# 1990-1993 Components



## The Golden Boy (Oct 7, 2009)

I'm going to be getting a bike that appears to have had most of it's good components replaced with 'not so desirable' parts. 

The bike itself is from around 1990-1993, and from what I understand it was *decent*, although nothing all that "collectable." I'm looking for ideas for components for the bike- shifters, front and rear derailleurs, maybe brakes... Stuff that would have been "good stuff" from that era. Again, it hasn't been delivered yet- I'm just giddy about putting it together.

I'm not necessarily looking for a component group, per se. More like a good RD from Shimano and a good FD from another company... 

I'd like to go with thumb shifters, and I believe there's a 7 speed freewheel on it now.

Thanks a lot!!!


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## yo-Nate-y (Mar 5, 2009)

What is your question? Are you asking for parts suggestions, or for people to sell you stuff?


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## The Golden Boy (Oct 7, 2009)

yo-Nate-y said:


> What is your question? Are you asking for parts suggestions, or for people to sell you stuff?


I'm looking for parts suggestions.

At some point I'm going to need to find the parts suggested...


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## wv_bob (Sep 12, 2005)

It's frozen in time at 1995, so it's a little too new, but you could maybe get some ideas from the bikepro catalog?
http://www.bikepro.com/over_index.shtml


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

First Flight/MOMBAT is good for parts time lines.

90/91....find M730, M732, M735 XT...or perhaps Deore (Deore DX).
92/93....M900 XTR is awesome stuff.

Thats the easiest, mores readily available stuff that will also work great.


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## ish (Jun 17, 2009)

Deore DX is the best value for a midline bike from that era. Way cheaper than XT and a fraction of XTR, yet functionally more or less the same. Designed for 7 speed, too.


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## alexk (Sep 30, 2005)

Deore DX would be my suggestion too.


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## Roadsters (Jul 7, 2008)

Here's a handy summary of Shimano History.


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## The Golden Boy (Oct 7, 2009)

ish said:


> Deore DX is the best value for a midline bike from that era. Way cheaper than XT and a fraction of XTR, yet functionally more or less the same. Designed for 7 speed, too.





alexk said:


> Deore DX would be my suggestion too.


Please keep in mind, my actual experience with stuff is extremely limited. Most of what I "know" is from stuff I've read off the intArwebs- and I try to take as much opinion with a grain of salt and try to seperate that from actual "fact" and weigh that all out...

What would be the functional difference between something like the DX M-650 and the XT M-735? Assuming I'd be getting used/ potentially beat gear- in terms of both functionality and "prestige," is the $20 or so price differential worth it?

Also, how much of a functional difference is there between something like the Deore XT and the Suntour XC Pro stuff? Here and there you read that the Suntour FDs are "better," but the indexing on the Shimano RD stuff is "better." I also see that high end stuff like Rivendell still uses NOS XC Pro stuff (both front and rear) although there appears to be plenty of NOS and NIB XT stuff around.


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## alexk (Sep 30, 2005)

The Golden Boy said:


> Please keep in mind, my actual experience with stuff is extremely limited. Most of what I "know" is from stuff I've read off the intArwebs- and I try to take as much opinion with a grain of salt and try to seperate that from actual "fact" and weigh that all out...
> 
> What would be the functional difference between something like the DX M-650 and the XT M-735? Assuming I'd be getting used/ potentially beat gear- in terms of both functionality and "prestige," is the $20 or so price differential worth it?
> 
> Also, how much of a functional difference is there between something like the Deore XT and the Suntour XC Pro stuff? Here and there you read that the Suntour FDs are "better," but the indexing on the Shimano RD stuff is "better." I also see that high end stuff like Rivendell still uses NOS XC Pro stuff (both front and rear) although there appears to be plenty of NOS and NIB XT stuff around.


There's not too much functional difference between the XT-M730-736 series of components and the Deore or Deore DX series of components. Check the Mombat page posted earlier, but Deore was relabelled Deore DX in either 1990 or 1991. Both work really well.

The derailleurs are essentially the same, only the Deore DX rear derailleur had a cage made from alloy and steel (rear half) whereas Deore XT was full alloy. The cranks are the same, both cold forged alloy as opposed to the heavier melt forged LX cranks. The thumb shifter (i.e. above bar shifter) mounts on the Deore or Deore DX are steel bands and lighter than the equivalent Deore XT alloy mounts. The XT thumb shifters just look nicer overall. The actual thumb shifter unit is the same. The later under bar shifters (push-push type or first generation RapidFire) in the Deore DX range are a bit clunky as is the equivalent XT model. Deore DX was phased out in approximately 1993 as the Deore LX range was upgraded significantly in appearance. This also coincided with RapidFire-Plus shifters being introduced and these were much nicer to use than the first generation ones. A set of these later XT RapidFire- Plus shifters should work nicely with the earlier Deore DX components or you can use the XT or Deore thumbshifters which have the phantom click so you use them with 8 speed cassettes. Front derailleurs, hubs and brake levers are the same between Deore XT and Deore DX. Deore XT components were more nicely finished overall and just slightly lighter in some areas, like the rear derailleur mentioned earlier. Over the 16 years a Deore DX (Deore) crankset that is well ridden will look pretty much like well ridden Deore XT crankset, rock gouges or scrapes on the ends of the crank arms, heel rub and a scrape or two on the crank arms from the occasional crash and some light scrapes (due to the chain) from an overshift (or two) on the big ring due to a slightly misaligned front derailleur.

Regarding Suntour XC Pro and Deore XT comparisons, some say XC Pro was another step up in quality over Deore XT. The XT (and DX) shifting just was better under adverse conditions as Shimano's upper rear derailleur pulley is floating and Suntour's is not. Thus the Suntour derailleur got out of adjustment more rapidly. The XC Pro Greaseguard system (licensed from WTB) is definitely an improvement over the XT and DX hubs and bottom bracket. Removes the need to disassemble and repack bearings unless absolutely necessary. Very nicely executed.

Shimano's UN71-73 series of sealed bottom brackets are definitely one of the best around (on a mass-production basis). I'm still using one that is 15 years old. FWIW I've only used Shimano Deore XT on my bikes but I've ridden bikes equipped with a mixture of Deore LX/DX and DX only and both worked well.


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## The Golden Boy (Oct 7, 2009)

Thank you guys very much- 

Alex, that's a wonderful explanation and a lot of what I was looking for. I misunderstood some of that lineage thing- Deore became Deore DX and LX was beneath that and XT above that. I understood XT to be 'the cat's pajamas...' 

I understand that a large majority of the price differential in otherwise identical frames is in the function and cosmetics of components- and from what I see written, it seems that in the case of DX and XT- the cosmetics and the 'intangibles' are the difference. Is that kind of how it works?


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