deore and xt 9s mechs which allows for 34 max cassette.
Indeed...The 9 speed shadow XT allows for a max 36t cassette
You can do even better than a 34 if you change your rear derailleur too! I had the same problem on my 10 speed cyclocross bike so I changed the little ring to a 34 (it had been a 36) and put a 12-36 10-speed cassette on. To get that to work I put a 9-speed XT mountain bike mech on. NOTE - 9-speed! The cable pull of a 10-speed shifter happens to match the 9-speed MTB mech and those can cope with much larger cogs.
It IS true that the gaps between gears are significantly bigger than before but it was a price that I needed to pay when using a double chainset. Most of my other bikes have tighter cassettes but triple chainsets to get my grovelling gears.
Here it is after the changes ...
View attachment 413820
Indeed...
Technology has not 'moved on'. Square taper BBs offer far more flexibility and 'future-proofness.it seems technology has moved on apace. I'll take a look at the hollow tech 2 setup just to see if I would like to potentially future proof my options otherwise it'll be a compact ST chainset on the way.
H2 is not an 'upgrade', the chainsets will be significantly more expensive.I'm going to upgrade to the Hollowtech 2 system. I've had this road bike for almost 20 years and it's the last one I'll ever need for pure road riding (variable geometry, beam suspension) and I've just had a full bike fit so it's very comfortable and setup for me. It's all black so the modern black chainsets will look natural on it. The silver 105 came from my previous bike when I built this one up and never looked quite right. Makes sense to continue the gradual upgrades with a modern bottom bracket while I'm changing the chainset.
I have this set up for touring - although with 10sI get around fine with a 46/30 and a 11/40 9 speed cassette , giving me a range of 113" to 20.3"