Okie dokie.....

I'm kinda pounding my head against the wall on this one.

I've got an older 96ish Trek Carbon Fiber MTB frame that came with all
XT. After 6000 or so original miles on the 7spd drivetrain one of the
shifters finally blew up. Never had any problems with anything except
replacing cogs and chains every 6 months or so and all the chainrings
once. Got my money's worth.

Decided to rebuild the whole thing with brand-new 9spd XT everything.
I did this in 2002. Did it all myself so it'd be right. V-brakes,
front and rear der., bottom bracket/crankset, headset, everything.

Seemed to work but now I'm bending rear cogs and demolishing chains
with frightening regularity. Shifts great for awhile but soon the
chain starts to go, cogs on that stupid alloy "spider" carrier bend,
and even replaced the outer front two chainrings already due to
horrible suck. The middle front ring was actually missing a tooth.
It's getting expensive and I was wondering if it's just me when I say
"THIS 9spd STUFF IS CRAP?"

I'm 6' 3" at 190 pounds and am pretty strong. I tend to ride big gears
in the hills.

Any alternatives before I start trying to find sources for the old
7spd stuff?

Thanks!

-Michael Hunt

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