Originally Posted by
sloppy12
There is always away to do everything. That is almost never the best way for new person to start.
You know how to do those things because you have learned to make a system work. Its definitely not the simple option.
You have a point, but I will say this... The best way to start is often something I didn't mention. Just get out on what you have and do some touring. That or ride something that is very easily affordable. Then spend more when you better know what you want. The only reason I didn't lobby for riding what he has is that he said it was too big. I tend to think folks most often fit bikes too large so I hesitated to go down that road. Riding a too large bike might be miserable.
Also racks on most MTB without the bosses are not really all that complicated of a deal.