shall keep them in mind sir for one day when a derailleur change is needed, thanks. Its good to get real world reports from someone who knows derailleurs and can describe the shifting feeling.
As for half-steps, I guess they were/are a big help with 6 speed stuff in keeping the jumps even and closer together. I've never ridden with half-steps, but can see why they arent used anymore because of the 9 and now 10s that are common. I personally appreciate less "backing and forthing" but understand how well half step works for a given gearing set.
Can't say how much I like this combination... have mated Barcons to many types of derailleurs and they work really well with modern long cage designs but the pairing with the X series is by far the best I have ever used. I put 5000 km on my folder last year and much of that was while I was using the X7 and it was flawless.
On half steps...
The Cascade and P20 both have 126mm spacing which has the benefit of a narrower hub and less dish in the wheel... I have plans to build a new wheel set for the Cascade with some Arvon hubs and will build a 7 speed Ultra for this as it allows me to really fine tune the gearing set ups.
Being able to get your primary cruising gear by using a bigger chain wheel and larger cog also reduces load and stress on the drivetrain and makes things that much smoother.
The XT / Araya wheels on the Cascade are beautiful and are pretty close to what it came with originally so I am in no great hurry... my ;last set of these wheels lasted 25,000 km.
I really like half step gearing and my Garlatti road bicycle has a 49/52 Stronglight crank with a widely stepped 14-32 5 speed block... there is no gear duplication and the range is perfect for what it does and I can run in the 52/32 with a Suntour VXs as the capacity is well below the derailleur's limit.
There is also nothing wrong with running a compact mtb triple with a modern 9 speed set up as then you get excellent range and smaller steps across the back as you can take advantage of having a smaller granny and a closely stepped cassette.