What's your "Katy" bike?

Everyone on this post seems to have the "Perfect Katy Bike". Lots of opinions out there, so it sounds like it would be fun to hear why yours is perfect. I'd love to hear about your "Perfect Katy bike" and why it is so perfect for your Katy experience.

My perfect Katy bike is a hardtail aluminum mountain bike with a rigid steel fork. To that I added drop handlbars and 8 speed Sora road bike shifters (Shimano's most reliable combo shifter). It has a high quality 26" sealed bearing wheelset and 1.5" wide semi-slick Specialized Nimbus flak jacket tires that have large grooves in the tread pattern, but pick up very little dirt, and have no place for the little limestone shards to get stuck in the tread. I run them at about 60# for smooth, but fast riding. There is also a good rear rack for my panniers.

I started out with this bike because it was either that or the road bike. I have since come to realize that it is the perfect Katy bike for me. The 26's a) have never gone flat, b) give me great standover height (important when rack and panniers are full of camping gear), c) gives me a lower profile in the wind, d) are lighter than 29er or even touring wheel/tires. New this year is fenders: We'll see how that works out.

I've thought about touring bikes, and Cyclocross bikes, but what I have is the perfect Katy bike (for me). What makes your bike exactly what you need?

My dream bike would be a Titanum mountain bike frame with 700c wheels. Shimano XTR drivetrain and lightweight componets all around. It would probably cost around 4-5 G when complete. But my budget for my rail trail bike was only about a $1000 so I purchased a Gary Fisher Montaire and made a few modifications. New seat, riser bar, cyclo-cross tires and a rear cargo rack. I absolutely love this bike !

Have two bikes that are perfect for the Katy Trail. If I plan to ride 20, 30, 40 or so miles my perfect bike is a ten year old Raleigh hybrid, love that bike! But if going longer distances and loaded for camping, it's the Fuji Touring, love that bike too.

But really, in my opinion, "the perfect" bike for the Katy is the one you're riding!