Originally Posted by GCarnegi

What could be simpler than upgrading my bike (LX groupset circa 1993) to V-Brakes (at the same time as upgrading/replacing the frame). Also upgraded the F/R der's with M581 '05LX spec. As it turns out, I'm having a bit of a nightmare.

I changed the LX canti's to LX V's to discover that I can no longer use my 94LX levers. Of course, these are combi's and replacing the levers means replacing the shifters too. Sure I thought, all I need to do is replace my shifters with new LX shifters (to keep the LX badge).

Problem is that 9sp was unheard of in 94 and apparently new LX shifters won't work with my 7sp setup. The last thing I want to do is switch to 9sp because that would mean replacing my rear hub (or at least the freehub) and probably my chain and chainwheel too. (I bought a new 7/8sp chain for the upgrade but haven't fitted it yet)

I'm told that STX-RC shifters are my only hope of keeping the 7sp setup but when cabling up the gears I discover that my RD is sprung the opposite way to my old RD and that the display on the shifter now says "7" when I'm in first - what gives?

Christ, all I wanted to do was put modern brakes on my new frame 'cause they look nicer.

Will my RD work with my 7sp setup even though it was probably designed for a 9sp?

Also I noticed that the M570 LX V-brakes ('04) seem to have the parallel push linkage for the blocks whereas that newer M580 LX V-brakes ('05) have fixed blocks - is this not a bit of a backward step?

all the best,
Guy Carnegie