I emailed Trickstuff last week to ask if the Clapton hinged clamp and XTR adapter would work with the Sl-M980-A shifter and i received an email back stating that “Yes – they will work” but on inspection of them after they arrived today i am not at all convinced, the Clapton XTR mount is a different width to the shimano XTR mount and i cannot see how it could possibly fit.

I realise that shimano used to do 3 versions of the XTR shifter, an “I spec shifter” and two clamp shifters, one with a slight amount of clamp/position adjustment “trail version” and the one i have which has a fixed clamp position “race version”.

They no longer do the Trail version………why? – you are idiots as bars are crowded with additional gubbins these days – folk need to move positions around.

I guess i’ll just have to get in touch and send them back – i’m not about to butcher my shifters on the “off chance” i can get them to fit.

Arse!……I wanted to use the hinged Clapton XTR shifter clamp to move the shifter to the inside of the Jones Loop then i could slide my brake levers right up to the outer edge of the loop – i figured that would give me the perfect positions for shifters and brakes – at the moment it is a little bit snug as the shifter levers intrude into where my hand/fingers naturally sit behind the brake lever, i tried moving the brake lever further down the bars but it’s not ideal.

Any other options?, apart from trying to find a pair of the adjustable XTR Shifter pods (i’ve tried and nae luck).

Arghhhh!!!! – talk about banging your head off a brick wall….

I emailed trickstuff to say the clapton unit did not fit on the SL-M980-A shifters and got a response back saying it did and with attached pictures which showed the SL-M980 shifter…….Arghhhh – that’s not the XTR SL-M980-A shifter that i own but they don’t seem to understand! 👿

I can send the items back for a refund but they state they will not refund my postage costs, which was €10 to receive it and i guess it will be similar to return the item with secure postage so i’ll be £15 approx out of pocket – this seems a bit harsh as they stated categorically that the clapton will and does work with the XTR SL-M980-A shifter, needless to say it does not fit and will not ever fit as the mount on the shifter is different.

How do i convince them that the information they are given out is wrong?, and how can i get my bloody postage costs back – that’s 2hrs wages so it’s not a forgettable amount, or do i just suck it up and mention “who won the bloody war?”

Not wanting to sound daft but have you actually tried fitting it?

Nope, as the fixing point is totally different as there is two protruding shoulders on my XTR shifter clamp, one on the clapton. I’d love to be proved wrong as it would mean i can fiddle about with shifter position but alas not to be.

EDIT : See thread on mtbr here that explains the difference between shifters

They’ll be a few people out there such as myself who could do you a deal on the trail style mount after converting to ispec. Unfortunately, still going to cost unless you can move yours on. mactheknife was after one the other day in the wanted section

The shifters weren’t a race and trail version; the fixed version replaced the adjustable one. The original (adjustable) was model SL-M980; which was replaced by model SL-M980-A.

More info at http://forums.mtbr.com/drivetrain-shifters-derailleurs-cranks/new-shimano-xtr-sl-m980-shifter-mount-dont-slide-anymore-810271.html#post10468985