I broke a Sram X7 shifter, 35 quid to replace. Times are hard so I bought the x4 for 19 quid. The young dude in the shop urged me not to downgrade; “the X4 will be nowhere near as good as the X7, I’m not pulling your leg, I’d strongly recommend that you get the X7”. With a heavy heart I stuck to my guns and went for the cheap x4.

Went out on my favourite blacka moor route today – x4 performance exactly the same as the x7. weight the same. The only difference between the two is a few more plastic parts rather than alloy.

Lesson: DON’T BELIVE THE HYPE.

Lesson: DON’T BELIVE THE HYPE.

Absolutely – buy online

X7 sucks compare to x0 !

DON’T BELIVE THE HYPE

Woooohhhhhaaaaaa!!!!

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix62PttEfhU[/video]

YOU DON’T NEED TO SHOUT EITHER!
I’VE X.0 AND AM A BETTER RIDER THAN YOU, I HAVE MORE FUN THAN YOU AND ATTRACTRIVE WOMEN STOP ME IN THE STREET TO GET MY PHONE NUMBER, OK?

All the shifters are the bloody same in the sram line up there quite cheap in construction . While i do love there rear mech’s i must say i have really gone off there shifters.

I do agree but isn’t nice to buy expensive top quality things and know you’ve got the best of the best.
Not just bike gear but everything in life… 😀 😀

hello my name’s jimmy and I prefer SLX shifters to XT, especially when they do this

Oh god that feels good.

You’re probably right.

OK, everyone back to the Blur TRc thread.

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/bike-stuff-prints-and-marmite-jersey-sram

look and you find a bargain don rush in.

Always had XT back mechs on my bikes. Christ knows how many I’ve smashed on rocks over the years. A lot. The LBS had none in stock on the last mech/rock interface so I put I deore on as it was all they had in. Difference? Erm… None that I can tell. Anyone who buys XTR or X0 back mechs needs their bumps feeling! Or they’re riding like gayers!

I’m the opposite, I changed from X5to X9 and there was a massive difference, for the better. YMMV

I wasn’t going to have a rant, but **** it! Everyone I see, invariably at trail centres, with full carbon, XTR kitted out ego chariots look like they spend more time cleaning their ‘steeds’ than actually riding them.

When I see 5 grands worth of (immaculate mud free) bike propped against an Audi I always think ‘when are you going to take up wake boarding or kite surfing? Or just **** off and stop the rest of us looking like ****s just by being associated with you?

ok, this is balls. I currently have 3 bikes with 3 SRAM shifters setup, X7, X9 and X0, with SRAM X7, X9 and X0.. and if I walk into the garage and try all 3, or ride them and try all 3… the X9 and X0 are close, but each shift incrementally better than the latter. The X0’s have lasted 3 years without issue.

Stop being paranoid, the higher ones cost more as they shift better / have better bits / costs more to produce.. Not all companies are out to get ya.

I sort of get your point binners, but my £4k carbon 6″ bike is spotless at the moment – would you stereotype me if you saw it leant up against my 4×4?

Edit:just pha !

I’ve got a carbon blur TRc and a Carbon Nomad and I ride 100+ miles per monthweek at an average of 20km/hr

Now I’m a little bit impressed.

I think you definitely get diminishing returns when you make the jump to XTR/XO, but if you have the cash, then why not?

Personally I’m in the XT bracket

I’m not being cynical. Honest! I just see these bell ends riding stupidly expensive kit and know they’re Riding it because its a stupidly bling! I’ve ridden with god knows how many people off here. It’s no coincidence that the people who know what they’re doing are normally riding something that looks like it’s had a bad paper round.

My intense looks battered! Because it is. But I **** love it! 😀

But don’t these ‘bell-ends’ by buying the expensive stuff, force the pace of the R+D component/bike companies to constantly innovate and bring new stuff out. That should then permeate down through the ranges to the benefit of all. Also, when they get bored of it you can pick up bargins as they cast off their bling?

Not at all battered – been to Fort Bill red & black, plus Peaks abuse…

People on this forum really are a bunch of smug tools sometimes 🙄

Feel the love… it’s just a pointless but nevertheless endearing pastime involving riding around in circles 😀

let those that can afford to buy the expesnive stuff. It aids the development and filter down of better kit.

Tbh though alot the the expensive kit is better,,

My Halfords bike came with an X0 rear mech. Didn’t know it was anything special ’til me mate pointed it out 🙂 Works as it should….

I’m a bell end. This much I already knew.

STR I think you’re a bell end if that helps?

If i had the money, I’d buy the top end kit, and probably a nice Audi! 😉

Dude if you rode an xx set up the difference is like night and day to x4. Less so with the shimano stuff, but there is a difference with xtr and SLX. Shimano do seem to trickle down tech quicker than SRAM.

I’m lucky enough to have some “top end” kit mainly as this is my hobby and if all the bills are payed and the kids are happy then why not save a bit up for something I’d like over the course of a year or years I Don’t give an Arse what any one thinks! As for me the kit and tech is part of it.

On the same note I have it handed to me on cheaper bikes than mine and more expensive bikes this sitting on the fence of riding crapness/ handing it to people allows me the moral high ground in the forum discussion.

Wookster confirmed non Audi driving nob since 2001. 😆

Slx shifters on one bike, xt on the other. Bought the slx ones as couldn’t stretch to xt at the time. They work, but they don’t shift as well or feel quite as nice

binners, you had the argument right up until you said

My intense looks battered! Because it is. But I **** love it!

so, i guess your saying you can have bling kit, as long as its old ?

I’m affraid you’re all wrong….the correct answer is don’t buy shifters at all and glory in the manly thighs of singlespeedyness. You can spend all the extra money on beer and cake rather than bits of xtr or SPAM shifty things.

Years ago I went for the absolute best and bling bits. But got a family now and understand my performance levels and rate myself as a rider at Deore spec! At a push SLX. It does the job and is of decent enough quality and that is my decision.

I certainly won’t decry anyone else’s XX or XTR fetish pleasures. I do however dislike immaculate bikes. I like battle scars, dinks, scrapes and the kind of in grained mud that says you cleaned the worst off but wanted to go riding again so didn’t fanny about with a toothbrush.

Next on Mr T’s shopping list of constantly replacing worn out parts is a set of SLX double and bash cranks as I can’t see anything better on the market for what I need.

My first year on XTR, always a confirmed XT man – why pay the extra? Well it certainly lasts longer not changed anything all year except chains. By now I would have eaten through 2 or 3 sets of rings and cassettes. All working fine and I think it will still be going strong well in to the winter. In terms of shifting its smoother and it lasts longer. Guess it depends on your mileage. If you dont do much then XT will be fine. High mileage XTR.

I believe an independent adjudicator should rate every riders abilities and issue them with a rating. This rating (1 for a crap rider – 10 for a riding god) can then be used to determine just how up the bling ladder they are allowed to climb. That’ll put an end to the nobbers riding about on pristine £5k bikes.

edit: some sort of hybrid rolly-eyed, winky, half smiling yellow circle thing.

p.s. TROLL!

Perhaps average riders with expensive bikes should pay a special tax, or be made to wear a special badge?

Personally, I like to pay my pennance by giving inverted bike snob locals something to laugh at when I fail to clear another easy section on my soda.

Everybody classes themselves as an average rider though, so that wont work.

I’ve used XX for two years, its toss, don’t bother. It’ll be XT for me from now on.

Well it certainly lasts longer not changed anything all year except chains. By now I would have eaten through 2 or 3 sets of rings and cassettes

what sort of mileage are you doing to get that rate of wear..?

I’m not riding more than once per week at the moment.. but even when I was regularly doing 100+ offroad miles per week I wasn’t getting through anywhere near that much gear…

aye my thoughts as well or do you ride everywhere in the granny ring 😉
I thin k with more expensive kit you hope to get longevity out the box it works well but how long it lasts maintenance free is the great unknown.

I find I buy parts on the ‘how easily am I going to break it’ basis. Seeing as I ride with the grace and elegance of a 3 legged hippo on a skateboard, this is a major issue. All XTR, carbon bling is out, on the basis that it won’t last 5 minutes. This has inevitably led to various ‘downhill’ spec parts appearing on my bike (mainly bottom bracket/cranks) as they tend to be in with a fighting chance of coping with the clumsy, over-enthusiastic ineptitude they’re inevitably delivered into

I’m off out to break stuff in a bit. We should do a straw poll later to see how much today’s ride’s cost you? I’ve not catastrophically wrecked something for a few weeks.. Have a good days riding y’all 😀