I commute by bike everyday I can to a middleschool. (Im a teacher) most of the kids ask me if I have a car or a license.. which I do of course, and then I have to explain to them that riding a bike is freedom, I hate traffic, and I try to do my part for the environment no matter how small it may be. To alot of kids (near me at least) it seems like a bike is another "extreme" activity like a skateobard or . . i dunno bungee jumping or something. So if you have a bike its for bombing down local ski resorts in the summer or jumping off piles of dirt. Not for leisure riding. Ive ridden a F.S. 'huck boom jam MTB a few miles through town once and pedaling the thing is no fun! ((until you see a set of stairs to fly off of) I wouldn't be doing much distance riding between towns if I only had one of those I m afraid. And to top it off, department store bikes of course are following the trend of fullsuspension bikes and they do such a crap job becasue of trying to make it for as cheap as possible, that the things are even harder to ride and heavier.
I smile when I see a group of kids on their bmx's cruising through town . . .
~S