SRAM or Shimano ??

gunny_bedford

Ok i guess this topic has been argued many times !! and would not want to fuel any heated long debates !! however some general thoughts would be appreciated !!

My wife is buying a new Boardman Competition hard tail, it has a SRAM X7 rear mech and X5 front mech and shifters.

I have in my spares box a XT shadow rear mech and LX front mech and shifters, taken of my 08 Fuel EX8, this kit is almost brand new, with not much mileage in it before i swapped it out for XTR..

So the dreaded question is.. swap the X7 and X5 kit out for the XT and LX or leave it be and flog the Shimano kit, or basically what is better X7/5 over XT/LX ??

regards

Neil

nicklouse

what years are the kit? As there is a lot of trickle down over the years.

current X5 is like early X7 etc.

personally i would see which the wife gets on with best.
she may prefer the Shimano triggers over the Sram.

For me i would keep with the Sram and wait for it to wear out and then consider a change and keep the shimano as spares for you wen you brake the XTR and then see what the new prices are.

gunny_bedford

To be honest Nick i don't know what year the SRAM kit is, i can only assume that as it is an 09 Boardman model, it is the latest offering, she has not actually picked it up yet for me to have a look. The Shimano kit is 08 taken off my fuel EX last year.

I am leaning towards leaving the SRAM on, but as the shimano kit is just laying around at the minute, thought it would be a possible slight upgrade to stick it on her bike.

supersonic

Its a bit higher up the range than the SRAM stuff, but wheter it is preferable is a different matter.

tompug

keep the sram stuff, my x7 shifters and x9 derailleur haven't needed any adjustment since I set them up over a year ago. The lx xt setup and my bros felt doesn't like mud much, and needs the odd tweak now and then.