My XT Shadow seems to wobble a bit now. I had one of the first ones sent out to shops, however long that is- 3rd set of jockey wheels long.

Hmmmm hardly an in-depth review, is it.

I still haven’t replaced the jockey wheels since I got it, just after they were released.

You dont ride much then?

I think you forgot to add the “long term review” attachment. 😀

Excellent detailed review, but a little long. 😉

A mech with little play in it after wearing out 3 sets of jockeys is good going. Obviously this doesn’t apply to SRAM jockeys which tend to seize before they wear out.

Most folk i know who had an xt shadow bent it.

My long term review:

Still works, but I wouldn’t buy another as it bent really easily (enough so that it annoyingly skips occasionally, but not enough to justify getting rid of it).

My long term [18 month] review as follows

seems to work OK

Mine after a few weeks, as the heather and undergrowth gets higher:-
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They do seem more prone to ‘snagging’ foliage in the tighter elbow of the mech; but they do avoid some rock smacking nicely.

My long term review is below

Its crap! Bent it in 4 rides!

Stop wasting time writing long reviews charlie, you should be getting ready to ride the Quantocks 😉

How have they bent?

Usually at the x shaped part of the linkage.

mine snags a lot in long grass causing comedy shifts but still going strong after 2years?

My 2004 XO is still working perfectly, just for the record.

In the long term, I have concluded that I am still unconvinced about the necessity of the shadow technology, and the fitness for purpose of any Shimano mechs except Saint products, and I have refrained from buying one.

I apologise if any of you drifted off during that, it was a bit verbose I agree.

My long term view? It was the only rear mech in our riding group during 2 weeks of Les Arcs to survive the rocks.

But

The shift quality has never been a patch on even cheap SRAM, and needs fettling every ride. Even with new cables.

XT Shadow mechs x2. One a year old = fandabbydozy! Broke one afer 3 months. Conclusion. They work and break just as easily as any other mech!
SLX GS shadows x2. No issues at all after 6 months. Happy as. Don’t buy all this rock clearence hype but I DO like the fact that it doesn’t slap your chainstay all the time.

Never had a problem with normal mechs, including those on MTBs. Even the 105 mech I smacked off the deck six or seven times worked fine.

18 months.

No problems whatsoever.

Clean, precise shifting with XTR cables and shifters.

Jockey wheels still running smoothly.

Nice and quiet compared with non-shadow predecessor (on 4-bar swingarm)

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Guess what’s going to happen tomorrow.

10 Months riding. Ok.

No worries at all, shifts OK, haven’t had to mess with it, teeny bit of play, nothing to get worried about

shifts perfectly, looks nice, hasn’t hit rocks yet, what’s not to like.

My XT is OK.

Cage is too long though.

Here’s a long term test. I have 2 bikes with DX rear mechs from 1991 on them, they still work perfectly. Oh, sorry….I digress….. XT Shadow, tickety-boo after 15 months. Had a couple of mech/branch interfaces, but both times the mech hanger snapped and the mech survived. Lucky, huh?!?!

What’s this changing jockey wheels malarkey then ?Mine are over 12 months old, totally round & working fine thanx……. 8)

Oh & my oldest working rear mech is an XT 2002,rattles a bit but shifts fine..

What the **** are jockey wheels and all this shifting malarky?