Upgrading parts before old ones are worn or broke?

gkf9

Im thinking of upgrading my Rear Lx mech to a Xt Shadow

Front Deore mech to a Xt

and my Deore shifters to Xt as welll

Ive already changed the crank etc for a Hollowtech 2 (cos i liked the look of it)

Just wanted people's thoughts on wheather i would notice any difference in performance

etc on doing the above changes even tho ive only done about 120 miles on the above components and they seem ok? Just wanted the all gear system XT

Thanks in advance for any comments.

god1406

I've got LX gears on one bike and X9 on another, i've ridden a friend's bike with an XT Shadow, and there's not a massive difference between the three of them...

unless you've got money to waste, i'd wait until they are actually worn.

The Spiderman

Not a huge difference,but as someone who has upgraded everything but the frame on his bike,I can quite understand where you are coming from!

You would probably notice the better performance of the shifters ,over the rear mech,first.A little slicker,a teeny bit lighter, plus the benefit of dual release if you go for XT.

Performance advantages from rear mechs can be a bit marginal,good adjustment and good cables,often makes more of a difference to shifting performance.

Though most will say wait til it wears out,you can at least get something back,for the old bits,on ebay,if they are in good condition,particularly in your case because of the low mileage,which you can set against the outlay of the new bits.

From my own experience,though,mechs and shifters aren`t such a performance enhancing,upgrade as for example tyres on a value for money basis.

gkf9

The Spiderman wrote:

Not a huge difference,but as someone who has upgraded everything but the frame on his bike,I can quite understand where you are coming from!

You would probably notice the better performance of the shifters ,over the rear mech,first.A little slicker,a teeny bit lighter, plus the benefit of dual release if you go for XT.

Performance advantages from rear mechs can be a bit marginal,good adjustment and good cables,often makes more of a difference to shifting performance.

Though most will say wait til it wears out,you can at least get something back,for the old bits,on ebay,if they are in good condition,particularly in your case because of the low mileage,which you can set against the outlay of the new bits.

From my own experience,though,mechs and shifters aren`t such a performance enhancing,upgrade as for example tyres on a value for money basis.

Thanks for the comments but want do you mean by dual release...i have rapidfire shifters are these the same kind of thing?

impished

Dual Release (which is also available on LX & XTR) lets you change gear with the upper/smaller leaver by pushing or pulling it. Sounds confusing and pointless, but I find myself using the feature during hill-climb-changing, due to the different body/arm/hand position.

Do a quick Google on it and you'll probably get a better explenation/diagram.

Underscore

impished wrote:

Dual Release (which is also available on LX & XTR) ...

And even this year's Deore

_

Anonymous

I don;t understand the point of dual release. i've had it for months now, but have never, ever found an use for the thumb release.

stumpyjon

I love the dual action, I now do all my shifting using the thumb, personal preference I guess. I've just put XT shifters on my hardtail and have LX shifters on my full suss. Went out for the first time on my full suss tonight since finishing the hardtail (been riding that for the last couple of weeks) and I think an imminent upgrade for the full suss is going to be a pair of XT shifters.

I have heard that it doesn't make a great deal of difference with front mechs what they are (within reason) but XT front mechs aren't too expensive and it is nice to have a full XT drive train, just don't expect it to be massively different from what you've already got.

supersonic

The only change from the original list that will make a difference are the shifters - they are a bit slicker, and less lever throw required.

omegas

Don’t waste your money, if we have a summer like last year and you put some miles in all your drive train will need replacing later on in the year. Doing it that way you will appreciate the difference between LX and XT and have a bike like new again.

I would say spend your money on some good quality gear cables as you will feel the difference more that way than upgrading the shifters and mech when they are still like new.

The bike you have is the GT avalanche , I am not sure of the full spec for that model but maybe money would be better spent on upgraded brakes and tyres where you probably would see some difference.

The way I upgrade is start buying bits each month at the end of the summer likes of bottom bracket ,cassette, derailleur, cables, brake pads, chain rings and then in the depths of winter strip the bike, grease all the bearings and replace everything. So maybe an option is start buying your upgraded parts now and fit them when you have run everything in to the ground.

hoathy

supersonic wrote:

The only change from the original list that will make a difference are the shifters - they are a bit slicker, and less lever throw required.

to be fair there will be a weight difference too, especailly in the HT2 chainset.

supersonic

He's already done that though!

gkf9

0k thanks alot people for your valued comments and advice...think i will order just the shifters

and wait till the rear mech wears out and then replace front mech as well!

Even if the shifters are a slight improvement for 40-50 quid and the experence of fitting my first upgrade myself... Thats if everything goes ok and i dont balls it up..will be worth it!

Thanks again everyone you have been most usefull.