Deore LX and 500LX ( circa 91 )

[doctorstewie]

Hi All, does anyone know the difference between these two gruppos? I've never been able to see one. The Heirachy from Tourney to XT BITD is otherwise easily understandable, but I really can only imagine that Deore LX is a bit lighter due to slightly more alloy in it's construction. To me the mechs in particular look very similar.

 

[jimo746]

Re:

wasn't it "Exage" 500LX? and then lower down there was 400LX, 300LX etc? and lower still was the "GS" stuff eg 200GS??

I'm pretty sure the 500LX stuff was at least one step down from the Deore LX equipment.

There is a Shimano Hierarchy table somewhere that shows all this, I can't find it just now though...

 

[Kult Friction]

Re:

I think you've hit the nail on the head and answered your own question bud! Shimano had so many groupsets bitd that it was only an incremental change from one to the other going in consecutive order.

I would say the jump from Deore LX to Deore DX was much greater than going from 500LX to Deore LX as Deore LX retained a lot of the steel and resin (plastic) features of the Exage lineage, Whereas Deore DX was tricle down (And sometimes just a different finish) from Deore XT, The top groupset at the time and subsequently more race orientated and 'Hardcore' so would have been lighter, stronger and more dependable than lesser groupsets.

Yes there would have been differences, albeit small! and in real world terms I could'nt honestly say how much, but I would guess negligable. I'm sure a marketing man from Shimano could have waxed lyrical but I suspect from a realistic point of view the upgrade would mostly be in the name as even the finish of the two groupsets is so similar as would have been the composition.

One is top of the mid range and the other is bottom of top range, Is one better than the other? Well it must be, It's more expensive and it has Deore in the name like the top group (but actually nothing like it!)...... Gotta love marketing :roll:

 

[doctorstewie]

Jimo, you are absolutely right, the 500lx was next down from Deore LX. KF I had long suspected that the differences were minimal, though as you say a Shimano rep could probably have let me know exactly what the differences were. I'd also agree with you about the difference in jump too.
It just irks me that I couldn't tell you what those differences are

 

[legrandefromage]

The then LX shifters looked the same as 3/4/500 shifters but with subtle differences. The chainsets are very similar but with a slightly better finish to the LX and from experience, slightly better materials. Mechs again, front virtually identical but the rear carried a lot more steel over the LX. The 500LX mech shared the 'pre-tension' spring for shifting - this lever moved first pulling the mech along with it - the LX/DX etc used direct pull. The only nylon resin materials used for LX and 500LX were in the STI.

The 2 only sat side by side for about 18 months as the 'new' LX appeared with the low profile XTR style chainsets, painted mechs and new generation shifters.

For those who like numbers:

70GS
100GS
200GS
300LX
400LX
500LX
Deore LX
Deore DX
Deore XT
XTR (new for 1992 but appeared in the press prior to that)


The above existed together for about 6 months in the 91/2 season before the whole thing collapsed in on itself. Then it went Exage, 'New' LX to replace DX with XT and XTR as the top two. The bottom groupsets had lovely names that are still in use decades on; Acera, Alivio etc

 

[legrandefromage]

On the 'jump' to DX:

Ignoring XTR - DX chainsets were forged, lighter and came with better rings but the mechs are almost identical in operation. Part of the DX cage is still steel like LX. There were no 'LX' thumbies (but there were 200GS thumbies!). The original DX STi wasnt very nice with an XT Rapid Fire ST-M095 version soon available. Some companies included Deore thumbies with LX groupsets.

I love pictures:

'new LX' for the 92/93 season

final edition DX

'old LX'

500LX!

 

[doctorstewie]

Mr Fromage: thank you. That's an excellent run down.
Very much obliged as that must have taken some time to write And thanks for the pictures too.

I remember my 93 Fire mountain coming with DX thumbies and my then wife's Hahanna coming with 200gs ones, and thinking at the time that the 93 groupsets were a big shake up over what they had before. I went to Bicycle Expo in Alexandra Palace and came back all excited over Shimano's new stuff.

 

[66 triumph daytona]

The cantis were a mystery to me.From 300LX to DX they seemed identical(silver alloy with black Shimano sticker),even the XT ones seemed identical.Was there a difference?

 

[Neil]

I remember buying a DX equipped bike in 91, and part of the reason for the choice was the slight upgrade over LX - that just seemed very much like 500LX and 400LX, really, especially the "piano" style STI / rapidfire shfiters.

The DX ones were different and better, and I still have a pair of DX and a NOS pair of XT from around 91, and for the life of me - at least externally, I can't tell them apart (brake levers a slightly different thing). They're the push-push ones, and I found them more reliable than the rapidfire plus shifters that soon followed.

 

[legrandefromage]

Yes. But not much between them. Quality of finish.