Al, labratmatt's reply is pretty much on the mark. There isn't any way a direct comparison can be made between those early groups and what's available now except the relative position in the product line.

The RX100 group in about '96 was the base level 8S group. At the time it was strongly felt it was simply an unpainted 105 group, as mentioned above. It's a good group that was used on Cannondale's R600. Up to '96 the R400 had the compact RSX 7S (I bought one new just for the frame color) so your friend's bike is either newer than my R400 or has been rebuilt with the RX100 group.

Brad