Deore? SLX? XT? XTR?

I am just about to purchase a groupset and can afford up to XTR. But with a stretch could purchase certain xtr parts i.e cassette. I would be interested to hear peoples experiences in the diffeences of the shimano range. Is the XT far superior to the Deore, for twice the price? Are there better components from each groupset? Only experienced deore and alivio so would be interesting to hear what y’all have to say.

Xtr shifters and chain, xt everything else. Or saint shifter if 1 by 10 is my humble opinion

You know 11spd XTR is mostly available now?

IMHO and IME all you get is less weight as you move up.
As you touch them with your hands you can tell some stuff on shifters and brakes
Everything else if you dont look at it you wont tell – ie in use you cannot tell

Deore all the way for me.

Don’t see the point in the more expensive stuff just to wear it out in the Peak District!

XTR I expect is a bit more prone to wear and damage as it will be the lightest race groupset.

I do have some XT fitted as OEM kit and it is is very nice. But when it dies it will be replaced with Deore

IMHO, the only difference in performance/feel is in the shifters so go XTR on those if you can afford. Other than that it’s only really marginal weight saving as you go up the range. SLX is probably the sweet spot but I find it’s hard not to go at least XT!

Deore is a bit low end on certain things – you can certainly notice that the drivetrain bits are a bit heavier, and probably not as durable. If you ride a lot then I think SLX is the best VFM. IME anything from SLX upwards will have similar longevity, and if you pay more you’ll get a nicer feel and lighter weight. I don’t even think XTR shifts appreciably better than SLX.

If you’re gonna splash out on XTR for a few bits I recommend shifters and cranks, and use the rest a mix of SLX and XT as price dictates. Both of these items *should* last forever and they feel significantly nicer than the cheaper versions. I wouldn’t bother with XTR on disposable items like cassettes, unless everything else was XTR of course.

I’ve never used one but have heard Xtr cassettes wear quicker than xt? Also rear mechs get trashed so wouldn’t bother with Xtr

I’ve never had XTR…or ridden anything with XTR so i’ll not comment on something i dont know about.

However, i’ve had Alivio, Deore, SLX and XT on various bikes that have been bought complete, built myself, replacement parts etc etc…

My personal favourite varies from part to part. I love SLX chainsets, their double and bash looks unbreakable and comes in the perfect 22/36 AM/Enduro set-up for me.

XT shifters are my favourite.

XT brakes are great, often touted as ‘all the brake you’ll ever need’ (DH excluded obviously) but they look identical to Deore level stuff.
They have some nice features like tool free reach adjust which the Deore stuff doesnt have.

Deore brakes are probably the best value component in MTB-ing, for about £75 you get a front and rear set that will be bled and ready to go….and they’ll be more than good enough for 99% of the riding we all do (DH excluded again of course!).

I’ll be putting together a FS next year and will adorn it will various Shimano componentry….i have had a bike with SRAM stuff and it worked well but it doesnt look as robust, is often more expensive and eventually the Avid brakes became a pain in the backside re. maintenance.

I’d like to try a bike with Zee or Saint brakes as i hear they are like hitting a brick wall….and i recently saw a new bike for sale with an XTR 11-speed drivetrain which got me thinking too.

I also have Shimano 105 on my road bike….confirmed fanboy here, it just works.

XTR shifters and SLX everything else

So far:-

XTR shifters are a favorate.
SLX is the sweet spot (ok. only one person said this, but it has good comments)
If your bike is gonna battle with the ground then why waste money on parts that are going to get trashed.
Cassettes can possibly wear quicker if high quality.

This is helping loads. I guess lightness is a factor for me. Trashing parts certainly isn’t me – all though I may have just tempted fate. I suppose the next job is to work out prices. Full SLX with XTR shifters could cost close to the same as a full XT groupset.

What is I-spec B when it comes to shifters?

Xt minimum for me. Anything less is functionally good but not as nice to use most noticeably shifters.
I have xtr on on 3 bikes and xt on one. I had slx on another and I hated it compared with xt. Again it was mainly the shifters which were awful. Bearings instead of bushings definitely help here.
If I had to put numbers on it and xtr was top at 100% xt would be 90% and slx would be 50%. Not sure on the ones below.
I always use xt cassettes at around £35 though as the price of xtr puts me off. Never had xtr to compare performance so can’t comment on that.
The main thing that puts me off slx is that normally with sales etc you can get xt for not much more £££.
In my experience most people who say slx is as good as xtr just heavier have never tried it.

What kind of riding do you do Andysredmini?

XTR shifters and SLX everything else

This man knows the score.

I’ve used it all (pats self on back) pretty much. So I’ll relay my experiences. First off, between each groupset, the differences are quite subtle. But the difference between say Deore, and XTR is quite a bit.

My opinion……if you’re going 1×10 then the saint shifter is a wonderful thing. Best you can get. If you’re going 2×10 then I’d go for XT shifters (more feel than XTR which is a bit light on the push imo). It shifts nicer than SLX too.

Braking wise I’d go for XT since mine have been bullet proof for many years while I’ve watched my mates faff about bleeding their XTR’s ad nauseum. In terms of cranks, I’ve only ever run 1×10 (and 1×9 before it) so for me it purely comes down to looks and weight. I’m currently running XTR cranks but would happily run any other shimano crank arm. Rear mech – I run a Zee. Since I’m on a 1×10 I like the fact it’s got a super short cage, but can still stretch to a 36 tooth cassette. It’s also cheap and since I get through about 3 or 4 rear mechs a year anything else would be stupidly expenseive. For Cassettes, nothing less than XT. If you’ve got an alloy freehub a steel spider will chew it up, so alloy it is.

I’m currently running an XTR cassette and I’ve been impressed with it’s longevity. I don’t clean it fastidiously, but I do change my chain fairly often. I’ve gotten about a year out of this one. One more winter and that’ll do it though. I run Sram chains as they are cheaper and come with a power link, usually I run a PG1070.

In my experience most people who say slx is as good as xtr just heavier have never tried it.

I’ve got both SLX and XTR on two bikes. The XTR looks nicer, feels nicer and is lighter. But in terms of shifting precision there’s nothing to chose between them.

Don’t misinterpret that though – I’d still chose XTR for a nice build. But I’d put the extra money into better frame / forks first.

Anything from xc on my anthem to albeit very little Dh on my trance or chameleon.
Mainly seeking out the rougher steeper stuff on local trails though.

If money is no object I would always go xtr. No reason just because.
Next I would go xt shifter and xt mech as they are very nearly as good as xtr.
Lastly I would try xt shifters with an slx rear mech. I reckon the slx mech was pretty good just let down by the shifters.

Cable freshness can make all the difference in how shifting feels. In other words, less expensive parts with fresh cables will feel better than more expensive parts with old, gritty cables.

Bearing this in mind, change cables regularly and use good quality ones and that will go a long way to making your riding experience enjoyable.

Slx brakes , XT shifting then spend the rest on a bloody good set of wheels

Running XT just now but project fatty
build will be slx all round , will keep it fairl cheap to replace bits
Ymmv

Deore all the way, apart from nicer shifters if you can.

Cables are worth spending on – new and good quality.

As per most the other posts:

XT shifters and above just feel better (more solid and precise). I’ve got SLX at the moment though – they can’t be that bad cos I just couldn’t be bothered to swap them when I had the chance. Better shifters always make a bigger difference than a better derailleur.

XT cassette for anything with an alloy freehub, to stop it getting chewed up.

Anything else in the groupset I’d go SLX, just cos its lighter than Deore and not too far off XT.

Weight saving on XT cassette is worth the extra £5 over slx…can normally be picked up for £30.

If running Hope Pro 2 the aluminium carrier is nice too.

aluminium carrier?? – oh yeah, i know now

If you can afford xtr, buy xtr. It’s really that easy. It feels nicer, looks nicer. Xt and slx are just middle of the road boring. I’d say wait and get di2 xtr, cos that’s real flash.

aluminium carrier??

On XT and XTR the largest 5 sprockets are riveted to an aluminium carrier, saves a chunk of weight and means the largest sprockets don’t dig into alu freehub bodies.

I wondered what caused the marks on my second hand hope hubs

So, when you purchase a groupset – are cables generally included?

Funnily enough a German MTB mag (MOUNTAIN BIKE) I have been reading has just done a test on this very subject. Below is a chart showing their best compromise of price vs weight vs performance.

The key is as follows
Schaltwerk = rear mech
Umwerfer = front mech
Schalthebel = bar shifters
Kassette (11-36) = oh FFS you can work that one out for yourselves 🙂
Kette = chain
Kurbel = chainset (38-24 with hollowtech BB)

Excellent! Shame they didn’t include XTR

THey did however do the exact same group test with SRAM X3, X5 & X7 if you are interested in the results of that one

Yes please. You can’t beat a bit of component spec’ porn!

If you’re simply looking at 1×10 then XT cassette and cranks, Saint shifter and whatever you like for the rest.

Done, thread closed. 🙂

What’s their basis? XT cassettes are 30g lighter for €20 (less in real life), and the rear mech is 50g lighter for €24 more.

Worth getting XTR cables, they do last a bit longer and aren’t much more expensive. (You don’t save any weight with them though).

Not enough experience of the latest stuff to comment really apart from that, but I tend to go for cassettes with a carrier so the freehub doesn’t get as chewed up.

as requested

Pretty clearcut in the SRAM test then

Not a single mention of the Zee stuff then? Granted I’ve never actually ridden any other 10 speed kit, just what I’ve felt/tinkered with on bikes in showrooms but for a tough trail/downhill bike I think the Zee is a decent option if you can’t quite stretch to Saint parts.

If it is for an 1× AM bike then I would get Zee Brakes Saint shifter SlX Mech and a bling ring style crank RF have a couple of good ones now.

Even though Deore and SLX cranks are fantastic value I would say they are one item, along with shifters that if you can buy higher up then do so as they are quite prominent and something you will keep unlike dérailleurs and brakes that will wear out (unless you get Hope brakes).

XT cassette if not much more than SLX and you have an allow freehub. Zee brakes if you want a bit more power than deore/slx/xt/xtr.

What you get also depends if you are going 1×10. 2×10 or 1×11.

Personally I love old pre shadow xt mechs,
Chainsets slx is more than enough but currently on a old lx double and bash setup
And slx de windowed shifters

Iv been contemplating selling out my original elixir’s in favour of new deore but realisticley I don’t need to so will get them for the other build insted as They feel lovley