Shimano RX100

STEFANOS4784

Whilst sat here working late again i started thinking, i have these shifters on my 'dale with everything else 105, what was rx100? why did it disappear? They have been great, trully great, years of service with no maintenance, admitadly they're a bit sloppy now but they've been used in all conditions. Or maybe i've just been lucky :?
Were these budget sti's or what, come on you fogies i know you got the info

Yellow Peril

Yes it was (or became) a budget groupset that was phased out 10 years or so ago with the advent of Sora and Tiagra.

I have RX100 on my commuter which is a 531 frame Thorn Brevet. The crankset is Sora but the mechs and brkes are RX100. I assume the bar end shifters are as well.

I agree the grouupset is bullet proof and has never let me down. the brake calipers look as good and well made as my 105's and I would hve no qualms in using them on a newer bike.

STEFANOS4784

Ah, isee, sort of:
In my eyes rx100 is a huge step up from sora with the thumb jobbies, shimano missed a trick there.
Or maybe they thought no-one would buy higher priced sora when they could have the 'cheapo' rx100.
Anyhoo, anyone from Shimano here? Can you unlock the mystery of the long lost group-set

alfablue

I had an RSX groupset, it was superb, said to be Sora equivalent but better. The bike had RX100 brakes, these would be one up from RSX so Tiagra, though again I suspect, better.

It used to be RSX RX100 105 Ultegra etc in the mid-late 90's, before Sora Tiagra appeared. I think Sora were dumbed down below RSX

alfablue

See here

1997 Shimano Road Group Heirarchy

Dura Ace 9-speed
Ultegra
105SC
RX-100
RSX

STEFANOS4784

I think they must have been testing the water with Campagnolo system theft then :?
Drop Sora Shimano, RX100 was great 8)

Flandrianfield

Yep, another shout for RX, I have the brakes and crankset on an old Trek that is now 17 years old.

Originally it had downtube shifters which I replaced with Sora STI's, now upgraded to 2009 Tiagra STI's, which, IMO are as good as the Ultegra ones I have on my best bike.

Ash_

It's not just that RX 100 was bomb-proof, the finish quality was great too.

I've still got an RX 100 crankset that polishes up well with a bit of Autosol and a lot of elbow grease. Compare that to the crappy painted 105 from the same era, they didn't last five minutes before looking rough.

On the downside though, it does account for about half the weight of the bike it's on.

Also, when did Shimano 600 series change its name to Ultegra? I seem to remember some groupset components saying 600, others Ultegra, even when bought at the same time, then the 600 bit got phased out. Also, Ultegra used to have its own little logo, didn't it? Whatever happened to those little coloured bars they used to put on Ultegra stuff? (I think they were the old Shimano corporate colours, but why did Ultegra / 600 get them, not any other groupsets?)



I love this, nostalgia about Shimano stuff. It's odd but I like it.

If you've got the time and the inclination, check out VeloBase.com, it's full of this sort of thing...

Mozza1

My old winter bike has 8 speed RX 100 STI's, Rear mech & done 15000 miles with no problems whatsoever. Same with the brakes & the shiny finish is just that; shiny.Great stuff.

pete600

Same here got the RX 100 on my 12 year old Dawes. Never had a problem with them

sturmey

This was acquired recently and had done very few miles from new.It has a full RX100 groupset which has a quality feel to it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35561395@N06/3334885551/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35561395@N06/3335718116/

giant_man

I'm still using Shimano RSX on my spare winter bike, and the groupset has been excellent over the last 10 years. But now the rear brake caliper has gone and I need to find a good second hand one. If you know of one for sale, please let me know. Thanks.