As luck would have it, very early on Cale spotted... an entire, brand new XO group in gold for $400. Gold Noir cranks, white and gold brakes- well, why type when I can show you a photo (bottom bracket not shown):
I might sell off the Elixir CR brakes and a trigger shifter. I bet some white Grams would look good, and I run 1x9. On the other hand, I could keep them around so I can sell it in two years (or so) as a full group. Too, I could ride the Elixirs to get more experience with different types of brakes.
Other plans for this build include the same ol' steel Zion, matte black which I think will look decent (for what it is) in this build. I might paint some white and gold stripes on it, though. I've been dreaming of a GF Superfly, but my checking account is scowling and shaking its head at me, looking like it's disappointed in how I turned out. I've got some gold hydraulic hose and I'm planning on getting a SunRinglé Black Flag tubeless wheelset. In gold with my decals, of course. Sweet.
For a few years I've envied the black and gold look. Red's the dominant color in the industry, and gold parts are somewhat rare because manufacturers can't sell gobs of them. That's my view and understanding, anyhow. Same with a lot of colors, I guess.
But less daydreaming about this future build and more about the swap itself. It was packed, same as always it seemed. Maybe more than last year?
I got a lot of other stuff besides my beloved gold XO, but I sold my old group, so I ended up about $130 down, which wasn't so bad. I was keeping an eye out for a road group, but nothing really caught my attention. Heh, my cranks were the last thing to go, and Joey and I jokingly tried a mystery shopper type of thing to help move them. A guy had picked them up and was looking at them, and Joey said "Oooooh, Noir cranks, huh? Those look pretty awesome." Unfortunately, the guy not only missed his joking tone but wasn't frightened into a sale. He handed the cranks right over to Joey. D'oh!
Around noon my parents came and picked up a roof rack I had gotten for them. I had planned on just dad coming in to pick it up and forking it over in the parking lot, so I told dad maybe he could just come in and get me without buying a wristband. (Why he owns a cell phone but doesn't use it in instances like this, I'll never know.) But both wound up coming, and Sue wanted to shop for a red helmet and gloves to match her bike (which we found w/o too much trouble), so it's only fair that they bought admission.
One weaselly thing I saw was a guy who had bought a Niner RIP-9 at the discount Niner offered the people whose bikes they recalled- I believe it was $900. This guy was selling his with handlebars and a rear shock for $1500. (I asked how much it was, and as I was leaving the table I heard him telling the person at the table with him that he had gotten it through the warranty issue.) Sure, maybe he got it, built it up and didn't like it, all within three or four months. Or maybe...
Flipper, get it?
At the beginning of the swap, I had passed out a few smut buttons to friends. Well, word got around and toward the end, I had random people coming up to me with a grin, asking to see the smuttons. I decided a good course of action would be to trade with people. I got a couple pairs of socks, two road tires, two road tubulars, two mountain bike tires, a bottle cage and a few other things. We didn't desperately need any of these things, but they're all good to have extras around. The best part hands down, though, was watching people look through the smuttons and pick out their favorites. You just don't see that kind of excitement, glee and delighted horror in grownups that often, you know?
All in all, this swap gets an A+. I never expected to find exactly what I had in mind, or spend so little overall, and it was great to see everyone again. It was a long day, though, and I was glad to finally sit down with my feet up in the car on the ride home. As they say, my dogs were barking. Every time I sat behind the tables Pegasus had, I'd remember something I wanted to check out, or see someone I wanted to talk to, etc. Exhausting. Great fun, though.
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