Just looking at a new cassette and rear mech for the hardtail and I’m undecided whether to go for XT or XTR.

I’ve currently got XTR 1×11 on my FS bike and will be 1×11 again on the hardtail but I can’t decide whether the XTR is worth the extra money over XT or even SLX.

Does anyone know if there’s much difference in the shifting between the three groupsets?

XTR shifter and mech are noticeably better than XT IMHO

XTR shifter is better. But no where near as good as 10 speed Saint 🙁

The lever is carbon fibre too which has me a little worried. At lease it should be easy to fix with a bonded splint if it breaks.

On my Bird I have XTR shifter, XT mech, Sram GX cassette. Running XTR cranks so have a sunrace 11-46 cassette in case it’s needed and I am already on 32T oval ring so can’t go lower without an expensive one or direct mount cranks.

Try and have a click of the shifters in a shop or a mate’s bike if you can, they’re not better or worse imo, they’re different- don’t like the XTR feel but it’s not as awful as 10 speed was.

(and andyl’s spot on, once you’ve had a 10 speed saint everything else is shite. I took perverse satisfaction from putting one on my 20lb xc bike)

Oh, went for the Ispec II XTR shifter and some of the Hope adaptors for mt Tech 3 (Ispec A/B compatible) levers to give me the angle adjust. My other bike just has normal XT 11 speed Ispec B which lacks the angle adjust. It’s a small detail but I thought screw it, I may as well try it on the nice bike for the sake of £11.

10 speed saint was heavenly. Quite apt really!

the shifters are slightly better (XTR vs XT) but I rate the XT mechs as better. My XTr wore out in no time whereas the XT has been more robust.

+1 10spd Saint was the best.

10 spd Saint and Zee will never be matched.

these days…not so much. There used to be a real leap in weight saving and feel and quality of old XTR even XT, but the regular sets are so much better these days that performance wise I don’t think there’s much in it.

I have commented this a few times before but for me if XTR is a theoretical 10/10 for feeling and performance then xt is a 9/10. Both are excellent. XT i think is the benchmark and is much better than SLX the shifter of which runs on bushing not bearings like XT and XTR. SLX works perfectly but feels awful compared to XT.

XT shifters/mech, SLX chainset ftw. Seems about the right combination of quality/value

Saint shifter and SLX mech here, I don’t feel the need for anything more than than that and I used to only use XT mechs.

TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR +1

Does XTR do the same hateful double down shift thing that XT does?

I much prefer the Zee shifter/mech on the ht to my XT set up on my full sus as it doesn’t do the above, both feel very similar.

Purely aesthetically the short cage Saint/Zee mechs look much neater than longer cage XT/XTR but obviously depends on if you’re running a dinner plate or not.

double down shift thing

que-ce-c’est?

jamesfts – Member
Does XTR do the same hateful double down shift thing that XT does?

If you pres the down shift paddle twice it does, or if you give it a firm push through the first point of resistance it does.

I find this really useful, especially when cresting climbs and wanting to dump gears quickly to accelerate at a decent rate.

That double downshift is one thing I like about it. Very handy quite often.

I couldn’t give a **** whether my shifting is a bit snappier, so many other better things to spend money on.

I seem to be alone with this mindset tho 🙁

Very handy quite often.

yep, the double shift is very nice, cant see how it could annoy anyone.

I have XTR shifter and XTR mech, on an sram chain and sram 11 speed cassette.

The shifter and mech seem fine to me, quite lightweight, and the shifting is smooth. I suspect though that unless you’re bothered about saving weight XT is just as good.

Just ordered a set of XTR cranks to replace my old SLX set, just for the bling really (that and the 100g weight difference) . not expecting them to be functionally any better than SLX

julians – Member

yep, the double shift is very nice, cant see how it could annoy anyone.

I don’t mind a double shift but I do mind if it’s too easy to trigger- 10 speed XTR action was so light, I sometimes got more shifts than I wanted. I think it was Jared Graves who ended up with XTR and a deore shifter for the same reason 😆

I couldn’t give a **** whether my shifting is a bit snappier, so many other better things to spend money on.

I seem to be alone with this mindset tho

Same here, SLX seems absolutely fine and is more than expensive enough for me.

yep, the double shift is very nice, cant see how it could annoy anyone.

I find this really useful

Sounds like it’s just me then!

To be fair, day to day rides it doesn’t bother me that much but have found in the heat of the moment/racing I’ve occasionally snatched 2 gears instead of 1 which has peed me right off. Much prefer the simplicity of 1 click = 1 gear in those situations.

Another saint shifter fan here. Saint shifter, slx mech and one-up setup.

If someone came out with a ten speed 10-42 cassette at a decent price and weight I would probably stick with it.

Shimano need to step up their cassette game and make saint 11 speed.

I’d go SLX rear mech with an XT shifter. It won’t feel any different to XT throughout, but it looks better and is cheaper. XTR lever feels nicer on a workstand, but who cares when XT does the job perfectly and keeps the double shift option.

Saint shifter and SLX mech here

Ditto, on both bikes, with XT cranks and cassette (and Works NW rings).

From what people are saying, I think I might just go with XT and save a few quid.

The money saved can go towards the XD driver I’ll need for the new cassette!

The 10 speed zee mech was/is garbage. Countless people had them fall to bits for no obvious reason

The 10 speed zee mech was/is garbage. Countless people had them fall to bits for no obvious reason

I had two break, pedalling along at 5-10mph in very muddy conditions. Completely imploded.

10 speed SLX cassette has some steel rings on it, which can eat into alloy freehubs.

Personally, I bought XTR and although performance is good – I think XT feels a bit better. Although nothing feels as good as 8spd XTR!