Thread: Shimano Heirarchy
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Old 10-20-06, 08:47 AM
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khuon
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Originally Posted by clayface
Perhaps you can draw a bit more of info from:
http://www.fa-technik.adfc.de/Herste...Gruppen90.html

I remeber reading that for the early 90's, Exage 500CX was closer to 200GS and 100GS, while Exage 500LX was just below DeoreLX.
Go by the part numbers...

Exage 500CX was also known as the C500 group. Shimano snuck in variations on some of their MTB groups to turn them into "comfort" groups (CX). Thus in the MTB (which at that time meant all flatbar compatible groups) hierarchy/pecking order...

Early 1990s (1990-1992) Shimano lineup
  1. XTR = M900
  2. Deore XT = M735
  3. Deore DX = M650
  4. Deore LX = M550
  5. Nexus = E700
  6. Exage 500LX = M500
  7. Exage 500CX = C500
  8. Exage 400LX = M400
  9. Exage 300LX = M300
  10. 200GS = M200
  11. 100GS = M100
  12. Tourney = TY20, TY70, TY70-S (youth)
  13. SIS = ????
DeoreLX back in 1991 sat in the lineup where Deore sits today. After 1993, Shimano dropped DeoreDX and elevated DeoreLX in terms of market positioning and quality. It however never truly approached DeoreDX because in all honestly, DeoreDX was pretty close to DeoreXT and there was little differentiation between DX and XT aside from the fact that DX was slightly heavier. This was what prompted Shimano to eliminate DeoreDX.

Note - I'm only listing M-series groups but this includes the "mountain-comfort" groups designated MC which were later phased in as a new designation at the 400-level and below. Not all these groups coexisted with one another at all times. Also note that in the lower to mid entry groups, the ordering shifts about a little over time with some groups flip-flopping in precedence (STX-SE and STX for instance). You can sort of make out where they fall based on their numbering. I have ranked them by the highest level they've achieved.
  1. XTR - M900, M910, M950
  2. Deore XT - M735, M737, M738, M739, M750
  3. Deore DX - M650
  4. Deore LX - M550, M560, M567, M570
  5. Deore - M540
  6. Exage ES - M520
  7. Exage 500LX - M500
  8. STX-RC - MC33, MC36, MC40, MC41
  9. Exage 400LX - M400
  10. STX - MC30, MC32, MC34
  11. Acera - M330
  12. Exage LT -> STX-SE - MC31
  13. Exage 300LX - M300
  14. Acera-X - M290
  15. 200GS - M200
  16. Alivio - MC10, MC11, MC12, MC14, MC16, MC18
  17. 100GS - M100
Now if you sort of compare this to the road hierarchy, you get something like this...

Code:
Series     Name          Class
7800       Dura-Ace      10s
7700       Dura-Ace       9s
7400       Dura-Ace       8s
6600       Ultegra       10s
6500       Ultegra        9s
6400       Ultegra 600    8s
5500       105            9s
1050       105SC          8s
4400       Tiagra         9s
A550       RX100          8s
A400       RSX            7s?
...

M960       XTR/DCL        9s
M950       XTR            9s
M900       XTR            8s
M800       Saint          9s
M760       DeoreXT/DCL    9s
M750       DeoreXT        9s
M740       DeoreXT        8s
M700       DeoreXT        7s
M630       DeoreDX        7s
M580       DeoreLX/DCL    9s
M570       DeoreLX        9s
M560       DeoreLX        8s
M550       DeoreLX        7s
M520       Deore          9s
M510       Deore          8s
...
So 500LX and 500CX fall just below 1990's Deore and RX100 respectively.
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