This is the second LX drivetrain I've owned in the past few years. I've been happy with the performance and reliability of all the components, save for the freewheel/hub.From day one, the freewheel/hub has acted...strangely. It doesnt coast smoothly and sounds like a flight of B-24 bombers coming down the hill. But it hasn't seized up in four years of riding, so I'll keep hammering the shit out of it until it does.Note to your average rider: YOU DONT NEED XTR. SPEND YOUR MONEY ON BEER INSTEAD. If you simply must have XTR, put an XTR sticker on your LX derailleur. There now, doesn't that feel better?
Favorite Trail: The Golden Path to Unlimited Devotion
Duration Product Used: more than 3 years
Similar Products Used: XT, STC-RC, Alivio, cheap Suntour.
Bike Setup: Trek 950 rigid. What's a shock?
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Graham
a Cross-Country Rider
from Monterey, CA
Date Reviewed: April 22, 1999
Strengths: Cheap, worked flawlessly for the first couple thousand miles. Shifters, cranks, cogs and rings are all still in great shape.
Weaknesses: The shifting went to hell in a handbasket all at once. I have no idea how many miles I have on, but I put on over 30 a day when I was a bike messenger. As soon as I move out to CA, I started moutain biking, and now everything's breaking. I've checked my chain, it's not that old and still isn't stretched that bad. The cogs show very little wear, so this leads me to believe the deraillers are the culprit. I adjust the crap out of them just to keep my ride going, but I really think they've reached the end of their life span.
Bottom Line:
A good bargain group, I certainly wouldn't go any lower. (this is the first group in the line to eliminate all the plastic crap) I'm really not satisfied with the the mileage I've gotten out of the deraillers, particularly since the rest is still working flawlessly after years of abuse. Unfortunately, the marketing facists at Shimano have made my equipment obsolete, so now I need a whole new groupo instead of just replacing the guilty parts. A big SCREW YOU to the bastards at Shimano. If only campy kept making mountain parts...
Strengths: Nice gear range, fairly fast rear shifts
Weaknesses: VERY bad front shifting, even when compared to my Grip Shift MRX's with a tourney front derailleur. Also it suffers more when it has been ridden hard.
Bottom Line:
This group preforms far worse than I expected. The front shifting is terrible and the rear isn't great. Compared to the shifting of the component groups a couple steps down from LX (Alivio, Acera, STX) it is awful in the mud.A good component group only if you ride on a wide range of varying terrain, and live in a super dry climate (but not dusty dry, because that will affect the drivetrain badly)
Submitted by
Matt Schultz
a weekend warrior
from Woodside, South Australia
Date Reviewed: February 17, 1999
Bottom Line:
I currently have a 1998 Raceline with LX front and XT rear. On the hole I love this combination as it allows for quick, precise changes on the most technical of courses. The overall performance of the XT rear is flawless but the LX front does tend to shift slowly when you are really trying to motor up steep hills. I was on a tight budget for this bike and for the price I paid this combination is outstanding, but you just can't go past the XT rear for value - it's PROVEN to be outstanding!
I completed a race season with a lX front and rear deraileurs. They hold up quite well for the price. Never had any problems with them but I put an Avid Rollamajig on the rear deraileur to improve quickness and smoothness. It worked quite well. Overall LX is a well functioning group
Submitted by
Simeon Yianni
a cross-country rider
from England , Huddersfield
Date Reviewed: November 29, 1998
Bottom Line:
I got this Groupset on my Handsome Dog bike the shift well and after about 5-6 months the rear mech got bent along with my dropout so it is stong with a good £tag
Submitted by
Paul
a weekend warrior
from Coventry, England
Date Reviewed: November 13, 1998
Bottom Line:
I ordered the LX groupset as part of a spring clean for my bike, It arrived attatched to a pair of 217's, The only problem was with the indexing of the rear mech, a quick visit to be BSG and all was fine. The LX g/set is a hard working set, it's all anyone really needs, well, all I need. All I can say is the big S has treated us well and I am really happy with the whole gruppo. Nice...
an Lx rear dEr. came stock on my bike I shifts perfect if it is clean. It only missed a shift when it was so clogged with mud and grit after a race. After I got all the crap out of It and lube it worked fine. I think it looks better then XTR too.
Submitted by
ben
a cross-country rider
from the land down under
Date Reviewed: June 22, 1998
Bottom Line:
I'm not running a whole LX groupset, just brakes and derailleur. My bike was a piece of crap and I am upgrading. I figure Lx is the best way to go for a good price. The brakes still work fine after about 7 months, and god knows how many kilometres. I only got the derailleur recently, and it works perfectly, even when coupled with dodgy grip-shifters. In all, I would reccomend them to anybody.
