Yea, I thought about adjustment just after I posted. I will check it tonight. I had a local Peformance shop put a compact crank on (Shimano R700) and, the mechanic told me the middle cogs were showing some wear but, he did not elaborate. It is a possibility that his adjustment is a tad off - for whatever reason. I will check it tonight and, hopefully it only needs an adjustment tweak. If it turns out to be wear then I'll just purchase and install an Ultegra cassette. Like one poster said, I seriously doubt that I will be able to tell any difference.