Attached is a Ritchey MountainBike advertisement showing a model equipped with Deore XT cantilever brakes. The rear derailleur appears to be SunTour Superbe Tech, while the hubs appear to be Phil Wood, in which case this would be the Everest model. It is taken from the January/February 1983 issue of Bicycling magazine, which has a 1982 copyright date. Consequently, Rodale Press had the ad copy at least as early as December 1982. The photo shoot would have taken place earlier and may possibly pre-date December. Regardless, this is objective evidence of the existence of Deore XT components in the USA market prior to 1983, though it would still be for the 1983 model year.