When some of our regular trail buddies saw my new rig a few weeks ago they jokingly said that I contracted a very serious disease called "upgradetitis", and its quite difficult to cure :D.

I think its natural for us to upgrade our equipment especially when our old ones are already giving up on us (denial stage hehe). So last weekend I decided to let go of my (non even entry level) Altus rear derailleur which is already giving me pedaling and shifting problems (chain slide problems). I replaced it with a Deore XT (M771) RD (XT is the crown jewel of the Deore family).

The new RD is supposed to provide precision shifting: "Smooth and precise chain movement to the aimed gear allows for comfortable shifting." - the Shimano website advertises. I'll see how it performs on the trail next weekend.

I could have just cleaned my old RD and maybe it'll still work, but that sleek design and that embossed XT logo is just so hard to resist!