I have a Kona Caldera which I have been running as a singlespeed for the last year or so. SS has been great fun, but I'm going back to gears now. I still have the old Deore front and LX rear mechs which are in good nick, but thought I would put new chainrings, BB, chain and cassette on since the original ones had been run for about 3 years and were all worn. I am considering the following bits, but wondered if anyone had any alternative suggestions. Price is a factor, and I can get the following for just short of £135:-

LX M572 chainset incl rings
LX ES51 BB
LX M589 cassette
Shimano HG93 9spd chain
SRAM Attack 9spd shifters

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

Or alternatively an FSA Alpha Drive B chainset and FSA Platinum BB for a tenner less.

if the FSA is an ISIS unit then forget it as it won't last long

Stick to the cheaper Deore Chainset Hollow Jobbie, for £40 + £16 BB on CRC I think it is, last much much longer than Ext Bearings or ISIS.

I prefer a SRAM chain, bottom of the range for 9speed.

Attack shifters are nice, there worth it.

Get the M580 Hollowtech II chainset/BB, shouldn't add too much to the budget and will certainly be much lighter, stiffer, and IME better wearing than an Octalink setup.

Part of me wants to disagree with Nick, even though I have an M580 on my main geared bike and quite like it.

For simplicity and reliability, plus ease of fitting & maintenance, I think Octalink stuff is pretty good. Tooling is also a factor, to fit M580, you'll need 2 special tools at additional cost to fit the bearing cups and plastic compression cap. If you already have a crank tool and BB tool for Octalink then - having tried HTII - I wouldn't bother 'upgrading'.

The only thing I would change from your list is a SRAM chain - PC951 probably. Aside from that you've got a bood balance of value/weight/reliability/strength IMO.

Oh, and I have XT Octalink on my SS which causes me less issues than the M580 LX HTII on the geared bike.

IMO.

Do you really think that fitting Octalink is easier?! Each to their own I guess.

Personally I won't go back to inboard bearing setups without a fight, I've found bottom brackets last longer, cranks are stiffer, lighter, far easier to fit/maintain (IMO), and certainly for XTR it works out cheaper than the old chainset/BB combo, bout the same for LX and XT I guess.

Joe, if your I dunno @14stone or above, or ride in places where there dirt is very abrasive stick to Octalink or SquareTapered as the seals and better and they take loads better.

If your light and ride areas thats kind to bikes, then HT2 is fine.

Mmm...I remember being 14 stone, it's more like 16.5 these days, although my wife has just started me on SlimFast so who knows.

I have a SRAM chain on my SS and I like it, very easy to remove without any tools, and it's a very nice gold colour too.

Perhaps I should just put new chainrings on my old Firex cranks, and just get a new square taper BB. How does Firex compare with Deore/LX? I see that the new Firex cost more but mine are about 3 years old.