Forum menu
I run 1x10 on my Honzo which has been pretty much faultless until my ride on Weds at Cannock when i dropped the chain at least half a dozen times which got pretty annoying.
I'll tweak the superstar chain guide to try and stop the chain dropping to the inside but on top of that i might put a clutch mech on as i've been impressed with the SLX one on my Dirty Harry.
There's only around £10 difference between them and they're all fairly good quality so should all work well i guess? Main difference is XT/SLX come in medium cage but the Zee is a short cage (up to 36t cassette in my case).
I know there have been some problems with XT clutch mechs (rest of my drivetrain is XT) but i'd have no problem putting either of the 3 choices on there.
Is the short Zee a better option than a medium (given that i've never trashed a mech or caught one on anything)? Cheers.
FWIW its worth zee is almost all black so looks better, get zee
Have trashed a few short cage Zee and now running a medium cage SLX. IMHO the SLX is better as it's lasted a lot longer....
zee is better than slx definitely
Just had a medium cage XT delivered from On One ordered Wed teatime, delivered this morning. not bad on price.
I've got SLX and XT, the SLX has bushing'd jockeys while the XT has proper bearings, but other'n that the performance seems similiar. I've not been inside the SLX, someone said it uses a cruder clutch mechanism but can't confirm or deny that.
Everyone I know who's fitted a Zee has destroyed it in short order, mangled cages... Don't know if that's because they're weak, or if it's because people think "Oh it's downhill kit" and expect it to be indestructible.
Fuzzhead - trashed Zee how? Impact damage or just failure?
My SLX one (med cage 2x10) has been great but then it's on a new bike so only has around 100 miles on it. Is there any difference in quality between the 3 (as in better materials on the clutch system etc)?
All black (XT or Zee) would match the bike slightly better but i'm not that bothered.
Tweeks are cheaper than On One by £6 (£63.74 XT, £52.49 Zee & SLX)
Edit - Cheers Northwind, that's useful. I'm now leaning towards XT.
From what I can tell, it's always been sent through my wheel shearing the cage off. To my mind it looked like something funky going on at the b-knuckle - over-rotating causing a wheel/mech interface situation.
There was a thread on here some time ago about similar failures and successful warranty claims.
I've not been inside the SLX, someone said it uses a cruder clutch mechanism but can't confirm or deny that.
Pretty sure that's not true.
If you look at pics of the internals they certainly look the same.
slx/zee use an elastic band, xt a metal spring. you pays your money.....
Yeah, it seemed suspect to me. The claim was that the SLX isn't adjustable.
Trashed Zee, perhaps too short chain in FS bike ???? It's short cage and if you don't check needed chain lenght properly it will thrash, when damper bottoms out.
slx/zee use an elastic band, xt a metal spring. you pays your money.....
Bigrich, that's the second thread you've posted that rubbish on. If the pictures of SLX and XT clutch weren't enough to convince you last time that they are identical, then maybe the Shimano exploded parts diagrams will be this time?
SLX:-
[img] 
[/img]
Please can you point out which part number is this elastic band you speak of?
XT:-
[img] 
[/img]
You'll notice the "interchangeability" column confirms the XT M786 and SLX M675 share exactly the same clutch parts!
Zing!
last time misterp who works for madison said you were talking bollox, and again you spout teh same shit
can you take a picture of the actual units in bits please?
because the ones I held in my hand were different.
@Kuntoilija - good shout, but one I trashed climbing up a hill, another riding round a car park....
Slx open. Where's the elastic?
[img] 
[/img]
The Zee is an SLX with a short cage on it.
can you take a picture of the actual units in bits please?
Here you go - same pics I posted on the last thread...
SLX:-
[img] 
[/img]
XT:-
[img] 
[/img]
that's not apart, that's the cover off. but you were there, right?
butterbean - MemberThe Zee is an SLX with a short cage on it.
it does have the Saint "knuckle" as well- you can see the redundant hole where Saint's reinforcing arm goes. No idea if this actually makes any difference though but it's slightly more of a parts-bin special.
but I assume, seeing as you're so adamant, that you've had them down to bits?
Oh I think I see what's going on here....
bigrich, was the elastic band black?
Yes, they are my mechs, and no I'm not going to dismantle them any further to prove it to you, although I'm tempted, but I'm gonna be riding one or other of them in a couple of hours...
Part no 14 (P-spring) is different innit.
There was no elastic band on the Zee mech I just checked. Maybe the seal had come loose in the one you saw Rich?
You've seen the Shimano exploded parts diagrams.
You've seen the part numbers are identical.
You've seen a picture of each.
If that's not enough to convince you then I give up...
Maybe the seal had come loose in the one you saw Rich?
That's my theory too..
lots of shimano uses the same design just improves the materials; that's why the low end mechs work beautifully, but go yampy faster, and why you can bastardise parts (like putting an XT clutch in an slx mech).
[URL= http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss177/misterp13/20130524_144738_zps9b61334e.jp g" target="_blank">
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss177/misterp13/20130524_144738_zps9b61334e.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]
A bit of a poor photo I am afraid but no elastic in there.
stop just taking the covers off, and get voiding the warranty for a proper look.
Part no 14 (P-spring) is different innit.
Well I'll admit they look slightly different in the diagram, but the part numbers are identical between SLX and XT, and the 'interchangeability' column says they are "same part".
My zee failed at the picot, the "X" link came off the pin that holds it in place. I wouldn't recommend a Zee, tbh.
One looks much bigger.
They must be different.
Or is it further away Ted?
My first Zee imploded as documented on here. As far as I can see it's just a short cage SLX so I'm presuming that there was a manufacturing fault that affected one of the production runs? It didn't hit anything, the worst it suffered before its implosion was a bit of chainsuck. I'll be sure to let everyone know if the current one goes the same way...
P.S. The shifting is excellent, paired with a Saint shifter and XT 11-36 cassette.
lots of shimano uses the same design just improves the materials; that's why the low end mechs work beautifully, but go yampy faster, and why you can bastardise parts (like putting an XT clutch in an slx mech).
Yes you're right. But that's the beauty of the Shimano parts diagrams like the ones I posted above. To know whether it's exactly the same part in say an XT and SLX mech, or just a similar part that's lesser quality but still interchangeable, you just have to look at the parts diagram.
In the "interchangeability" column if its marked with an "A" its the exact same identical part. If its marked with a "B" its compatible but "differs in materials, finish, size etc." You can even go one step further and check the part numbers. If the part numbers are the same, then its identical. A 'similar' but inferior part will have a different part number.
And so, by looking at the XT M786 parts diagram below, we find that the clutch mechanism in the XT M786 and SLX M675 are one and the same,as they have an "A" against the corresponding parts, and have identical part numbers:-
[img] 
[/img]
End of story, I sincerely hope 🙄
Confusing a seal with a clutch mechanism. Ah, bless 😉