Originally Posted by stapfam
On MTB's- Although LX is not bad- There is plenty of scope to Custom your Groupset.
I would recommend XT .....................
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I don't have the road experience of many of you guys. And I'm no great mechanic. So the Dura-Ace or Ultegra may be better than my knowledge of the mountain groups.
I was 21 and a college graduate before I knew you could buy a car that worked. I was amazed that you could just turn the key and mash the gas and drive off the lot. I thought you had a put a transmission or a rear end in'em before it worked.
However, I have recently upgraded two bikes, a 7 speed 90's model cro-moly MTB to 9 speed LX, and an 05 8 speed Deore grouppo flat bar road bike to 9 speed XT.
I was amazed that both the LX or XT will change gears up or down with hardly a sound and barely a click......one minute you're pedaling to beat h**l and the next minute you're lined out.
The old 80/20 rule works for most things when considering cost versus efficiency. So XTR and DuraAce may be a little better, the top of the line, the best, but the best bang for the buck is probably 105/Ultegra, or LX/XT.
Just my opinion of course.