Comparison Exage 300 LX/LX 560 groupset

[widowmaker]

Just having a clear out ready for another build, I have a few group sets to shift but need to keep one for another project.

My question is how much of an improvement (if any) is the LX M560 1992 (?) over the earlier Exage 300 LX.

Weight not so much of an issue, just performance and durability.

Its been years since I rode a bike with eather groupset.

Thanks in advance

 

[legrandefromage]

300LX was steel chainrings with a mix of nylon, steel and aluminium for the mechs

Brakes are nylon coated steel, either low pro SLR or older were the wide profile

The shifters were pretty much the same mechanism until you got to the 550 LX

The rear mech had a preload spring / arm that moves first and yanks the mech along with it. A hangover from the very first SIS mechs a few years before

The later 560 LX was direct pull but an all alu body with better quality steel parts/ cage

The chainset is nicer and still 110bcd too which makes sourcing rings easier than the later 5 arm 94bcd

The front mechs are nicer too

The shifters are OK but not the best

Brakes a fair but the low pro brake pre the V brake era were never as good as the 1980s / early 90s cantilever which is probably why V brakes seemed to perform so well when they appeared.

The black finish on the 560 series always felt a bit better quality too.

BUT that's only my opinion...

... unless you have muddled the black 560 up with the older style 550? If so the 550 series is as good as DX

 

[widowmaker]

Thanks, a ton of info

How do you know so much

 

[brocklanders023]

Agree with LGF, providing you mean 560 rather than 550.

300LX was basically the bottom of the 'proper' groupsets, with replaceable rings and most parts not made of cheese. Fitted to bikes around the £300/350 mark 1990/2.

M560 LX was a watershed groupset that used trickle down tech from M900 XTR and basically finished off DX (and thumbies). Read a review from 1993, it really was well received and was fitted on bikes from £500 to £1000+.

Night and day at the time.

 

[Tootyred]

Totally agree ^ . Always thought of m560 as poor mans m900. Polish the black off a set if cranks and they even look quite similar!

 

[ishaw]

Agreed. My £1,300 bitd GT RTS-2 was fitted with the LX 560 iirc. I even did the strip and polish of the cranks so they looked like xtr.

The only real weakness was the paint. When new, black and shiny it looked great, but once is starts to get scuffed and scratched, it looks worn pretty quickly even if it isn't. At least black can be touched up easily.

 

[ishay]

Having got two main 1993 bikes I ride hard still (560 on an Orange P7 and M900 on a KHS) I can tell you 560 is not only as good as suggested above, but actually performs far better than M900 at this point in their lifecycle. What it might lose in a few grams it makes up for in quality at this stage. Shifting in particular.