Hi,
After snapping my rear mech today (8spd), I’m not questioning whether it would be worth while upgrading to 10spd. What are people’s opinions, worth it or not? As I could just buy a replacement 8spd mech but would like a better spread of gears.

Thanks,
Simon

I changed from 9 to 10sp recently and can’t tell that much difference but going from 8 to 10 would probably give better results. If nothing else it gives you the chance to get hold of a load of shiny new parts 😉

Will be a good excuse to get some well earned new parts, but with christmas just hit the account, my brain is telling me otherwise.

Might have to see what deals come up after christmas, cheapest I’ve calculated is around £130, which is SLX shifter and mech.

if you have decent shifters I’d stick with 8.
I recently replaced an entire 8speed drivetrain (2x chainrings, chain & cassette) for around £25 – it’s both lighter and more durable than the equivalent SLX 10 speed and all for half the price of an SLX cassette

I went 9 to 10 recently, prefered the clunkyness of the (x5) sram 9s shifters compared tothe new ones.

I have decided to go 10spd, mainly because the XT shifters are in the CRC sale. Another reason what going 10spd was going to be future upgrade anyways, so snapping my rear mech just hurried up the process.

Good choice. Massive range on a 10 speed cassette, you really only need one ring up front.

I was running 1×8, but found it limiting, sometimes shifting up a gear was too light and down was too heavy, so hopefully that’ll get rid of that.

What cassettes do people recommend? Thinking of 32-11?

If going 10sp then I suggest 36/12 with a 34 tooth ring.

Gives all the gears you need except for really fast long road descents or stupidly steep climbs where its easier and faster to walk..

I run a SRAM X9 set up but the carbon X9 cage is crap, the cage around the bottom pulley wheel is susceptible to damage and then the chain constantly drops off the wheel.

I replaced with a full alloy X7 and its been perfect..

What he said ^

11/36 with 33 up front here. Gets me up and down everything.

11/36 with 32 upfront but im seriously unfit saying that I haven’t had to get off and walk yet

Currently running 36t up front and 32-11 on the rear, so was thinking of keeping the same as I haven’t struggled with it.

cheapest I’ve calculated is around £130, which is SLX shifter and mech.

What about the cassette & chain?

I went 10speed at the start of the year. I had a few issues with my SRAM setup and ended up scrapping it and went 10speed with Shimano. I’ve found it fine, no real huge step forward. I’m not interested in 1×10 so I’m 22/36 with the 36t cassette on the back. The extra gear at the back is great for those little uphill challenges, especially given that my bike isn’t light. I’ve not noticed any significant increase in wear, chain snappage or anything else. I put a bit more info up on my site, including weights and stuff. Shimano XT 10 Speed Review

@Johnny Panic, that was including cassette chain.

Currently thinking of;

Shifters: XT
Rear Mech: SLX Shadow
Cassette: Shimano HG81, 32-11
Chain: SRAM PC1031

Will see what deals come out on boxing day, but if not, or someone says otherwise I’ll be buying these on Monday night.

What about the crankset can you use non 10 speed?

It’s 1×8 currently, so will need a new chainring.

No point in going 10 speed without having a 12-36 cassette IMO. Gives you the lowest on a 22 front ring, whilst keeping the 24 front. Also means you can run a single ring and still have a pretty low gear, 1:1 with a 36 front ring, which is the highest I’ve seen anyone run on anything other than a downhill or CX bike. Having said that i only have 12-34, but that’s because it came with the groupset.

If that was me I would get SLX shifters and an XT rear mech. I had an SLX rear mech recently and it flopped around everywhere like it had no spring. Swapped to XT and its MUCH better.

Currently running 36t up front and 32-11 on the rear, so was thinking of keeping the same as I haven’t struggled with it.

No point going 10 speed then – get the 11-36 cassette and enjoy a lower gear, or go up to a 38 ring for more top end.

As far as I can tell, the only actual benefit of 10-speed is that they’ll allow us a proper 11-36 cassette with 10 cogs, and that’s been embargoed for 9-speed to get more people to “upgrade”.

The Shimano kit is a fair bit nicer than the equivalent 9-speed Shimano though, they took the opportunity to sneak in more SRAMness while nobody was looking.

I’m running mine with a set of saint cranks that aren’t 10-speed specific. I think the SLX stuff looks great, I was planning buying all that but my bike shop kept giving me free upgrades to XT so that’s why I’ve got that.
I agree with the guys above, the 11-36 is one of the big 10-speed advantages. I’d go with that and a slightly bigger chainring. It can’t be much more weight and you have a bigger spread of gears.

If you’re getting the SRAM chain I’d recommend getting a different quicklink. The SRAM ones are v. tough to get on and off. Taking them off requires plyers. It’s not the best if you have to split the chain out on the trail.

not been at all impressed with 10 speed SRAM – the derailleurs are terrible in terms of durability and the chains seems quite poor too

this is after years of running 9 speed SRAM with no issues

I’d only recommend Shimano’s Dynasys for reliable 10 speed mountain biking 😉

I’m with you. SRAM was dreadful and disintegrated for me.

Aye, my bikes are all covered in X9 but if/when I switch to 10-speed it’ll be Shimano.

Running XTR Rear Derailleur 10 Speed, XT 11-36 10 Speed rear with XTR 42/32/24 10 Speed front with the KMC 10 speed chain and not changing it as that nice road climb yesterday on 2.4 tires the 24 came in handy, never like walking its a sign of defeat rather keep the legs turning so i will keep that combination and just gives me more options should i need it rather than limit myself 😀

Thanks for the replies guys.

With me currently running 36t up front and 32-11 on back and I haven’t came across a hill where I’ve thought I need more top end or bottom end, would prefer a better spread middle range to keep the correct cadence on varying ascents and descents.

I’m going shimano 10spd as I can get it cheaper.

@Doug, would you suggest buying a shimano chain, it’s just that I see people always say to buy SRAM chains.

simon, I used both SRAM and Shimano chains. I couldn’t tell any difference. They seemed to change just as well as each other and neither of them was prone to breaking. The SRAM one comes with the quick link and the shimano with the joining pin, both work well and you can use the quick links with either the SRAM or Shimano chains if you want.

So, basically I’d go with the cheaper!

KMC for chains

Skywalker,

I can’t seem to find a 10 speed KMC chain for less than £50? Are they worth the extra money?

Try Merlin for KMC, they’ve got a couple for less than that, the X10sl is £32!

I can get a shimano chain for £17, would paying nearly double that be worth it, i don’t think so.

Hi!
I’ve now ordered a 11-36 xt cassette as it’s for a 29er, R/H XT 10 speed shifter, Chain and I already have a single 32 front chain ring. What rear XT mech do I order, Long cage, medium cage or short cage?

Thanks.

I can get a shimano chain for £17, would paying nearly double that be worth it, i don’t think so.

If you want decent shifting and it to last longer then yeah.