Seems to me people are desperate to vote for something that's not mid-range. I love an old stumpy as much as the next person, but if it's mid-range where do Rockhopper and Hardrock fall? And the Cannondale, does Mavic mtb componentry fall below Shimano LX now.
As for thumbshifters, I don't think there was ever a Deore DX thumbshifter, just Deore or Deore XT, as such, the silver Deore thumbies must be mid-range, simply because they can't be top of the range - no?
Pix are mostly bloody awful, but as someone who can't take a good picture with my wife's Canon semi-pro digital SLR I'm not really in a position to criticize.