Goodbye to the FSR

Today, I said farewell to my first full suspension mountain bike, my 2004 Specialized FSR XC Pro. I sold it for a good price, actually somewhat more than I paid Billy for it back in October of last year. In recognition of his generosity when he sold it to me, I sent him a check for the difference between what I sold it for and what I paid him, so I essentially rented it for free for 10 months or so.

I remember buying it back in October. I had been talking to Rachel that very day about how much I was loving riding, and that my Iron Horse hardtail wasn't ideal for some of the more intermediate rides I was doing. But during our conversation, I told her that since I had just bought the IH three months earlier, I couldn't justify the expense of an upgrade so soon, and I would just have to make it work.

That afternoon, I got an email from Billy offering his barely used FSR for sale. The price he was asking was a little more than I could handle, but I emailed him anyway, and told him I was interested but finances were a little tight. He responded immediately, and knocked $200 of his asking price, just for me because I was part of Skyline MTB. I didn't even hesitate, and emailed him back immediately, sealing the deal.

That night, I couldn't sleep because I was so excited about my new full squish rig. I kept looking at the pictures he had emailed me, and could barely contain myself. Here's one of the pics he sent, which I must have looked at at least 150 times between the afternoon he sent it and the next day when I picked it up:

When I went to pick it up, I couldn't have been happier. It fit perfectly, was in great shape, and was exactly what I had been hoping to get but didn't think I could afford. Billy's generosity just blew me away.

A few weeks later, Billy further blessed my by taking my Iron Horse and FSR back overnight, and swapping out some parts from the IH that were a little better than those on the FSR. Amazing.

The FSR served me extremely well over the last 10 months or so. It was a great all around bike, and served as an awesome stepping stone to my next round of bike upgrades, including the Enduro. I had some minor seller's remorse as the new owner drove it away, but I knew it was going to a good home, and I wasn't riding it much these days because I have the Enduro, and the weight difference between the two is fairly minimal despite the difference in travel.

At some point, I'd love to invest in a lightweight XC rig to compliment the Enduro, which is a beast to drag up hills. But the FSR wasn't super light or speced out well enough to make me excited to ride it instead of the Enduro, so I decided to sell it while it still had as much value as possible. And I think that was a good choice, even though I was sad to see it go.

So another steed leaves the stable, but at least I had the chance to make some great memories with it, and will always remember Billy's generosity and assistance when I look back at pictures of me on the FSR, including the one that is the masthead on this blog.