STX Shimanos ginger step kid?

[poweredbypies]

Never hear much about this groupset but is a retro groupset. I never did figure out its place in the pecking order below/above lx. Is it lower end stuff and that is why no love for it. Or was it problematic thats why there's none left.

 

[highlandsflyer]

STX were the go to group set for a large number of mid range bikes.

Nout wrong with them at all, especially the STX RC some of which I like the look of.

But I could care less about looks.

I guess it is because LX go for buttons that not many seek them out or rave about them.

 

[poweredbypies]

Your right some of the stx rc stuff does look very nice. Shame theres not more of it about as a lot of the bikes on here prolly had a piece or two of it on their bike at one point or another.

 

[Maxipedia]

I've had a lot of STX and STX-RC parts throughout the years and I never thought there was something wrong with them. Shifters, derailleurs, brakes, levers, hubs, cranks, pretty much everything!

I always liked it better than LX because of its underdog status and, with few exceptions, I always regarded LX as a "soft" group that lacked a certain something. No wonder it pretty much died off...

These being said, I will always respect STX & STX-RC (and the following Deore group, as a matter of fact) for its no-bullshit and down to earth approach. I wish more bikes came equipped with them.

The only true weakpoint of the group were the brakes with the fiddly canti-style adjustment.

Rear derailleur - no true difference to LX, just the color (please prove me otherwise!)
Front derailleur - I really don't have any clue about them, but what big difference can be there, really?
Shifters - LX were a bit fancier what the finishing touches are concerned, but shifting was always good with STX and STX-RC
Brake levers - almost identical to M600 LX and red DX
Brakes - like I said before plus the M600 brake started all the rip-offs and I am glad it did because today it means "brakepower to the people!"
Crankset - LX was better here and I guess better materials were used; 5-arm cranks are from a softer alloy for STX and STX-RC; 4-arm era cranks were better in STX-RC's case, but LX was close to XT in look and functionality; weight couldn't be far off
Hubs - same stuff different colors, if you ask me; no "suspension" option, but who the hell needed that and STX even had the Silent Clutch option

Combo-levers also looked very similar except that STX and STX-RC units were limited to 7 speed and when STX-RC got 8 it was only for a short period. I just cleaned a set of 1994 STX's and put them on a bike - still working fine!

That's my take.
Mx

 

[TheGreenRabbit]

Please explain what you mean by Ginger step kid ?

 

[Groundoggy]

Please explain what you mean by Ginger step kid ?

Red-headed step child. As in 'beaten like a red-headed step child'.

 

[Groundoggy]

STX was below LX and therefore irrelevant to me. Entry level stuff that should be ditched for XT if you still have the bike. XTR gets a bit spendy IMO. More power to you if you can afford it (and are willing to pay for it).

Lot's of decent frames out there that got a low end parts group with STX, Alivio, Acera and a bunch of other crap just to meet a price point. Lot's of low end frames with those parts as well.

 

[legrandefromage]

stx chainsets had an annoying bcd (95 instead of 94?) plus the crappy steel middle ring which bolted to the granny ring - all odd!

stx rear mech was steel outer plate whereas stx-rc was alloy with a steel inner (same as LX)

the front mech is roughly the same through till XT and has hardly changed since

discussed here:

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... highlight=

 

[NAILTRAIL96]

It's shiny, whats not to like.

 

[Maxipedia]

STX was below LX and therefore irrelevant to me. Entry level stuff that should be ditched for XT if you still have the bike.

Wow, so nothing in the world of bikes is relevant if it was unfortunate enugh to be placed below LX? Interesting!

I find this statement especially arrogant since it took me about 5 years as a kid to raise the money and get a bike with an STX rear derailleur and shifters (the rest was Alivio and Acera) and boy I couldn't be happier! Actually, thinking about it, I never enjoyed and cherished a bike more - it was a gloss red 1998 Marin Palisades Trail. To a lot of people from here an STX equipped bike was the pinnacle of they could get and afford back then.

I would suggest to try to look sometimes beneath the badges, as there are lots of interesting things to be found. We all should be more grateful for the simple stuff. I say that because parts that are by far less functional than the STX workhorse get an aura of attention mainly because of their badges...

Please take no harm in what I say.

Otherwise, thanks Legrandefromage for clearing things up a bit. I almost forgot about the rings on the early chainsets, even though (or maybe due to the fact) that I came from the basement where I worked on a bike before writing the post before and I had both an STX and an LX crankset before my very eyes.

Have a good day everybody!
Mx