MMBA Expo, Good Swap Meet Finds

Today was the MMBA Annual Expo in Lansing, MI, and part of this included the swap meet where people will bring spare/old parts to sell. There’s a few parts that I’ve been casually keeping an eye out for, and today a bunch of those found their way home with me. Spending a grand total of $40 I happened to acquire…

…a new CamelBak bladder for my trail work pack. (Only 1.5L, but it should be fine…): $10
…a nearly-new Shimano LX 11-34 cassette for the (temporary?) 1×9 conversion I’m planning for the El Mariachi: $10
…a 1.0mm Surly Toob: $10
…a Continental 26×1.75″ Hometrainer tire, in the original orange: $5

Thus far I’m really happy with all these purchases. Each was something that I needed, and each was something that someone was looking to get rid of. The Continental Hometrainer tire seems to be particularly great as It doesn’t make a chirping / squeaking sound while on the trainer, which results in an overall quieter ride.

I also thought that the expo came out rather well. (Nice job, Di!) I particularly liked how all the swap meet people were scattered amongst the vendors instead of in a swap meet ghetto at the back like they seemed to be last year. The snow and venue out in Lansing made for a long day, with ~1.75 hours of driving to get there and ~2.5 to get to my parents house afterward, but it was all quite worthwhile. The positive validation for the snow tires was rewarding after all the rain we’ve been having.