Shifter wise – any noticeable difference? Price is clearly more attractive!

Your experience gratefully received

Id be surprised if you noticed….unless you are really finicky

To my big thumbs absolutely no difference except XT cages are made of cheese….and bloody bendy cheese at that 😆

I had the Zee shifter; it’s massive and feels cheap & nasty, worse than my previous SLX, can’t be paired to Shimano brake levers either. I have the Saint shifter now, much nicer feel and shifts better. XT is comparable to Saint I believe.

I’ve got zee and xt. Zee works. I like the longer lever. It ‘clicks’ nicely. Xt is lighter and smoother though and easier on the thumb (!).

If I had the money I’d probably go Saint but if it’s one bike you use a lot I’d use xt as it has a lighter feel. But I’m not disappointed with zee it’s just a tad more agricultural but it works just fine

This topic needs a sticky post :/

Not that it answers your question, but the Saint shifter is awesome.

I don’t know what Zee is based on, but it feels Deore level to me.

I fitted a right-hand 10-speed shifter to my wife’s commuter last year, simply because it was slightly cheaper than a Deore shifter at the same time.

There’s no way it’s comparable in feel to an XT, based on my experience.

Have both and agree with most of the above: both work, XT feels nicer and Saint would be the ideal.

SLX, Zee, Deore shifters use nylon bushings inside. XT, Saint, & XTR use ball bearing races.
Most people can notice the difference this makes to shifting smoothness from the outset, and it gets more pronounced as the bushings in the cheaper models wear over time, especially with the extra tension the clutch mechs put on the shift.

Pay the extra and get saint

XTR on one bike and Zee on the other – they both work 🙂

The Zee shifters are pretty nasty – I have a Saint and a Zee shifter and they both feel cheap and nasty if I’m honest. The Saint is marginally less nasty and they can be had pretty cheap.

My old X0 shifter was much nicer in terms of action and ergonomics. Shame Sram clutches don’t work that well.

Saint is closer to XTR than XT in shifter performance – really nice shifting action, proper bearings and the ability to shift up/down in multiple steps.

Zee shifters are perfectly useable for the money, on a par with SLX.

Thought the Zee shifter was just a RH SLX with bigger triggers like the Saint.
The ZEE and SLX bodies are pretty much the same,