After completing this upgrades on the Huffy, I only had enough time to ride up and down the road in the dark to tune the gears. I decided to do my daily commute on this bike this morning and I was very happy with the outcome. Every gear shifted perfectly and the brakes were better than ever. I still have to say the stock Shimano SIS derailleurs worked just as good and never had an issue, but if I am going full Deore XT, then I am all in. I will admit the Deore XT V-brakes work way better than the no-name brakes from original.

This Huffy is also noticeably lighter. All the components on this bike came from a 27.5 lb carbon tubed Reflex MTB and I suspect this Huffy is around 30 lbs with oversized carbon steel tubes. I will weigh this bike to verify, but I am not a weight weenie type guy and don't care. If need be I can find an allow stem and seatpost to drop a few pounds.