Ideally in the £100-£120 range, just for general XC and trail center riding. Thanks.

SLX or XT.

I agree, at this end of the market it's Shimano, end of discussion. SLX or XT they're both good. There may be minor improvement in the shifting but you start from bloody good anyway. So it's mainly the 40g (ish) weight saving that separates the two. The XT has an aluminium inner sprocket verses SLX steel, so there will be a significant difference in the longevity of this ring. My inner XT ring had noticable wear after 6 months, steel ones go on and on, IME. Up to you to decide which is more important, wear, weight or the logo on the side. You can of course replace rings individually, so no-one would know you had a steel inner on the XT when the time comes to replace it.

I think I've seen XT on Ebay for £120, they're £130 at Merlin Cycles online

SLX – around £90 online

XT all the way mate
What ever you do Dont look at Race Face
as an option

Thanks for the advice, not too bothered about the weight so I guess SLX is the way forward!

SLX is something like 889g (triple) and £90 from merlin, XT is 853g (triple) and £130 from merlin.

Decide if you need to drop 36g for £40? I suspect its more than likely they'll be cheaper weight savings £ for gram elsewhere on your bike when you come to swap something (for eg tyres)

You're definatly right about that, £40 seems a little steep for 36g. And plus what you mentioned about the inner sprockets, I'm looking at getting a good 1 year use out of it around 40miles/week.

SLX. End of discussion

A