Very disappointing as I’ve probably only had 10 rides on it, destroyed by a rock strike earlier. Only went for a quick blast but had a fair walk back to the car 😑

I seem to recall a thread about these being fragile but couldn’t find it on the search.

So, are they made of cheese? Is there an alternative? Or just unlucky, get the same again?

Cheers!

So, are they made of cheese? Is there an alternative? Or just unlucky,

Rocks are made of rock. No derailleur will survive a massive smash onto a rock. Changing to a different derailleur won’t make any difference if you’re going to bash it on rocks. You can go singlespeed, fit a gearhub, or avoid hitting rocks.

hols has it.

You were lucky

If it was SRAM you’d just have to ride in the vacinity of the rock and it would have surrendered.

I found my sram gx11 and xtm8000 mechs to be bombproof. Years of riding loose rocky stuff and no issues. Hopefully it was just bad luck and the next one will last. At least I’ve got some spare jockey wheels now.

Just looking for a replacement. Anyone used slx and xt 12 speed mech? Any difference other than 30g weight? Slx is over 20quid cheaper so I’m tempted to go for that.

Thanks

Maybe it’s the 12 speed design that’s the issue. Isn’t that a mech design that basically sticks out a lot more than 11 speed?
Why is 12s such a mess!
One of my pals has the XTR 11/12 mech and it’s very fragile. Hits stuff a lot but no rocks as yet.
SLX has always been pretty good imo. I wouldn’t say no to SLX. I am sticking to 11speed tho. Unsurprisingly, I do have to walk up sometimes!

davros – I don’t have any experience of the XT mech but I’m running a SLX one on my 11sp 11-50t Sunrace cassette and I don’t have any complaints yet. Only been running it for a couple of months mind, and I haven’t twatted any rocks yet.

Anyone used slx and xt 12 speed mech? Any difference other than 30g weight? Slx is over 20quid cheaper so I’m tempted to go for that.

Thanks

Not really, that I can tell. Doesn’t seem any more robust than XT at first glance.

Have A 12 speed xtr mech that went bang when the top pulley pulled out of the carbon side, was climbing at the time on a rough stone path with no form of collision or interference from rocks etc. Currently pushi g back to Madison to see if it is warrantable, will be disappointed if it is not as it has do e just over 300 miles in 3 months. Temporarily replaced with Deore flavoured one and barely notice the difference in shift feel.

@davros: xtr,mi’mate ?

Thanks all. I think I’ll try slx. I have weight saving where it counts with the xtr cassette.

Just to clarify, it didn’t hit a static rock, but one thrown up from the trail. And I wasn’t going at great speed! Hence my surprise at it failing.

it didn’t hit a static rock, but one thrown up from the trail.

This is why you should swerve randomly to make a more difficult target.

I’ve delayed the move to 12sp as three of my group have wrecked Shimano and SRAM rear mechs. Nothing more than twigs have been the cause; I do wonder if they’re not as robust as 11sp or similar, every detail seems to be about weight saving on them..

I ruined 2 XT derailleurs in a couple of weeks. No problems running XO prior or since.
With XO mechs it is the derailleur hanger that bends in an impact, but with XT it seems to be the cage that bends.

No problems with my 9 month old one despite clearly having twatted it off plenty rocks.