I’ve been a bit of an SRAM naysayer on here, for the following reasons:
Bent my SRAM mech within two or three rides, after several years of not bending Shimano mechs. Could quite easily just have been unfortunate timing though.
X9 mechs are £100! (last I checked). How much are XT? I’ve never liked having super pricey mechs, but given how (apparently) delicate the X9 mech is, I’m not keen on replacing it at R.R.P…
The jockey wheels seized after 3 months non-intensive riding. Shimano jockey wheels have never seized on me before, and are cheaper to replace when they do. In fairness though, I managed to unseize the bearings and they’re currently running fine again
The chain that came as stock on the bike started sucking very quickly, and somehow lost a roller between two links, which I’ve never seen happen before. The replacement has been fine.
Finally, the spares prices just seem like blatant p*ss-taking, which has soured me on SRAM full stop. Upwards of £4 for one, non-re-usable (not without some difficulty at least) pop lock? No Thanks.