I'd put up with a 150g or whatever weight penalty for it, especially if it delivered significantly longer life... This bloke reckons it feels smoother too; I guess it'd be smoother again at full diameter.
Originally Posted by
11.4
Yeah to all the above. Hub threading is unique, chain is unique, cog is unique, (and yes, chain whip is unique as is, I believe, the chain breaker), chainrings are unique, etc. I rode it for a while and it was actually very smooth -- if you've ever ridden an old one-inch-pitch track bike for a lark, you see why people prefer 1/2" pitch today. The same applies to 10 mm in spades. It was superb equipment, some of the best quality Shimano ever put out. And yes, like a Delorean, it gets lots of comments from those who know. Unfortunately, it's also nigh impossible to get parts for it any longer. It's really a collectible or a "I've got it and you don't" kind of thing. At the time, a lot of riders really embraced it, but seeing 500 groups on the tracks wasn't enough to make it a commercial success. NJS approved it for parimutuel keirin racing, but by then it was too late and there wasn't enough volume in pro keirin to begin to make a difference.