shimano xt/ls vs sram x-7/x-9

joeraul

i was told that sram x-7/x-9 front and rear deraileurs and shifters are better or smoother than the shimano xt/ls.any advice on this matter would be highly appreciated coz am in a hurry to purchase. thank you very much in advance

nicklouse

they are different.

different action ratio, more positve, different action, personal choice.

Matteeboy

Have XT/LX on my older Stumpy, X7/X9 on my newer one.

To be honest both work very well.

schmako

Try both, buy which one you prefer. Simple.

Chaka Ping

I presume you've already tried LX/XT?

I have XT on one bike and Sram on the other - and I prefer the action on my X0/X9 shifters/rear mech. They're more "clicky" and feel more precise - and haven't needed any adjustment in six months.

As people have said though, it's a personal preference thing.

Also, you can run a Shimano front mech with Sram shifters - and you still get the positive Sram trigger feel (ie. click, click, click).

ride_whenever

TBH if you're spending lots of cash on shifters/mechs they are going to work well, and whatever you buy you will get used to and end up liking. however for similar points in performance the shimano is cheaper, but sram looks better.

Bazzowmb

One other point to consider is that the new XT shadow rear mech is supposedly less prone to damage as it hardly protrudes beyond the wheel or frame.

Saying that I run with Sram which I'm really pleased with but I haven't used the Shimano set up so I can't compare. I'm sure either one on that spec level would do a good job.

clarkson

i have sram on the spesh and shimano on the GT. i much prefer shimano, nicer feel, smoother, if harder to set up, so will soon be upgrading the enduro to full XT.

The Big Cheese

Have full XTR on my Marin - fiddly but fast when running OK

XT/LX mix on my 24/seven - solid and reliable shifting but heavier compare to XTR

And have just bought XO for the Wild Card

I have never used SRAm at all - should be interesting to see how I get on with it and the different shifting technique

Old Holdie

Are any Shimano or SRAM front shifters ratcheted so you can trim the front mech? Or are they all just indexed?

Mr_Orange

Shimano front mech shifters used to have six indexed positions so that you could tweak the position of the mech depending on which part of the cassette you were using, but I think they dropped that years ago.

tomfraserb

Ive used SRAM X-9s for 3yrs... no problems. Very positive feel about them. Look at the new MBUK... they have a review on all of these!

supersonic

WMB have a review, interesting reading. Especially as they directly compare XT to X9, LX to X7... but look at the prices: price wise XT is the equivalent to X7.

The Big Cheese

LX compared to X7 didn't compare well though did it IIRC

supersonic

Not as good, but going on price really should be comparing to X5. It seems price wise, Shimano performs better like for like.