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I'm planning on building up a new bike this summer (my first ever build) and was originally planning to stick to a 27 speed set up as on my current bike, as there are some good deals going on 3x9 at the moment, but now I'm having second thoughts. Will the system be all but dead in a few years' time, making it difficult to buy, say, a 9 speed rear mech should you rip one off on a tree stump? Are manufacturers gradually phasing it out in favour of 10 speed? Should I just fork out for a 10 speed drivetrain to future-proof the build?
It'll be a hardtail for XC race use, however it will also be my only bike so will have to cover everything from short trail-centre blasts to longer winter training rides, short stints on the road in between trails and during trailquests, and everything in between, hence going for a wide range of gears and an alloy frame (wouldn't want to be taking a carbon to places like the Peaks or Lakes). So a everyday bike despite being an XC racer.
I'd rather go 3x9. I only went 9 speed around 2007 when 8 speed kit was becoming hard to get hold of at a certain level.
Stick with 9 speed, either 2x9 or 3x9. Will be around for a very long time yet and 10 speed ain't all that, just usual hand me down from road bikes on stuff we don't really require on a mtb like press fit BB and direct mount front mechs.
I have recently built a Kinesis Maxlight pro xc3 as a 3*9 with reasonably priced XTR group set from Merlin. The 9 speed prices are still fluctuating but there is good buys to be had if you look around. 9 speed should get cheaper as the next big thing come August 1st will no doubt be 2 x 11 Or 1x11 for those with cash to burn. X27 is always going to be better than x20 or x22 isn't it???
AS they said - 9 sp will be around for years yet.
Cheers all. Popocatapetl YGM regarding the XC Pro 3 - I was considering this frame myself.
I think the only real reason to rule out 9 speed is if you wanted to run a single chainring. Not that you can't do that with 9 speed but it would be more versatile with 10.
Shimano or sram?
Only reasons I would consider 10 speed on a new build would be if the frame didn't like triples (eg on-one whippet) or if I wanted shimano on a full sus with less ghost shifting (they didn't make a song and dance about it presumably because sram have been doing it 'right' for years, but the cable pull ratio is now 1:1 on shimano 10 speed moutain bike shifting)
I still have 8 speed on my bullit beacuse its cheap and I don't really pedal it all that much anyway.
Can't see the point in 3x10, but 2x10 is great. 20 speeds is better than 27 or 30 if you get the same ratios and less repeated ones.
If you can do without the highest and lowest speeds then 2x10 gives you really nice shifting and one less thing to think about on a ride.
"If you can do without the highest and lowest speeds" hits the nail on the head - not sure my fitness/riding is good enough to go 2 x 10 off road yet, but I like the idea of it
I took in a couple of demo days earlier in the year, so had a chance to try out several different 10 speed setups, some 2 x 10, others 3 x 10.
Shifting did seem a little smoother than my 9 speed setup, but not sufficiently better to justify the swap.
One of the 2 x 10 bikes I tried had a 39 tooth outer chainring. I usually do a fair amount of the climbs in the middle ring, but found this pretty hard to turn over going uphill.
I won't be in a rush to switch as my current setup works fine - if you're worried about the technology becoming obsolete, then you could always take advantage of the good deals currently available & get a few spares.
There's nothing wrong with 9spd, but 10spd is better. Shifting is slicker, there's a ratio for every eventuality, and obviously it's going to be more future proof. 9spd won't be phased out any time soon in terms of spares mind.
10spd is already cheaper though (if you're buying new), and 9spd MTB kit will only increase in price as it gets rarer. Decent roadie 9spd kit is VERY expensive already cos it's so rare. I never buy into anything new straight away (would rather let someone else be the guinea pig), but after 12 months and no bad stories of 10spd on MTB's I took the plunge and glad I did...