Got X9 on all my bikes now, the oldest is about 6 years old, done about +5k miles in prime Scottish off road conditions, looks well battered, but works just fine. Might put Saint on my bouncy bike one day, because I like the look of it, not because the X9 would give me any bother.

I think people’s experiences with rear mechs fall into two categories: there are those who know how to set up a mech, and there are those who do not; the latter get luckier with one make over another and mistake it for being much superior. 🙂

how do you set up a rear mech with pivots so stiff the spring can’t pull it back?

yes, i’ve tried oiling it.

I’ve had cheapo x5 shifters and mechs on one bike for nearly 2 years, commuted 10 miles a day and used nearly every weekend and they’ve been fine.

The window telling me which gear I’m in on one shifter stopped working rather quickly though, no great loss however.

I’ve built four bikes with SRAM, two with Shimano. I’ve only had an issue with one SRAM rear mech – a 2009 X9 that stuck in 1st or refused to go into 9th. The other stuff has worked fine, shifters have been perfect and I’ve been very happy, so much so that I just shelled out for X9 2 x 10.

The XT stuff on the other bikes has been fine, too, apart from a really stupid design on XT shifters that allows a loose cable to be taken round the inside of the shifter, requiring a complete rebuild of the shifter (very fiddly) to get it out.

But I really cannot understand how SRAM can charge, on average, an additional £50 per item compared to a similar quality Shimano part. My X9 2×10 cranks were heavily discounted at £177 from an RRP of £289. They’re no better than XT but cost so much more.

I think people’s experiences with rear mechs fall into two categories: there are those who know how to set up a mech, and there are those who do not; the latter get luckier with one make over another and mistake it for being much superior.

What has setting a mech up got to do with pivots coming loose?

Only got SRAM on my bikes (and that of my wife). Currently a mix of x.7 to x.0 and completely happy with them. I don’t find them any harder to set up than the Shimano stuff on my road bike and they’ve lasted well apart from where I’ve clattered into trees and rocks and I can’t imagine that Shimano would have done any better in that case.

I’d pretty much decided on 2×10, so it’s a bit of a disappointment to find there’s no twist shifters. I’ll give triggers a go and see how I get on with them

I’ve got an XO mech and X9 trigger shifters on one bike and a Rohloff on another. The SRAM stuff seems fine after 6 months of use but I haven’t used Shimano in years so I can’t compare them. I also only use the normal gears in nice weather so I’ve no idea how it’ll cope with really grotty conditions. I too actually prefer the twist shifter and would look to go get one when I get around to going 10 speed but it wouldn’t stop me going to Shimano if I thought the actual rear mech were better.

SRAM on mine broke two mechs
X0 – twig through mech mech shatter including braking the jockey wheels and removing lower part from the cage and bending it 90 degrees in the middle – rebuilt it – cannot believe it could be rebuilt looking at it and still working faultlessly 3 years later
x0- broke on High street – the ealy “carbon” ones and chain used to wear though them – bit of a design flaw new ones seems much better
Shifter – no issues and easy to change cable
Once set up the 1:1 [ which i believe the big S are using now] means once it is set up it very rarely needs adjusting – full outers on Orange has never been adjusted [ except when I changed mech]
No anti shimano thing just prefer SRAM and the clunkiness
Price wise is it worth the extra premium ?I very much doubt it

So my X9 Shifters not returning and rear mech getting stuck in 1st Is most likely down to 4 month old dirty cables?

So my X9 Shifters not returning and rear mech getting stuck in 1st Is most likely down to 4 month old dirty cables?

Not necessarily, I’ve seen X9 mechs jam due to stuck rivets as well as them coming loose.

ratherbeintobago – Weird that, I had an XT front mech do the same thing.

I’ve found the X9 rear mech on my Stumpy great. Haven’t noticed the difference from the XT mech I had on the previous bike.

I have X0 on my 2009 enduro. I must say i’ve never made any adjustments to it. Not once!

it works amazingly well. Much prefer it to xtr i have on my hardtail

GEOFF1 – Member
…
Sometimes the large thumb shifter will not return on it’s own.
Sometimes the rear mech/shifter will get stuck on the large/ No1 cog on the cassette

I had the same experience, on two sets of deraileurs/shifters. <edit>This was with brand new cables in both cases and even off the bike the deraileur jammed when fully extended.</edit>
If a bike came with SRAM I would be tempted to sell them immediately to fund the purchase of shimano which may look dull and unsexy in comparison but just work.

I think people’s experiences with rear mechs fall into two categories: there are those who know how to set up a mech, and there are those who do not; the latter get luckier with one make over another and mistake it for being much superior.

If it’s that hard to set up, there’s clearly some kind of user interface issue 😉

Can only really compare X-9 and XT

X-9: The Good:
Shifters feel nice, likely the clunky positive action.
1:1 Cable ratio more tolerant of dirty cables

X-9 The Bad:
Shifters can develop a fault with the downshift thumblever not returning properly.
Rear mechs aren’t very tough the cages seem very prone to being bent.
Issue with getting the highest gear due to the design of the pivots.
Poor value compared to XT

XT: The good: Shadow mechs seem very tough no issues with reliabilty so far, probably the best rear mech I’ve ever used.
Shifter internals very strong.
Dual release on newer shifters is nice

XT: The bad: Less tolerant of mucky cables

I love my SRAM X9 mech. Have barely had to touch it since i got new cables fitted last year.

I love the Hope matchmakers.
Again if anyone wants to swap XT for X9
My email is in profile 🙂

Ps. I’ll throw in the matchmakers.

GaryLake – Member

I’ve found X9 mechs, both 9 and 10 speed, to go really baggy and loose within a year, basically developing a bit of play in all the rivets.

See, most of mine have done that, but the weird thing is it doesn’t seem to make any difference. my oldest one can wobble in about 3 different directions at the same time, but still shifts perfectly even though it blatantly shouldn’t.

See, most of mine have done that, but the weird thing is it doesn’t seem to make any difference. my oldest one can wobble in about 3 different directions at the same time, but still shifts perfectly even though it blatantly shouldn’t.

+1

my sram x7’s have been way beyond what you’d expect to be workable but have continued to shift perfectly

I prefer SRAM. I have had 2 XT front shifters split on their bodies in the last 2 weeks. Not impressed. Running 9speed X9 happily at the moment

I’ve run both, but decided to stick wit SRAM when my bike was the only one in my team that still had fully working gears after a biblical Dusk til Dawn. All the others were running xt/xtr. Not had any problems with x7/9/0 or XX in the last 3 years. I’ve also found that x7 mechs shift just as well as X9, although the shifters aren’t as nice.