my ever troublesome x9 mech must now be consigned to the bin.
i fully intended to replace it with shimano deore maybe slx if i could find a deal, but the cost of a nine speed shifter on top of the mech is making me think i should look at an x7 or x9 again.

are they any better these days?

my x9 never shifted to the highest gear properly without a kick and a friends x7 (10speed) the jockey wheels fell to bits in no time at all!

The last SRAM x9 (9spd) mech I had seemed to have quite weak alloy to hold the jockey wheels inplace. This was to replace the last X9 that disintegrated. Sent it back.
I’m not convinced of SLX hardware. It uses simple u-shaped pressed alloy which, at least of the stuff I’ve had. ovalises at the pivot points fairly quickly.
XT or Saint for me.

I loved the 9-speed X9, had them on everything, but Shimano cleverly copied most of the benefits of SRAM when they went to 10-speed, so now it’s hard to argue with going SHimano really.

PS, it’s fairly easy to put a 10-speed Shimano on a 9-speed SRAM, as an option.

xt for me so have a 3 ride only medium x9 mech up for grabs, only changed as i hurt my thumb at least i can use my finger a bit with shimano