In 1996, I helped my girlfriend buy her first "real" mountain bike - a Rocky Mountain Cardiac. It was fine riding in the Endowment Lands, commuting to work, and for light overnight trips with panniers. We replaced the canti brakes with V-brakes at some point and it served her well.
In February 2004, now my wife of 5 years, she rode it down Pipeline for her first ride on Fromme. We found out later that she had been two weeks pregnant with our first child. A Chariot attachment went on the following spring to take our daughter about town. When our son came along in 2007 we added a Salsa rigid fork, had Sam Whittingham add a disc brake mount and put on a Bion-X system. She towed two kids around until they were able to ride by themselves.
Our daughter decided when she was in grade 4 that she was going to ride her bike to school every day. Now in grade 12, I can only recall about 6 days when she has been driven to school and not ridden her bike since then. And the bike she has been riding for the last 4 years? The same '96 Cardiac. It will accompany her to UBC next year when she lives with her grandparents - the same place it first called home to when it was brand new.
We've talked about repainting it but the scuffed stickers and patina are part of what makes it a modern family heirloom. And hopefully deters theft in the university bike racks.
March 14, 2022, 8:52 p.m. - paulc
In 1996, I helped my girlfriend buy her first "real" mountain bike - a Rocky Mountain Cardiac. It was fine riding in the Endowment Lands, commuting to work, and for light overnight trips with panniers. We replaced the canti brakes with V-brakes at some point and it served her well. In February 2004, now my wife of 5 years, she rode it down Pipeline for her first ride on Fromme. We found out later that she had been two weeks pregnant with our first child. A Chariot attachment went on the following spring to take our daughter about town. When our son came along in 2007 we added a Salsa rigid fork, had Sam Whittingham add a disc brake mount and put on a Bion-X system. She towed two kids around until they were able to ride by themselves. Our daughter decided when she was in grade 4 that she was going to ride her bike to school every day. Now in grade 12, I can only recall about 6 days when she has been driven to school and not ridden her bike since then. And the bike she has been riding for the last 4 years? The same '96 Cardiac. It will accompany her to UBC next year when she lives with her grandparents - the same place it first called home to when it was brand new. We've talked about repainting it but the scuffed stickers and patina are part of what makes it a modern family heirloom. And hopefully deters theft in the university bike racks.