Cloverleaf
Retro Guru
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I'd actually forgotten some of that. Shimano headsets were lovely but I do think the XT one was the best of them, even more so than the M900 XTR. I think from a nostalgia perspective M739 was on the whole the best for me, but the M737 STI shifters just felt so solid and bombproof than the later V version. I'd also forgotten about how many of the M739 RH shifters I'd broken before switching to M952 XTR. I think the plastic cogs inside struggled when cables became slightly sticky and you were trying to shift under power as the ones I had on the XC bikes were always fine, it was DH stuff that seemed to kill them. Ditto with your comment on the M737 front mechs, especially on smaller frames like my 14" Trek, they just never worked as slickly on that as they did on other bikes. From a performance point of view it has to be the latest 12 speed stuff, it just works so well and is pretty much indestructible. No character though, for me that was epitomised by the M739 era.M750, that modern stuff there. So obviously absolute pants and wash you mouth out. Vintage hardly even touches on being retro. (checks in - 97 section)
737 era was nice, nice chainrings. Front mech was faffy, something not quite right with the normal version.
Rear mechs OK, but wears out faster.
Vbrakes good but wear out and go floppy in a day.
Brake levers really nice, shifter good but don't feel so good on my thumb/fingers compared to say STX.
Cranks, look flimsy.
Headsts are really nice.
Really good solid hubs and the best cassette of the spider era.
M732/5 era is best though!
Just works, doesn't really break, lasts forever compared to M737
Shifters a pile of shite.
M730 OK too but the tech wasn't quite there.
The best XT part comes from here, the shark fin.