Advice on rear mech purchase for 04 Kona Dawg

ninjamark

Hi guys,

I am a total newbie at the mtb game but have recently bought an 04 Kona Dawg and have been having great fun so far. I am wanting to upgrade both the derailleurs but the rear one first of all.
I've been looking at the Shimano m970/971 xtr rear mech but I dont understand what the difference is and which one would fit my bike. I'm running all the original components at the moment other than the shifters which are new 08 XT.

Thanks for your help!

supersonic

What do you have at the minute? It's an expensive upgrade that will probably feel no different to what you have!

But if you do go for it, you have options of rapidrise (reverses the spring, so the triggers of your shifters do the opposite), and cage length (short for single chainrings, medium for double, long for triple). Shadow is the new low profile mech which resists being clobbered as much by passing trail.

1340jas

I've always had XT and never had any problems. I'm still running an original one on a 1997 or 1998 Kona Munimula. Treat it with a bit of care and they last. I'm not sure the extra money for the XTR is worth it.
try a few on line shops like wiggle and Merlin as they all seem to have sales at the moment.

ninjamark

At the mo I am still running an 04 lx on the back, do you stil think it'd be worth the upgrade to the xt?

supersonic

It will be lighter, and a bit stiffer. Much better value than XT.

I'm definitely an exponent of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' ;-)

ninjamark

Thanks for the advice mate

supersonic

Than XTR I should have said lol, but yeah, I'll keep the LX until it dies.

If it dies!

Have you thought about new cables? They can make a massive difference to shifting when new and clean.