Originally Posted by
texaspandj
FD and RD have to match.
This has been eating my ass, and not in an enjoyable kinda way. One of my favorite bikes to ride around right now is (and has been for a while) a titanium Raleigh SP1000. I know that probably sounds weird for a French-loving toolbag like myself but, I gotta be honest.
Previous owner of the bike went hardcore weight-weenie on it, upgrading a lot of the bike to Mavic components. Retrofriction Mavic levers, 840 or 841 RD, starfish crank, but it's been absolutely destroying me it's got a damn Deore FD. I have two or three braze-on period-matching 8xx FD but no clamp-ons.
And while there's nothing wrong with the 500 EX levers/calipers (they work and look great on this bike!) I'm also like "damn I wish the brakes also matched!" but trying to find the Mavic branded 440s (Modolo) at a decent price or even the DiaCompe Mavic/Suntour calipers and levers at a fair price has been damn near impossible the last couple years.
The OCD is definitely high here. But point of all this being, everyone's idea of OCD is different too. And maybe the difference is in your end goal? Like, I'd love to have cohesive parts on the bike I ride the most. I am pretty anal about not mish-mashing stuff.