Mountain Biking

Unless the frame/fork already have the mounting tabs, it won't be possible without a lot of effort. You'd need to have the tabs welded in place, then get some new wheels built, and hope that there's enough clearance to fit the rotors.

Mountain bike shoes are not required to be able to ride a mountain bike. You can wear any good athletic shoe. Wearing an actual mountain bike shoe is helpful however to keep your feet from slipping from the peddles on rugged terrian but it not required in any way.

I believe it is Target. I wouldn't buy one though. They break down more often than usual for other bikes, and they are just plain suckish.

A bicycle has two contact points with the ground, front and rear wheel. Whatever makes sense to do at one of them (braking or suspension), will probably be sensible to do at the other as well.

Wide knobbly tires offer better traction on sand and mud. The bigger air chamber also lets you use lower pressure w/o the rim hitting the ground when you go over bumps. Lower pressure also helps with traction, and the rim not bottoming protects it from damages.

Your best bet is to head over to www.bikepedia.com, click on Giant bikes and scroll through the years.

They're no longer produced, so you'll have to turn to the usual sources for used stuff - ebay, craigslist, yard sales, flea markets, classified ads and such.

As long as the clamp area diameter is the same you won't need to do anything. If the MTB is using 31.8mm clamp diameter you can either get some shims, or simply replace the stem

Really depends on who you ask. Some people care a lot about where their stuff is made, others consider quality, value-for-money and performance to be more important and will buy from wherever they think they've found the best balance.

Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. When out of the saddle a bike with a lower cross bar (AKA top tube) can be tilted more sideways w/o your legs getting in the way, which can be useful in trick riding.

No. Or, not with a reasonable amount of effort. A tubular tire gets its name because, well - it's tubular. It's like a length of garden hose joined end to end and the tube is already in it. It would be possible to cut it open, insert a tube and then stitch it back together again, but it would be a huge effort for very little merit. And it'd still not fit a clincher rim, the diameters are slightly different but more importantly the tubular tire doesn't have the reinforced edge required to make it stay put on a clincher rim.

There should have been a booklet that came with your bike. Because it all depends on the volume of your forks and how heavy you are. A table is needed to figure it out.

Maybe visit the brand website

It'll probably be a bit awkward. The shifters and brake levers with their wires tend to stick out in front and get in the way for the basket. And if you've got the kind of basket that attaches to the wheel axle it'd also get tricky if it's a suspension fork. Easiest option would be to get a bar-mounted bike bag. It'll come with all the brackets required to fit there from the beginning.

XC usually stands for Cross-Country, so I'm guessing that XCO is a version of X-COuntry.

Road bikes are used on hard surfaces, where a slick tire will give the most traction/friction with the least rolling resistance. MTBs are intended to be used off road, where knobbly tires are needed to dig into the sand/dirt/mud in order to provide traction/friction.

It's the same reason behind jeeps and 4x4 cars having much knobblier tires than ordinary road cars.

Mountain biking does not pollute the environment however it is not completely good as it does however destroy the natural life on the ground and put tyre marks on things. Us mountain bikers have got to be careful as if we do not treat the land with respect we may be banned from more and more trails. We already have a bad name with some places.

Most mountain bikes are made from Aluminum, some are made from carbon fiber and older bikes are made from steel. Quality, weight and strength vary hugely by manufacturer with most high end bikes claiming unique methods which either reduce weight, improve strength or both.

There are too many possibilities to be covered here, can be anything from a worn chain/sprocket, to a stem or something not being proerly tightened.

If it's really too heavy you won't be able to, that's kinda the point behind calling it too heavy. If it's only on the heavy side you bunny hop it just like any other bike, you just have to try harder. Basically there are two techniques: 1) stand up and push down on both pedals and bar, crunch down low while doing this. As tires hits max compression launch yourself upwards. When you're at full extension of your legs and arms, pull the bike up after you. Clipless pedals are a good help. 2) Stand up out of the saddle, and pull the bike into a wheelie. With the front wheel suspended, push the handlebars forward while unloading the pedals by bending your knees. Done correctly tThis will pull the rear wheel into the air.

That's pretty pointless question, as it leave too much room for personal preference. You might as well ask for the best shoes or the best car. Marzocchi, Manitou and Rockshox are some manufacturers with good reputations.

The two most common types of valves for bicycle tubes are either Presta(narrow, common on road bikes) and schrader. Schrader is thicker, and has the same mechanism as a regular car tire valve. A shrader MTB tube is simply a tube with a Schrader valve.

There's really no telling, say between 18 - 30 lbs.

Yes, unless you have your suspension set up right it can massively damage your knees