Where’s the sweet spot for price/performance/durability? Will be on a hardtail, 26″, winter XC.

Thx.

(or, if I was feeling extravagant, XX?)

I got a 10spd right X7 shifter for sale. Taken off a new bike.
Yours for £23 posted?

X9 shifters and mech work fine for me. Would go for a XT chainset though (avoid non-standard BCD – a real pain when buying new rings.) Also went for SLX front mech as I’d heard the SRAM ones aren’t that good.

i just went from x9 to x7 rear derailleur, canny tell the difference tbh. Although i think it’s a midgies baw hair heavier.

Just got a new bike and it came with X9 in 2×10 guise…full X9 and seems to work fine. No idea of cost for replacement parts but unless I need to replace the shifters it looks like I’m tied to SRAM (which is a shame as I prefer Shimano) – saying that, the bike cost me very little so I’m certainly not complaining in the slightest!

Front mech appears to be ok and I hadn’t thought of cost for replacement rings but hopefully when they do wear out, Middleburn hardcote jobs will be available.

The front mech is well clear of any flying stuff so I suspect it’ll last well enough – it has a huge carbon body over the top and front of it so I’m not expecting any issues with it (well hoping for troublefree performance). I think I’m going to shorten the chain…I much prefer shorter cage mechs but this is less likely in a 2×10 setup, so I’ll get the chain as short as I possible can and see how it goes…given it’s on a 6″ travel full sus, I suspect I won’t be able to run the chain quite as short as I could, but as long as it isn’t necessarily long then that should do.

XT!

I’ve had a go on the new X9 stuff and really didn’t like it. The shifters seem odd in use being older piano style ones from back in the day. I didn’t like 2×10 either. I never felt like I was in the right gear for some reason.
Saying that I am a shimano man through and through.
Maybe I should stick to SS’s.
Tim

lunchtime bump

No idea to your question, but a slight hijack…

My X7 lever stopped working the other day (OK I admit I’d been fiddling with the barrel adjuster). I took the lever apart to try and fix it, to no avail. Took the bike into the LBS to fix it (usually trustworthy, have done little jobs for me at no charge in the past), they just said that generally SRAM levers are too fiddly and take too long. They send them back to SRAM/distributor who in turn charge to fix or recommend replacement. Given this drawn out process they said it’d be easier and probably cheaper just to have a new lever fitted. A new lever is only £32 so it’s not the end of the world….

However, are these levers really that fiddly that it’s such a difficult job to fix them? Is what the LBS saying about right?

If so I’d think twice about going for them again.

I should add it’s X7 2×10 if that makes a difference.

XT.

XT 🙂

Shimano XT double group set

xx or x0 had both and their isn’t much between them apart from weight and quality of materials.

And XTR is lighter than both, while costing less than XX.

The longevity of XX rings was laughable too, my outer ring would’ve made a very effective bash ring after 6 months.

For a “Winter XC” abuse machine?

SLX chainset and Deore mechs/cassette, you can grind it to paste in the mud over winter and come summer replace everything but the cranks with whatever you fancy… (It’ll probably last much longer if looked after a bit)

the extra few Grammes will make you more of a man too…

+1 for Deore on winter bikes.

I’ve learned that lesson the hard way…

As for SRAM, I use the outgoing X9 shifters and a mid cage mech and I really like them. The shifter pods are in their fifth year and all they’ve needed is an occasional squirt of lube. I like the ease of access to the innards, but the cable feed can be a fiddle. Otherwise, they’ve been pretty much faultless.

The new shifter pods have reverted to the old four grubscrew design which is a massive step backwards IMHO. My old shape X7s died because the shifter body fell off the clamps because the grubscrew threads stripped.

XT double groupset for approx £350 shipped.
Ignore 3×10 reference on page, it’s not showing full online clickable options, but v competitive pricing (3 x 10sp is same price)

Just to clarify, our price aboce is with the new XT disc brakes.

That action.de price is pretty good without discs.

frame manufacturer told me Shimano 2×10 chainline possibly too short, SRAM is OK, that’s why the q was which SRAM not SRAM vs Shimano. Plus I fancy a change.

(not really a winter-abuse bike, all weather perhaps a better description. We get our fair share of damp down here but no rocks or resulting paste, so no SLX needed)

that said, Si @ Progressive, if I wanted Shimano I’d buy that.