Have never had a bike with either now face the choice this afternoon of choosing one – bikes pretty identical exept for this – if there was a fight – which groupset would win? Go!

Depends upon your criterion.

XT, no contest. IMHO, of course

Red routes at Cannock chase my most regular run – is it true the sram kit is a bit delicate compared to the XT?

http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=one+with+Shimano+XT&word2=one+with+Sram+XO

😀 aint science great

I have bikes with XT, X9 and X0

I like them both but SRAM seems a little smoother but if given the choice for value and robustness i’d probably go for XT

I prefer 10 speed shimano, but prefered 9 speed SRAM 9both shift with a gerrrr -dunk, the alternative with a gerrrr-tick).

IME SRAM seems more delicate (3 SRAM mechs this summer, never bent a shimano one).

Shimano are also significantly cheeper! X9 mechs and shifters are alsomt XTR money!

Id take XO every time.
I really don’t like Shitmano

XT for me.

For balance, X0 for me 🙂

Sram X0 for me

Well if we’re talking robust it seems the XT would win – a big factor when you look at the cost of replacing a rear mech – if Sram are more delicate then financially XT will win – surely Sram is’nt that much slicker to warrant multiple replacements?
I know the Dog and Monkey are’nt that bad but still chewed up my current alivio derailleur last week

I got shimano xt. Fantastic shifting. SRAM are expensive for me.

Shimano own SRAM. And rock shox and avidd.

Is this true?

I’ve got an hour to choose – tick tock.. 😀

Both on cube reaction bikes and this is the only way I can seperate the buggers….the pro is winning with the XT… can anyone persuade me that Sram is worth the extra worry?

Two bikes, one with Sram XO kit – one with Shimano XT – who wins?

cant believe nobody has stated the obvious? the better/fitter rider?

Is this true?

No

I have bikes with XT, X9 and X0

I like them both but SRAM seems a little smoother but if given the choice for value and robustness i’d probably go for XT

Frankers you are most convincing so far. 8)

If it is only choice between the 2 groupsets i would go for XT.

Had X9 previously and prefer the current XT setup i have now.

If the XT one is cheaper as you stated then put the extra money saved to something else you want/need/have to have

I’d go for the XT if I was buying one. For a quick ride does it matter?

Never had a problem with any Shimano kit but a couple of friends have had Sram shifters pack up. Sram also seems more sensitive to dirty cables.

cant believe nobody has stated the obvious? the better/fitter rider?

Organic – be off with you and your common sense based logic. 🙂

Shimano own SRAM. And rock shox and avidd.

Is this true?

No, Sram own Sram, Avid, Rockshox, Truvativ etc.
Shimano own Shimano, Pro et al.

Red routes at Cannock chase my most regular run – is it true the sram kit is a bit delicate compared to the XT?

imo…
XT is ultimately better but requires more attention to keep it that way.

X0 requires less in the way of routine maintenance but can be more difficult to fix if (when) it does go wrong.

FWIW I haven’t adjusted the gears on my Rize in more than four years (X0/X9/full outers). Same for the Voltage I haven’t adjusted them…ever.

In comparison the Ramones needs a tweak every few rides (full XT/interrupted SP41 outers)

If you’re a weekend warrior then XT. If you’re up there all the time rain or shine then X0

ninj not for a quick ride no, but if sram is going to cause me hassle by packing up more than the shimano – and people semm to be saying this on here – then it’s just not worth the bit of extra slickness it seems – I’m deffo leaning towards the XT.

X0 any day, it shifts on demand whatever the weather and looks a million dollars.

Brakes on the other hand…

Meant to say SRAM own rox and avidd amongst others. Too expensive compared to some.
But then they are American.

Rocketman nice post – not a weekend warrior – up there in the week a lot doing about 50 miles a week on the Dog alone – shift worker

XT is ultimately better but requires more attention to keep it that way.

You know they changed the pull ratio on 10speed?

Shimano stuff now stays indexed about as well as Sram IME. Not used Sram 10sp yet though.

I’d go XT myself I think, if cheaper.

Weight difference on bikes?

Scienceofficer – Member

Depends upon your criterion.

The one from Red Dwarf.

You know they changed the pull ratio on 10speed?

Yes of course but ime it’s still more…not sure what the word is…probably communicative – fabulous when it’s working properly but it soon lets you know when it’s not happy which is quite often in Cannock’s sandy terrain

Unlike X0 which just keeps shifting until it blows up 🙂

If it includes the crankset and bottom bracket ? I would Go Shimano, Never had good experiences with SRAM Bottom brackets. Never had a bad experience with Shimano ones.

I don’t know whether people’s statements about SRAM durability issues are based on experience rather than on biased opinions but I can tell having a SRAM X9 rear mech that I’m extremely happy with it.

It went through a lot of abuse. The most noticeable one was a strong impact on a rock during a crash; right on the head of the screw located at the the derailleur hinge and guess what: the derailleur was working like if nothing happened afterwards.
The crash was actually strong enough to partially bend the derailleur hanger plus the rear dropout (steel frame), but the SRAM derailleur is still working like a charm.

I also noticed that despite Shimano stuff are cheaper, they do look cheaper IMO :
my XT front der. has some play and my friend’s SLX rear der. looks uselessely complicated and not as strong as my X9…

never had X0 but shimano stuff has always been more robust than sram – shifters and rear mechs have shorter life expectancy ime, even though i prefer the feel of sram shifting

XT for me

I’ve got a bikes with XO, XT and XTR

Shifting’s fine one all but I’d go with XT and XTR so much so I’m thinking of flogging the XO and going putting Xt on it.

It does look nice though with all the carbon finery.

Thanks all – about to make the phone call and the XT bike is the winner – looks don’t bother me (hope the wife is’nt reading this) and I’m going with the majority vote.

You are all very nice people. Cube reaction pro here I come. 😀

If it includes the crankset and bottom bracket ? I would Go Shimano, Never had good experiences with SRAM Bottom brackets. Never had a bad experience with Shimano ones.

+1 for this bit, avoid anything with GXP.

The only long term experience I’ve had of XO was a cassette and it was made of cheese. XT ones are a lot harder wearing. However I have used the SRAM shifters on some demo bikes and I do like the feel of them, they have a more positive feel – I was even going to buy an XO rear mech when I went 1×10 but the price difference compared to XT was too big to justify.

xt. not had good experiences with SRAM. Or Avid for that matter.