[Closed] front mech

on my hardtail bike i have 'sram x7' gears, 'sram x7' derailluer, and a 'sram x gen' front mech...(origianlly wen i bought the bike it had an alivio front mech which was terrible so a mate put the sram x gen on for me a few years ago... its rather stiff now, so do i need a new sram x7 up front or can i use a shimano mech ? i dont ride the hardtail very often after being spoilt by my full suss ! lol...... but would like to ride the hardtail again bit for the stiffness of front mech.... so sram or shimano front mech? cheeers in advance.. 😉