Yes and yes. The middle ring in the photo is a Middleburn.eBay_special":1jz0mmf3 said:Curiously, I've just had a reply from chainreaction, suggesting a replacement chainset because of the expense of going the Middleburn spider/rings route BUT no mention of a ring that fits directly to the LX/XT 4-arm carrier itself! Strange.
Just to be clear Anthony, you're suggesting you've fitted the Middleburn ring to the middle position of your LX chainset and you've done it by mounting that ring directly to the existing LX spider.......and by purchasing the ring on that second link, I will achieve the same as you?
Not at all, and it isn't all that strange. The guy in my LBS would say the same - he thinks any part older than two years should just be thrown away and replaced with the latest model. When I took a perfectly good pair of the classic 96 Judy SLs for a service, he advised me not to bother, as they were only fit for a skip. So I sent them to Tim Flooks instead and they're still going strong.eBay_special":1jz0mmf3 said:Apologies if this is a little basic.
regards and thanks,
Jules
With chainrings, it's certainly true that replacing all three rings (assuming you can) costs more than a new chainset, so there is an argument that replacing them one at a time is a false economy. But (a) you might think the Kilauea would look wrong with a modern chainset, and (b) modern chainsets are incompatible with square-taper bbs, so you'd need a new bb as well.
If the other two rings are almost shot as well, then their argument would be stronger, but in view of Drapoon's kind offer you ought to be able to keep going with a period-correct chainset for a long while to come. Personally I never gave a thought to buying a new chainset. A 97 Kilauea would look stupid with a modern chainset in my book, and with the new middle ring my existing one suits me just fine.
And I could have jazzed things up with a coloured middle ring too! But I resisted the temptation.