FREE AT LAST!!!!

[Matno]

If you are riding Dura-Ace/XTR you are not going to have a problem, but if you are running anything under 105/STXRC(?)

Come on, have some self respect! UNDER 105/STXRC? Who uses that stuff?! Just kidding. But I personally would never go for anything under 105 for road or Deore for MTB. However, I do have 105 on my current road bike (darn money tree stopped growing!) and it's been just fine for several years now. Recently bought a road bike for the wife with Tiagra shifters that don't feel bad at all.
Haven't gone below XT shifters in the MTB line, but I did ride a demo bike once with Deore shifters and must say that I would never spend money on them. Cheap, plastic feel that I'm quite certain wouldn't hold up as long as I would want. I had STX RC on my first MTB, and while I sold it several years ago, it's still in the family (I ride it occasionally for old times' sake), and it's still just as reliable as ever. Solid feel to the shifters too, but HEAVY!

I would like to try Mavic's electronic road shifters they had a few years back. I loved the feel of them in the store even though they looked a bit monstrous. From what I've heard, as long as the batteries were strong, they were like magic... If they were anywhere near as nice as my Ksyrium wheels, they'd have to be awesome!

[jazclrint]

I was really happy with the STX-RC bits on mu old 2000, even though I had the shop upgrade the shifters and rear D to ESP 9.0s before I picked it up.

Just so you know, both Campy and Shimano are working on electronic shifters as we speak.  They have even been on a few racers bikes for R&D.  go to www.campyonly.com and look in their Rumors section for details.

[kiwi]

there are some interesting points here.I think most of us really know that serious mtb bike need seriuos gear.I would never go below LX (whatever that s now!) quality and i have never really had a problem with shifting.I disliked the gripshift that came on the 756 and upgraded to xt shifters almost immediately.My road bike runs 105 and its fine

[jeffhop]

ive got sram x-9 and x-7 on my mtbs and 105 on my roadbike only because i cant afford the new sram gruppo and im not too fond of campy.

[willem]

We will only truly be free when cycling enters the  the current century and eliminates derailleurs and cogsets.

Think of it... at any given time while cycling, 85% of your running gear is just along for the ride. While you're actively cranking one chainring and one sprocket, you've got 2 other chainrings and maybe 7-8 sprockets weighing you down! And they're all connected by a chain.
A chain...? 300 moving parts made of steel! You've got to be kidding!

It won't be too many years before we get this NuVinci hub figured out properly. When they make it strong enough for cranking torque, we'll put it in our bottom brackets and forget all about SRAM and Shimano's battle to achieve superiority in archaic machine design!

Maybe...