Today I broke the THIRD XTR rear mech of this year! I’m pretty upset.
They all met their fate the same way, with a large twig/small branch flicking up through the spokes of the rear wheel within the loop of the chain and then being carried round with the rotation, forcing the mech backwards and breaking the shadow hanger bracket and cage.
I’m looking at getting either a SLX M662 Shadow or perhaps a Saint M810 Shadow? One being cheap and the other being super tough.
What are your thoughts?

what rear hub have you got? if you want an indestructable rear mech, old saint is the way to go

Alivo, Works well with decent shifters or Rohloff

Maybe switching to Alfine would be cheaper?

or:

Yes! Indestructable is what I want. I’ve taken to carrying a spare rear mech with me which is just daft! Oh yeah, I just read that it bolts to the axle. I’ve got a hope pro2. Would that be compatible?

Oh man, I don’t know much about components! What are these Alvio, Rohloff and Alfine?

You could try an old fashioned mech and a breakaway bolt. You might end up breaking a few bolts but it should save the mechs.

Alivo – Low end Shimano group that would be cheap to replace.
Alfine and Rohloff – Hub gears, you’ll need a new wheel though.

Milky – Member
Oh man, I don’t know much about components! What are these Alvio, Rohloff and Alfine?

Alivio = cheap shimano range (eg won’t cost a lot to replace when you trash it)

Alfine/Rohloff = internal gear hubs (eg no mechs)

I ran an XTR 9 speed rear mech for a few months and eventually decided that its made of toffee. Had to straighten it out so many times. I used to try and dodge twiggy sections to save the mech! Rubbish! Luckily I found a guy in town who has a similar problem but we could make one good mech from the 2 shonky ones, so I sold mine. I went for the SLX and have had no problems since 3 months on. Seems tough enough.

does your frame have a separate mech hanger? could you weaken it a bit so it goes before the mech does?

hope pro2 does have a saint compatible bolt through I think – I’m not sure what bits you need, its basically a 10mm bolt through with an extra bit of thread at the end.

Its not light. it is very very strong.

I use SLX and have encountered the twig problems that you describe with no damage.. also similar branch, bough, log, tree, copse woodland and forest problems.. with associated attacks from dogs, rabbits, goats, sheep, horses, hamsters, ants, cows and bison.. buffalo, anteaters, and several medium sized dinosaurs..

Mud, snow, sleet, hail, ice, grit, sand, salt and vinegar.. gravel.. pebbles.. rocks.. boulders.. avalanches.. rockslides.. meteor strikes.. nuclear war and very poor maintenance have all failed to cause the SLX mech any trouble at all..

I kind of fancy the Shimano Saint M810 mech (which should work with a regular hanger) when this SLX finally gives up though cos they look cute..

If you’ve managed to afford 3 XTR mech’s then an alfine wheel ( or even a Rohlhoff) shouldn’t be too much of a stretch, and you shouldn’t be able to destroy it in the usual manner.

SLX shadow mechs might not be much stronger, but they should be harder too clatter into things.

Thanks for all your help guys.
Yunki, your testing of the SLX is most impressive! I think I’m going to try the Saint straight off. It is pretty huh?
By the beard of Zeus this mech better see the year out at least!

isn’t saint a short cage? Is that okay with your gear set up?

edit: saint is short or medium cages. XTR, slx etc come in medium or long.

How many rings do you run up front?

Oh, I’d not thought of that. They list short or medium cages. I run 3×9 and my XTR had a medium cage. Would these mediums be comparable?

I think you can get old saint (m800) in long as well

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/6897/Shimano_Saint_Rear_Derailleur_M800M801M805M806

thats the one you want, with one of these

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=18759

and the appropriate inner gubbins for your rear hub to be 10mm. you’ll need different bits if your frame is bolt through from the start

Maybe its the Shadow bit that’s causing you trouble, I know I had real problems with them on my HT due to how they worked – basically had a real struggle whenever I needed the wheel out.

As for XTR, my current one has been on a couple of years – no problems and ride in woods all the time.

So can it get the newer looking Saint pretty Saint
My bike is last years Stumpy Elite this one. Does this suggest I have 9mm skewer/axle?
Do I need to worry or will that mech bolt to my existing hanger?
Sorry for all the questions!

I use SLX and have encountered the twig problems that you describe with no damage.. also similar branch, bough, log, tree, copse woodland and forest problems.. with associated attacks from dogs, rabbits, goats, sheep, horses, hamsters, ants, cows and bison.. buffalo, anteaters, and several medium sized dinosaurs..

I didn’t see Honey badgers on the list, so probably not the rear mech for me.

if your bike has ‘normal’ qr, then the saint setup will fit fine.

New saint is pretty, and less hassle, and lighter than old saint, but its way less strong. The big thing with old saint was it didn’t use a mech hanger – its held onto your bike using the rear axel for your wheel (also turning your backend into bolt-thru and stiffening it at the same time). They were hugely overbuild and massively strong. I’ve not broken one in 7 years of riding with them, and I’m not gentle (I have worn 2 out though)

Wtf I have a 10yr old XTR rear mech and only ever owned one bike. Its scarred but shifts true and to my mind has never been cleaned- just new jockey wheels. Maybe you are buying gear queer kit when you are an Ape man like me.

Start picking better lines 😉 .

hora – Member
Wtf I have a 10yr old XTR rear mech and only ever owned one bike.

Huh?

OR ? just ditch the gears and go singlespeed, you’ll never go back !!

Huh? I’ve only used one mech on one bike for the last 10yrs.

What is there not to understand?

My rims are quite scarred from sliding down and through rocks. I’ve also fallen off a fair few times over the years.

If you break rear mechs then stop buying expensive ones! Well mine was expensive 10yrs ago I guess 🙂

Leisure Lakes have got brand new Long cage Saint rear mechs on Ebay for £35 delivered. Bargain!!

Ps. My mech is a long cage as well

Watch it break now 😐

I was doing that a few years ago – taking bad lines – I replaced with an SLX – much cheaper – haven’t trashed it do date though !

Not sure getting the right mech is the answer, you need to stop doing whatever is breaking so many! Either change your style, avoid the woods or buy a Rolhof …….. or at your rate of consumption you should get a good discount on a dozen XTRs for the rest of the year

Totalled my old LX mech ten days back on my first Autumn nightride of the year.
Took out the mech, hanger,tooth on small cassette cog, chain and 5 spokes. Guess I’m either a crap rider or really unlucky as it’s the first time it’s ever happened to me. Mech hanger saved the (trance) frame, despite some cosmetic damage. Replaced with am M662 Shadow slx, which shifts so much better than the old school lx.
Hanger snapped, but was horrified by the hole for the mounting bolt being wrenched into an oval shape by the force of the impact.

single speed?

+1 on Saint M810 short cage – my 6 year-old jumped up and down on mine (accidentally) and not even slightly bent 🙂 the cheese-like mech hanger on my Blood did help though

Hora you fool! Do you realise what you’ve just done?

You have summoned down a plague upon the Peaks Pootle on Saturday as sure as if you’d been the first to open tutankhamun’s tomb, then bared your arse at it all, then destroyed the sanctity of the place and inserted said XTR rear mech up there

I’d take a spare mech if I were you. In fact this could be your get-out clause in case it rains. You could say you were sparing everyone the wrath of the gods. Everyone’s going to be stood waiting for you otherwise, and hating you even more than they do already. Imagine that 😉

Cheese mech hangers are what you want. The mech hanger on my old Chameleon was made of much sturdier stuff and after a big rock interface, refused to give. The result was the XT mech shearing clean in half, and launching itself right into the back wheel at speed. Bye bye spokes! And you never want to hear that kind of churning mechanical destruction going on within a foot of your nads 😯

They all met their fate the same way, with a large twig/small branch flicking up through the spokes of the rear wheel within the loop of the chain and then being carried round with the rotation, forcing the mech backwards and breaking the shadow hanger bracket and cage.

Loads of storm debris out on our local woodland trails after the heavy winds over the last couple of weeks. Nearly had the same thing happen to a few of us. Stop pedalling as soon as you hear that tell-tale noise!

Oh and Stopa before you ask…..again…..no I didn’t destroy Dom’s Mech and rear wheel in Switzerland in 2004 🙄

SRAM x9 is molto chunky, but would require new shifters.. might as well go 10 speed 🙂

FWIW – I think the issue is the environment and/or operator rather than the mech being too fragile….

I’ve managed to trash one mech in the last 10 years, an XO carbon jobbie that just exploderised into tiny pieces after i twatted it rather hard on a large fallen tree, so i think i can forgive it.

Also, others have told me I was unlucky but my shadow SLX only lasted about 6 months (on a secondary bike, so not used massively) before the parallelogram pivots were totally shot to the point where it wouldn’t shift without doing the old “two clicks up, on click down” style shift.