Best groupset for XC

FSR_XC

When I'm buying kit I look at it this way:

Money - Sense - Ability

Can I afford it? So what is the best I can afford?

Do I need it? Heart can overule head here, but does it make sense to have X over Y?

Is my ability of a level where I will (1) notice the difference and (2) benefit from the difference?

I normally fail at the ability stage and get the lower spec! Hence why I use a mixture of Deore, LX & XT (with SRAM 970 chain).

I can't say I'd ever buy a high spec that XT as I want something I can abuse and if it needs replacing I don't need to take a loan out for it.

jayson

Personally i think XT kit is more than good enough for most riders, its light and tough and reasonably priced compred to XTR with very little performance difference at all.

If ur a sponsored pro rider then by all means get XTR teeth and nipple rings if its free but its not strictly necessary at all when XT is pretty much XTR for half the price.

All that said i would love to have a bike with SRAM kit for a change, ive never used it but it does look very nice and the performance is as good as shimano kit by all accounts, if i can ever get some funds together to replace my nicked lobster then i would seriously consider SRAM just to buck the trend and fashion of shimano if nothin else.

allthegearnoidea

from what i remember from a post on here i think, the current XT range is lighter than the old HT1 set up! which still fetches a premium on good old ebay!!

Ridg

not wanting to get into the whole shimano / sram debate i'll start by saying, my bike (GT 2004 Avalanche 0.5) originally came with shimano shifters, so I've stuck with them.

when it comes to shimano, i'd say a mix of XT and XTR is the way forward, the reason i say this is becuase some of the price differences between XT and XTR is stupid for what's only a couple of g's saving in weight and what's generally a less robust product eg, the XTR rear mech is what double the price of the XT shadow, and being CF its not going to take that much punishment.

however the difference between the XT and XTR shifters IMO is worth the extra, the same with the pedals (which are only an extra couple of £'s more)

Surf-Matt

I have both XT and X-9 on two Stumpys - I like them both but think x-9 needs less fine tuning and maintenance.

gcwebbyuk

I didnt get on with the SRAM shifting when I first got the bike, but am getting used to it now, not changing up instead of down etc - became a big pain when attempting a steep climb!!!

I am not sure if its just better than my old LX stuff, but the shift seems to be really quick and precise, thats with X-7 shifters and X-9 mech.

JackBenson59

omegas wrote:

For durability Deore or LX

True my bike has always has either deore or lx and they can take a helluva bashing.