I bought my hei hei frame new in 1994, built it up with used and sensible budget parts. A triple butted p2 that bike shop had left over in a bin, etc. ss7, 987, xt derailleurs with xc pro shifters. Only thing that bugged me was the impel compact crank.
commuted on it, mtb’d it for years, replaced wheels when rims wore through. Replaced middle ring twice, big ring once. Entire time that crank bugged me, wanted an m900 but never could find one for reasonable price. 2013 friend gave me suspension fork to help with endurance races. Then I started racing modern mtbs, the Kona lives on trainer. Few years ago found a 107mm un91 for $5… just need the crank…
wore out the big ring on impel, now middle ring really worn. Hate investing in rings with weird bcd for this ugly crank…
Found an m900 xtr on eBay with great rings for what thought was reasonable price. Don’t need mint because it will get used. Shipping and tax brought total to $130. 5 weeks to arrive and… it felt sooo good to finally mount that crank. Unbelievable, like I’m 12.
28 years I waited.
Now just need to find that ti p2 fork. I’ve got a gold control center headset waiting for it.