Any idea which would be best or are they much of a muchness? I'm being a weight weenie rather than looking at strength... does need to shift well though. I know it's super dull but any ideas?
To be honest, you'd be hard pushed to tell any difference between Deore, LX, SLX, XT or XTR in use. So you might as well go for what lasts longest. Personally, I wouldn't buy an alloy XT ring unless it was very cheap becasue they don't last too long, and the weight difference between that and SLX isn't worth thinking about (36t - I'm imagining it's on a double and bash set up on a fairly beefy bike?) So with that choice I'd go for SLX
That said, I wouldn't (and don't) buy either of those: I just use Deore steel ones at half the price.
Or about £20-£22 a full set of 3 for secondhand but unused ones, which is my usual poison..... Got 2 sets in the garage, one on a full, fitted but unused Deore chainset with BB I bought for £30..... 8)
or a 2x9 XC setup...
Incidentally I have a 24/36 set of rings to sell. The 36 is SLX...
Beaware that the SLX chin ring doesn't fit on every chainset... I brought one of the carbon / steel jobs and it didn't fit on my XT crankset.
The carbon/steel on is only in 32 isn't it? My 36t SLX is one piece alu. It does fit on my 760 XT and 970 XTR.
The carbon/steel on is only in 32 isn't it? My 36t SLX is one piece alu
I think you might be right there Clubber. I've got one of those hanging around too, come to think of it....