I just completed a restoration of swapping out some old parts on my vintage Raleigh Technium Chill mountain bike. New handlebar, new Ergon GP1 bio grips grips, new Shimano EF-51 rapid fire shifter/brake levers, new rear Shimano Alivio dérailleur and new Shimano Deore BR-M590 v-brakes replaced my cantis and new KMC Z-72 chain.

I rode 18 miles today and here is my feedback. The Ergon grips felt really comfortable when set properly. I took along my Crank Brothers 17 function multi tool and adjusted until I found my comfort spot. The rapid fire shifter was a totally different feeling compared to my Deore friction shifter. I feel my friction shifter felt smoother going into all the gears. I noticed when shifting it sometime did not engage into the gear as shown in the shift lever window and just stayed in gear 5 when it suppose to of into gear 6. It moves into gear 7 with no problem. The KMC Z-72 chain moved along very nicely up and down the gears when shifted. The missing link that came with the chain made it very easy to install. The best part of my restoration that felt really great was the Deore BR-M590 v-brakes. I replaced both the front and the rears. Installation was very easy and also to position adjust was a breeze compared to my original cantis with KoolStop pads. The Deore V-brakes felt really great and the stopping power and smoothness is and awesome feeling.

It was a nice ride today and I will tweak my cables during this break in period and allow for some stretching. All in all, my bike is very happy and so is the rider.

Happy riding guys!

Maukaman....