TASTEEEE!
I just found this delightful thread via link in the Touring forum (thank you, Frantik). It`s gonna take me a while, but I`ll get through it all eventually. I`m having a hell of a time with the "manage attatchments" thing, hopefully the pics I checked will make it into this post? If not, I`ll take some new ones for this thread.
My bestest friend for the past few years is a 92 Schwinn rigid mtb with drops. I`ve gone to 8 speed and added many pounds of crap to it, and the only parts original to the bike are the seatpost, FD, and brake calipers (original RD was there until it fell apart on my last year and I couldn`t find all the pieces). It gets used for commuting, touring, day rides, and an occasional grocery run. My winter project hasn`t started yet, but it`s going to be a Rockhopper (89, I think) that`ll be sort of a Beastie Lite for unencumbered road rides.