[Closed] SLX or XT shifter

Depends on the price

Deore, it's a shifter, it'll fail after a British winter. There are no significant gains in upgrading shifters.

The I spec one.

Never had a shimano shifter fail, through many winters...

I've had 2 SLX 10x shifters (not sure of model) fail due to an internal bolt coming loose. Both developed play in the lever after a few months of use and one spat it's internals out while out on the trail. Bought an XT and it's been solid so far so I'd say go for the XT.

I've got SLX on one bike and XT on the other. You can't really go wrong with either, but if I had to choose one I'd have the XT, I prefer the feel and more positive action of it

Depends on the price

Came down to this in the end.

m780 is £40 in JEJames at the moment (£45 + £5 off for code First5).

No brainer...

I have slx on one bike and xt on another, i prefer the feel of xt too.
Never had a shimano shifter fail in 30 years (accidents excepted)

I have xt780 on my hardtail and love the feel of them and the single/double shift on the pull of the lever. My new bike came with the xt8000 and while it feels fine I prefer the xt780 if I am honest, don't like the double shift being on the push and single on the pull with the xt8000, I prefer the double shift on the pull. If that makes sense.

My old XTM780 felt better than the SLX one on my other bike, tbh, it also felt better than the M9000 XTR one I replaced it with

Slx on one bike Saint on another both i spec b. Slx ok but Saint far better 1 1/2 years use and still shiffting like new. Got it for £28 as well wish I could find another at that price.

Same as ebennnett here, SLX got loose and then fell apart. Replaced with XT.

10 speed then Saint. One of mine is 3 years old, the other 5 years old. Both still faultless.

XT for sure. The double shift up is great. Also never had a shimano shifter fall apart.

I've also got SLX on one bike and XT on the other, but I couldn't tell you which is which without looking.

I have to agree with the 10 speed Saint comments, It's pretty much bomb proof and feels so nice to use, I'd say it's the best shifter Shimano have produced to date!

Deore, it's a shifter, it'll fail after a British winter. There are no significant gains in upgrading shifters.

Quite the opposite thought process here, the shifter controls the cable and is the Human interface. It's worth getting decent ones imo. I like 10 speed xtr and 10 speed saint. I find 10 speed slx feels a bit plasticky and 10 speed xt doesn't have the nice solid feel of saint or xtr.

I marginally prefer saint to xtr, so I'd go saint if you can fit it.

+1 for Saint. Running one for years on my Bfe

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/gear-shifters?f=2258,4294964100,4294963637&sort=pricelow

6.9% Topcashback at the moment, plus you could get 10% off with British Cycling with >£100 basket (if you haven't used your existing one this month already).

£40 XT, £44 Saint btw.

cp - Member
Deore, it's a shifter, it'll fail after a British winter. There are no significant gains in upgrading shifters.
Quite the opposite thought process here, the shifter controls the cable and is the Human interface. It's worth getting decent ones imo. I like 10 speed xtr and 10 speed saint. I find 10 speed slx feels a bit plasticky and 10 speed xt doesn't have the nice solid feel of saint or xtr.

I marginally prefer saint to xtr, so I'd go saint if you can fit it.

Yep, I'd agree. Poor quality shifting begins with the cable control. I'd go for better shifter and cable and cheaper mech, personally if I was trying to keep costs down but performance up.

6.9% Topcashback at the moment, plus you could get 10% off with British Cycling with >£100 basket (if you haven't used your existing one this month already).

£40 XT, £44 Saint btw.

Was/is £40 for L+R m780 at JEJames!

Only reason I have xt is for 11sp - I also use uberbike'a coated cables.

Yep, I'd agree. Poor quality shifting begins with the cable control. I'd go for better shifter and cable and cheaper mech, personally if I was trying to keep costs down but performance up.

I have Saint shifters, SLX mechs, XT cassettes and cranks, KMC chains and Works NW rings on both bikes. I had SLX cranks before but I wanted shorter ones (one bike has 165mm, the other 170). All deliberate choices, not just random bargain hunting!

XT shifters every time. I love the feel of the alloy down shift lever. Think how many times you use them during a ride!

I'd suggest a zee shifter, works really well and is cheap.