Sick to death of my SRAM mechs. The latest jams itself into the top ring and won't come down. I think the spring is buggered. It's rubbish.

Always bought expensife shifters (seems to be what affects the shift)

Any disadvantage over the SLX? Its 16g weight difference i believe?

Pair of XTR shifters and a SLX mech?

After all the hype of how wonderful SLX is, I would go for XT. The finishing quality of SLX just isn't there, it's like comparing Dura Ace to Sora. Chainset and brakes may be fine but the rest is just plain shonky.

XT is much nicer than SLX

I like SLX on my hack/commuter but compared with my xc XTR rig, it has the same techno/mechanical hand-me-downs in a cheaper quality package.

If your goal is lightweight race and top dog stuff then Xt/Xtr is your target.

Want a mech that is better than bog standard Deore; but not worried about weight? then SLX is fine.

Also consider replacement costs if you smack the rear mech on the rock.

I think having XTR shifters which are velly nice, you should treat yourself with at least a xt mech. Life is too short.

Is it right that slx/saint have stronger springs in them (for resisting the radness) ?

I had an XT for 4 years, perfect service. I'm running an SLX now, perfect service so far.

How many pints will the difference buy??

I have a sora rear mech on my crosser and its superb, very slick, solid even. Its not light tho. I don't know if that helps? Someone up there compared slx to sora… 🙂

I used XT for years, when they were reasonably priced, but the recent price hikes have meant that I've gone for SLX recently and haven't been dissapointed at all – had one now for 18 months and it's still working perfectly
I think it looks a bit nicer too

Maybe try backing off the Lower Limit screw? On some Spam rear derailleurs, they can lock up when shifting into first if the limit screw is set wrong. A bit shit really….

Anyway, I'm perfectly happy with SLX on my one bike (105 on my other…). Rear derailleurs always seem to be one of the least important products on a bike to me.

Got XT shifters and SLX mechs on my new bikes and it has a lovely crisp shift.

Definitely a better combo than the SLX shifters/XT mech combo I tried the week before.

SLX mechs all the way. I use xtr shifters and used to use them with an xtr mech, then xt and now slx. Every time i shift down in perceived quality im surprised at how little difference there is. The SLX is not as soft an action as the xt, but is just as crisp and accurate. So, 26g heavier, stronger spring but doesnt look as nice. For me good shifters are well worth it, mechs maybe not so much unless you're trying to shave off those last few grams.

SLX rear mech here. I have found it to be faultless in operation and as said above ascetically looks good too. I have XT on another bike and have found no difference in performance apart from being further out of pocket with the XT.

Sick to death of my SRAM mechs. The latest jams itself into the top ring and won't come down. I think the spring is buggered. It's rubbish.

Always bought expensife shifters (seems to be what affects the shift)

Any disadvantage over the SLX? Its 16g weight difference i believe?

Pair of XTR shifters and a SLX mech?

This is fairly standard for SRAM stuff, released too early and with poor quality control. I went through 2 X9 rear mechs under warranty and the last one was doing exactly what you say. The reason is that the bushings are pressed in too tight at the factory and can be remedied. Have you tried sending it back under warranty?

I have Sram X0 on my downhill rig and that works faultlessly but I have given up on SRAM for mountain adventures and gone back to shimano. I bought a shadow XT mech brand new from a certain shop in the UK for just over £30 and used some old XT shifters from 2004 I had in the spares bin. Utterly reliable, faultless shifting and far better not worrying about jammed gears halfway up a mountain.

In the past few years I have had problems and warranty returns on the following SRAM products:

Rock Shox Pike
Rock Shox Boxxer Team 08
Rock Shock Boxxer Team 10 (returned twice)
Rock Shox Vivid rear shock (fell apart once, returned 3 times)
Avid Elixir CR brakes (3 sets on warranty replaecment)
SRAM X9 rear mech (limit screws worked loose during decent)
SRAM X9 rear mech (bushings too tight)

Don't get me wrong the SRAM stuff once properly fixed has been very good but why should we have to put up with things that don't work out of the box? SAM UK are very good with warranty issues but it takes them up to 6 weeks to turn it around as they are so busy.

Yup according to the bumf the SLX has a stonger spring, you definately have it the right way around with the XTR shifters and whatever out back.

SLX shaddow all the way for me, I swapped out an aging but prefect functioning XTR mech in favour of an SLX Shaddow.

XTR now doing service on a budget build but will get swapped out again as finances or ripping it off occur..

Just replaced my borked XT shadow mech with another XT mech.

Non shadow this time, as I find they have a lighter, smoother feel.
Only £10.00 more than Deore in my LBS.