighter bike. I was not wrong, this thing goes like a rocket, especially up hills, it just seems to 'float' sometimes. Downhill at speed it can be a bit of a handful because of how light it weighs, certain descents that are no problem on the MTB have had me carefully dabbing the brakes on this bike, specially if there's a bit of wind about!

Click on image to enlarge.

I've finally got this bike setup so everything's the right size for me now and I'm very happy with how it's performing. Here's a list of some of the parts on this bike:

• Shimano Ultegra
  • Chainset & cassette – double
  • Front & rear gear mech
  • Pedals
  • STI levers & brakes with Flightdeck computer fitted
• Selle Italia SLK seat
• Bontrager Race X Lite carbon bars
• Thomson Elite X2 stem
• Michelin Pro 2 Race tyres

I got my third and final bike, a Trek Fuel EX 9 full suspension MTB in April 2006 from York Cycleworks. This was a 2005 model, so it was quite a lot cheaper than the 2006 model, and in my opinion, it was also better spec'd in some areas as well.
One of the reasons why I wanted a full suspension MTB was that after going on a few 'rockier' off-road rides in the Lakes, I was getting bounced around all over the place on my hard-tail MTB at speed. I was also getting a few rear punctures and broken spokes quite regularly (this was before I got the Mavic wheels for the 4300, see above), so I knew a stronger, more purposeful bike was in order if I was going to carry on riding amongst 'the rough stuff'.
Taking this bike out on some of the more 'hectic' off-road trails is amazing; it just soaks everything up which helps you keep better balance as you go faster. Certain obstacles that you know would be a problem and have to be wary of on the hard-tail are no longer an issue, this bike just ploughs straight through them and the suspension takes it all in. It also has a handy Pop-Loc shifter for 'locking out' the front & rear suspension for when you're back on the road.
I have only changed the seat post clamp (the original one broke, cheap and nasty affair) and seat on this bike, the original spec was very good to start with. The list below details some of the parts on this bike:

Click on image to enlarge.

• Rock Shox Reba Team forks & rear suspension (both 4" travel)
• Shimano XT
  • Hydraulic disc brakes
  • Front gear mech
  • Chainset and cassette
• Shimano M520 pedals
• Bontrager
  • Race Lite tubeless wheel set (although I don't run them tubeless)
  • Race X Lite carbon seat post & bars
  • Race Lite stem
• SRAM X-9 Shifters & rear gear mech
• WTB Rocket V Comp seat
• Chris King NoThreadSet Aheadset (not pictured)
• Not forgetting... Salsa seat post clamp!