Oooh! Shiny new gears.

Equipped with a nice shiny new Shimano Deore LX gearset I finally got back on the bike! I thought it had been longer, but it's only been just over 2 weeks. I was surprised by how easy it was to fit, particularly the crank. Going from an internal sealed cartridge to the HollowTech was un-nerving. I thought I'd need to get the BB shell refaced and there was nick out of the edge of the shell where the weld for the down tube had got a little hot. On top of that the shell measured 67.5mm instead of 68mm. I wasn't sure how accurate the HollowTechs needed the shell to be. However, it all went OK, the 2 spacers on the damaged side of the shell will ensure no deformation of the Bearing cups takes place. The HollowTech absorbed the 1/2mm inaccuracy no problem. When I took all the paint off the shell end and checked with an engineers ruler it looked flat and true. It all went together fine. Thanks to Dad and J. for their help. I was anxious about the decision to go to a short cage rear derailleur, but as long as I can get into the habit of steering clear of the extreme small rings front and rear, I should be OK. Not to bad before having a short cage so should be OK.

And the LX stuff looks smart!! :-)