SL-M732

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This Shimano shifter is the first piece of my new bike. It's the only thing left of one of the first mountain bikes I ever owned- a sparkly purple Specialized Rockhopper bought at a pawn shop in Manhattan, KS in 1995. It will come back to life soon. I haven't got much nailed down yet but I'm thinking 4-5" travel frame with 120mm up front. I want XC handling and lightness. The XT thumbie will be the centerpeice of a 1X8 drivetrain featuring a shortcage (Dura Ace maybe?) deraileur. With a 13-23 or 26 cassette, it's high and tight gearing but after riding SS for the last 10 years, 8 speeds should be more than sufficient.
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Rode WYCO Lake yesterday and picked my way through some of the new trails. Those trails are coming together nicely. Just need about double the milage and WYCO will be fantastic. Speaking of fantastic trails...
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I met Tom Park at Swope this morning and we had a great ride. He was on his 29er SS and I was on my 650 SS. Speeds seemed to match up nicely between us and Tom is a great bike handler so it's a breeze to ride with him. I gotta get out there waaay more than a couple of times a year.
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I pulled my foot out on a tech section and tweaked the back of my leg on something- I guess I whacked it on the empty pedal. It's tightened up quite a bit since I got home. I'll see if I can keep it loose for tomorrow's race. If it's too tight, I won't race. In years past I wouldn't even give it a thought, but with money being tight, I don't want to throw away 35 bucks on a show-n-go. It sucks, but that's the reality of the situation.