Faced with a choice as my bikes were nicked and I’m starting from scratch (sort of) with MTBs.

Do I go with the 10sp stuff that comes on new bikes now, or flog it and utilise the 9sp spares I have in stock?

Questions vexing me are…

– I have used SLX 10 speed, don’t like the vague plasticky shifter feel. Is it better with XT or XTR shifters?

– Is the Shadow+ rear mech clutch really that good?

– Do 9sp chainrings really not work on 10 speed cranks?

Interested in your experiences.

XT has a metal thumb shifter, that’s all.

Shadow+ is good, probably not as good as you imagine; but probably 50% as effective as a bottom guide.

9Sp chainrings work fine on a 10speed setup. Why would you need to change the crank itself?

10 vs 9 is more or less whether or not you want to go 1×10, in which case you can run a 36t rear. You can bodge this into 9sp, but it isn’t cheap. Otherwise, 9sp is perfectly good.

I put 2 x 10 onto my BFe and love it. I was afraid I’d lose the low down gears and struggle but that hasn’t proven to be the case.

Now you’re going to ask me what spec … I’ll check tonight but it was all from new and done by LBS, SRAM shifters/rear mech for sure, will check rest.

Cheers guys.

I’ll be going Shimano 3×10 if I do it, but with a bash instead of a big ring.

I was all set on sticking with 2×9 tbh, but it wouldn’t cost me much more to move to 10sp and I’m starting to think it’s a bit daft to take 10sp stuff off of a new bike just because I have a box of 9sp mechs, chains and cassettes.

9Sp chainrings work fine on a 10speed setup. Why would you need to change the crank itself?

Might want to use some different size chainrings, which I already have in 9sp.