Riding with an old friend

My first *real* bike was a Dean Steel hardtail - decked out in all XT components - i bought this bike when started mtn biking 6 years ago...It's been neglected for several years but now it's back and I'm in love with it all over again.

I didn't know anything about bikes back then - but i knew I wanted one that fit and where I'd *never* have to buy another one. So I dropped big bucks($2200) for the bike and thought I was done. (hee-hee- the joke's on me, eh?)

3 years later after hearing how great Full Suspensions were and how much faster I'd be...I dropped more big bucks on my Seven. Last year I converted the Dean to an SS and found I loved SSing so much I needed a custom SS build(yes - even more big $$). The Dean has been languishing in the garage for the past year.

Now everyone knows I love SSing. But sometimes it would be nice to have gears, it would also be nice to have a lighter bike to ride than my Seven FS. The Seven weighs in @ ~24lbs and my SS ~18.5 - so having something in the middle would be perfect. I'm weighing ~106lbs right now so every pound on the bike makes a difference to me. (sigh...i'm such a weight weenie!) So I got the great idea to build back up the Dean. I'm in the process of upgrading my SS (pink hope brakes and maybe an xtr crank and crank bro bottom bracket) and putting the lighter parts from the SS on the Dean - I'm hoping by the time I'm done it will weigh in ~21lbs. But to get things going - I put a mish mash of components on the bike and took it for a ride yesterday.

Yes - back out to Indian Creek with 4 of my biking buddies(Mark, Mark, John, Tom). The weather was breezy but warm - short sleeve jerseys and shorts were in order.

Man! I love that little hardtail. That thing rocks! It fits me well - climbs well and it was nice having front suspension. Here's a couple of pix of me dropping into/riding a little tricky off-camber section. woohoo! rocks!







The bike handled this terrain just fine.

good shot of the bike












My buddy, Mark - seen here railing the descent, inspired by the GITA SBT ride where Anthony S. was snapping photos - worked on his photo technique. He said he took 77 photos and posted 18 of them - i'm flattered I made it into 9 of them.