Biking to office

Every summer I try to bike to work for couple of weeks. I have a great route from home to office and back. Here're few photos showing why. You can even follow the route from the map pic-by-pic.

Specialized

It's been great summer at Finland - almost too much sunshine for us Finns. Maybe it was the warm weather that messed my head, but I just *had* to get a new mountain bike. My old Wheeler 5900 is already a few years old and I thought it's time to add some fun to my exercise.

I updated myself with latest technology and terms by buying a bunch of magazines. I wanted a good and trusted brand, maybe something, which is a bit better than I would actually need (that's the fun part). Front suspension and disc brakes were main technical requirements. I don't compete or anything and my biking is not about transportation, but for fun & exercise.

You know, when you get in to the mood for something, you want to act quickly. Local technical magazine had tested nine mountain bikes under 1000 € price. Specialized Rockhopper SL Comp came second and based on the test results it suited best to my needs. Specialized was on my list of trusted brands, so I decided to go with the magazine's test results and act quickly - otherwise I would have to spend weeks studying different brands and options. Of course I did some online research, read bunch of reviews from other magazines and biking forums and found nothing which would have changed my mind. I gave the bike a test drive and it felt good.

In the end I decided to spend a bit more - just for the fun of it - and bought Specialized Rockhopper SL Pro. I made a deal with Sellon Pyörä. They gave me a fair price (small discount + basic accessories like SPD pedals, bar ends, lock and water bottle cage), but mostly I was impressed with their good attitude and promise of full free service after first 200-300 kilometers. I got couple of other offers and there was no meaningful differences with price.

Let's hope that we will have a warm and dry end of summer and autumn also. I'll have some serious biking to do.