early 90s shifters ?
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Gripshift, Rapid fire or thumb shifter style?
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Shimano DX / XT works well.
'92 XT rapidfire is quite heavy, '92 XT rapidfire plus is lighter and push/pull.
http://mombat.org/92XT.jpg
If you're interested, I've got a 7-speed DX and probably also XT Rapidfire Plus lever / shifter set on offer. Shipping to Australia is not cheap though. Might be something on offer on the continent too, they're not that hard to find.
Shimano DX / XT works well.
'92 XT rapidfire is quite heavy, '92 XT rapidfire plus is lighter and push/pull.
http://mombat.org/92XT.jpg
If you're interested, I've got a 7-speed DX and probably also XT Rapidfire Plus lever / shifter set on offer. Shipping to Australia is not cheap though. Might be something on offer on the continent too, they're not that hard to find.
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All are crap then, I broke all mine. The plastic collar for the cable nipple splits. A few years later they got better. I've not seen/used the xt m095 to say if they had the better internals. But you may find the mid 90 to late 90 had the better 7sp shifters. Of course by then you could get them separate. I like the alivio/stx-rc version you can get buy. Far better then the m900 originals. I have one bodged on in place just because it better to use.
merlin1972
Old School Hero
THUMBIES all the way. I had nothing but trouble with rapid fire DX and XT. Best thing I ever did was chop the shifter pods off the brake levers, pissed on them and threw them away. Went out and bought some thumbies and still have them to this day- 22yrs old still look close to new, done 10000s of ks and never once let me down. My stock has grown to 5 pairs Suntour xc pro, XT and Deore. I can run index or friction which lets me run a 5,6,7,8,9 spd cassette on multiple wheel sets.
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In my opinion Shimano didn't really fully sort out Rapidfire plus until the late 90's when they also became available separate from the brake levers.
The shift lever throw on the 92 and 93 versions was about half what it is on modern shifters, and the internals are relatively delicate, so they feel, function and behave differently.
They did get progressively better, and the lower end ones like STX-RC were/are very reliable but the 1997 XT shifters are notoriously fragile...
For reliability and function in the early nineties it just has to be thumbshifters.
The shift lever throw on the 92 and 93 versions was about half what it is on modern shifters, and the internals are relatively delicate, so they feel, function and behave differently.
They did get progressively better, and the lower end ones like STX-RC were/are very reliable but the 1997 XT shifters are notoriously fragile...
For reliability and function in the early nineties it just has to be thumbshifters.
minor_LEGEND
Senior Retro Guru
I love the original DX & XT STI units, ok they did prove a tad fragile, but there are still plenty of working ones out there, I can testify.
Keep the cables well lubed, operate them with a degree of mechanical sympathy & they can continue to work.
Keep the cables well lubed, operate them with a degree of mechanical sympathy & they can continue to work.
Truth be told, I've always found the original DX and XT STIs (push-push) pretty good - at least in terms of operation.minor_LEGEND":1l3i62oa said:
I've no sustained experience of the lower models of the push-push ones, though.
On the other hand, I found the early rapidfire plus units more prone to playing up, than the first DX or XT push-push rapidfires.
