jdwafc – Member

Also changing the chain when worn will improve the lifespan of skip like **** on the cassette.

IME

My 2p – As people have mentioned –
Lighter weight (not a big issue for most)
Less damaging to alloy free hubs
But also a more open design so sheds mud better and easier to clean, which adds up to better shifting for longer
9 speed – XT or x0 here depending on which is cheapest (on one often have cheap cassettes)
10 speed I recently switched to on one bike which is XT
Wouldn’t consider going down to Alivio, Deore levels cassette is fairly significant in terms of bike working as it should

mattk – Member
Not when it’s preserving my chain rings too

I find chain rings last forever. I’ve only ever replaced them due to upgrades and the old ones never look particularly worn.

Cassettes, too many. Though I’m leaning towards ignoring the frequent chain replacement idea as I still find I need a new cassette if I do change the chain else it skips, but if I leave it on there it’s actually working fine so why not run it into the ground and change both when they really need it.

Okay maybe I’ll be changing chain rings then, but they’re cheap and I only have one of them to change.

And my other theory is, clutch mech will deal with slack chains slapping about due to wear over time. Maybe.

9 speed – XT or x0 here depending on which is cheapest (on one often have cheap cassettes)

10 speed X.0 cassettes are more than XTR – they’re over £200. Assume you mean PG990s?

I run xtr with an xtr cassette. The engineering is superb and I get a kick out of it every time I use it. I sit on my arse all day in the rat race, drive a crap car and feel happy spoiling myself.

I use a chain bath and replace the chain at 75% wear. On 3rd chain so far.

Only cassette I’ve managed to eek out more than one chain from is XTR M980. XT wouldn’t even take a new chain after 5 months.

GB

I run xtr with an xtr cassette. The engineering is superb and I get a kick out of it every time I use it. I sit on my arse all day in the rat race, drive a crap car and feel happy spoiling myself.

I use a chain bath and replace the chain at 75% wear. On 3rd chain so far.

+1

Me too. Although after breaking my XTR crankset a couple of weeks ago I’m currently slumming it with an XT I had lying around 🙂