STX Shimanos ginger step kid?

[Russell]

Rose tinted glasses anyone?

STX was crap when it was released, and forever more will remain so. It got poor reviews BITD and certainly hasn't improved with age.

Funny that this pic should be posted on here today.... Check out the text in yellow 3/4 of the way down the cover of the middle MBUK.

 

[Woz]

Actually, does STX equate to SLX today or is that simplistic? Haven't really figured the SLX thing out yet, nor the recent "trekking" versions of various bits.

 

[dyna-ti]

Actually, does STX equate to SLX today or is that simplistic? Haven't really figured the SLX thing out yet, nor the recent "trekking" versions of various bits.

I took it to be LX or maybe its a mix of the two.Cant think why they'd do that though.

Much of this is snobbery. If anyone can explain the difference between M737 hubs and STX beyond the cosmetics I'd be interested to hear it!

A pair of STX hubs have done 10,000 miles on my tandem and are still going strong. The seals, axles and bearings appear identical to XT. That's a loading twice that of a normal MTB.

Later XT hubs are actually weaker than SLX / Deore, which is why the expedition touring community avoid them nowadays.

The freehubs are different - I tried a swap and the buggers are not interchangeable - but, a current Deore freehub goes straight on a 739 series hub...

And, the washers, nuts and bolts are slightly better finished.

STX-RC is just about the best do it all groupset but I never had time for the odd chainsets and rust prone steel bits of STX.

I think the bearing races on the xt hubs were harder or hardened rather :?

My first nice bike[cannondal m200 '96] had stx for the majority of the groupset.I gathered that it was the first in the mid level range to be mostly constructed in alloy :?

I've got a nice example of the STX[MC-34] sitting in front of me and its slightly different from the one in LGF's pic in that it doesn't have the raised strengthening ridge on the outer plate of the rear mech.Theres a sticker in its place saying IG Compatible.Same goldy finish though so maybe they kept it going :?

 

[alistair]

Actually, does STX equate to SLX today or is that simplistic? Haven't really figured the SLX thing out yet, nor the recent "trekking" versions of various bits.

I thought that modern deore replaced stx.

 

[petitpal]

I used STX BITD when empty pockets and interesting crashes (or, more likely, over-tightening critical bolts) dictated it. Also used Alivo, LX and XT. Always used to be rumours floating around that XTR were a bit fragile being aimed at the racer type so avoided it (and not just because it cost a mid-range bike to get a derailleur!).

Ran an LX rear mech, XT front mech and STX hubs for quite a while; all performing nicely. Only thing I would say is that while the lower end stuff might last, it very often isn't put together as well. If I compare my 94/95 Alivio crankset to my XT M737 I know which I'd rather ride. Not through snobbery but because the XT is just so much better designed and put together (+ I can afford it these days!) Same thing applies to mechs - my Alivio front mech would still work, I'm sure, as well as the XT but just isn't as aesthetically appealing.

(And order, in my day, was: Alivio > STX > LX > XT > XTR)

 

[poweredbypies]

Well Im going to buck the trend and try to kit my bike out in stx rc stuff, just cos im oddball like that. Ideally would like the 4 stud pattern cranks and a f mech. Not having the brakes as something fell into my hands that deals with the stoping part its just the going parts I need now

 

[LesterOfPuppets]

I've som STX RC bits and they work fine for me. Dunno why they got panned by the MTB press so much. The re-introduction of Deore to replace them in the lineup seemed to be considered an acceptable choice for more writers.

 

[SeeingisBelievingGTMuseum]

Oh come on...I think if you check the basic STX stuff it's rebadged Alivio in a different color for the most part....a couple removeable rings maybe. The STX RC in Chromica was an attempt but the finish didn't hold up any better the the XTR grey. I spec'd a few models with this stuff back in the day and it was hard to get excited about much of it.

 

[Neil]

Oh come on...I think if you check the basic STX stuff it's rebadged Alivio in a different color for the most part....a couple removeable rings maybe. The STX RC in Chromica was an attempt but the finish didn't hold up any better the the XTR grey. I spec'd a few models with this stuff back in the day and it was hard to get excited about much of it.

There's an elephant in the room over all this, though - whenever such topics get discussed.

Just because something is nothing to get excited about, doesn't mean it's complete and utter crap, either.

When I bought an STX / STX-RC groupset to build up a hack bike, I bought it specifically because I didn't want the expense of a higher groupset, that it was for a hack bike, and it didn't make any sense to spend money on something higher, just on ceremony.

And do you know what? I was completely correct - it wasn't out of place on what I put it on (I built up two hack bikes at the time with it, the second time, I had to change front mechs because of seat-tube diameter, but other than that, it served very well, was unpretentious, and worked flawlessly.

So it wasn't anything to get excited about - so what - there's plenty of very servicable, decent, kit that's nothing at all to get excited about, but doesn't render it pointless.

 

[hamster]

Quite agree, Neil. It's sturdy functional stuff. There's a lot of the 'bent tin' feel about it. The costs are achieved by ignoring weight. But it works, and works well.