SRAM X9 v Shimano SLX

stormtrooper 1

Thinking of upgrading from my Shimano SLX to SRAM X9,my mate says sram are a lot quicker at changing gear. Is it worth the upgrade and what are sram like on reliability? Have seen sram jockey wheels :? are £23.

1mancity2

Unless your slx is worn and needs replacing don't bother, Has your mate got sram x9? if so ride his rig for a bit.

supersonic

Your mate is wrong.

ddraver

Don't do anything until you ve trashed the current stuff for sure....

Speaking to an elite level XC mechanic, he said that shimano have left SRAM behind in 10spd drivetrains, and I say this as a long time SRAM user...

I still think the majority of it is personal preference, but SRAM, it would appear, need to do a bit of work to catch up, especially on X9 too...

supersonic

I agree, after testing x9 was a huge disappointment. X0 though was much better, but very expensive.

moster

As already suggested I would recommend trying your mates Sram stuff for a bit to see how you go.

My old bike was X7 shifters/X9 mech my new bike is Alivio shifters/SLX mech. My original plan was to move the Sram stuff over as theoretically it is further up the range - after a couple of rides I decided not to bother as the Shimano stuff felt better for me.

I wouldn't bother upgrading anything until you've killed what you have and have had a chance to see what you prefer.

stubs

The SRAM X9 rearmech is a pretty shoddy piece of kit for the money. After only 5 months of use the pivots are already getting sloppy and the changes are getting a bit hit and miss when its muddy. Dont think much of the shifters either I am thinking of going the other way and getting SLX like my mates. If your desperate to go SRAM go for the X7 much the same for a lot less money.

stormtrooper 1

Thanks for reply's think I'll stick with the SLX, probably changing for change sake. Slightly put off anyway as replacement jockey wheels are £23.

ddraver

Last time I looked, You could pick up an entire XT drive train from Merlin for GBP350, and SLX one was two hundred and something!

I hope that's still available after I ve destroyed my, already limping, 9spd X9 drivetrain (which has served me well over the years). THe question is should I sell the XT shifters and get XTR..?

njee20

Speaking to an elite level XC mechanic, he said that shimano have left SRAM behind in 10spd drivetrains, and I say this as a long time SRAM user...

What does that even mean!?

It's personal. I'd echo everyone elses comments though and don't change anything until it's all worn out.

I personally prefer the ergonomics of Shimano, but you'll get an equal number who prefer SRAM, and that's about the difference!

supersonic

I think he means lighter, cheaper, shifts better, lasts longer - that sort of stuff ;-)

blablablacksheep

there was a good review a while back in UK MTBR i think, and was very informative.

bassically said X9 was a huge letdown given it didnt last at all long and compared to x7 is not worth the extra cash.

the point was x7 was far better for most people as it lasted longer and much more ready to take a beating while x9 really wasnt that great at being abused and only good for light trails.

stick to SLX no question.

njee20

I think he means lighter, cheaper, shifts better, lasts longer - that sort of stuff

Aah, so all those things that are used by the owners of both groupsets to reinforce their purchases :-)

SRAM definitely loses out on the cost aspect, XX cassettes may be lovely, but I actually avoided riding in the wet, not because I didn't want to get muddy but because I couldn't afford a new cassette haha! It is lighter than XTR as a groupset though.

agg25

My X9 shifters are very quick at shifting, (a lot better than my other bike with XT all round), sometimes too quick meaning I overshift, but it's mated up to a X0 deraileur so it's not all X9.

supersonic

there was a good review a while back in UK MTBR i think, and was very informative.

Was in What Mountain Bike - I wrote it ;-)

I thoroughly tested over 50 drivetrain components in total.

ddraver

njee20 wrote:

Speaking to an elite level XC mechanic, he said that shimano have left SRAM behind in 10spd drivetrains, and I say this as a long time SRAM user...

What does that even mean!?

It's personal. I'd echo everyone elses comments though and don't change anything until it's all worn out.

I personally prefer the ergonomics of Shimano, but you'll get an equal number who prefer SRAM, and that's about the difference!

He was a very fair bloke, little fanboi-ism and with his experience I trusted his judgement. He said that he'd had so much trouble with the guys on X0 and XX at the worlds with things just not working the way they should. As I said, and he reccommended, I'm going ot destroy what I ve currently got, which will take a good while living in Holland, so I ll do some more sleuthing and try and test ride a few bits closer to the time I'm actually buying...

I appreciate what he's saying is very subjective, but it does seem to be backed up by recent mag reviews too...particularly regarding X9 (my sort of pricepoint)

njee20

It was more the 'Elite XC mechanic' part I wasn't too sure about! So it was someone spannering at the worlds?

Enough of the top guys are using SRAM; Kulhavy, Schurter, Absalon etc that it does obviosuly work, (they'd not sell any otherwise!) but fair enough!

Don't get me wrong, I much prefer Shimano, having had XX last year and XTR this year, the XTR is lovely, but I don't really think you can conclusively say one is better than the other. It's subjective, otherwise one would go out of business like I said!

BlueAdvocate

my X9 rear mech dislikes the last cog on the cassette, won't go near it. Common problem i think to do with cspring tension . Crap though as its not that old or worn[/list]

stubs

BlueAdvocate wrote:

my X9 rear mech dislikes the last cog on the cassette, won't go near it. Common problem i think to do with cspring tension . Crap though as its not that old or worn[/list]

I have same problem with my X9 mech I can set it up to shift from big to last but one cog or the other way round but cant get all 10. So effectively I have a 9 speed cassette, tried setting it up on my hardtail as well and I only get 8 speeds instead of 9. You can push it by hand and it will shift across all cogs no problem so think it might be the shifter.

Shoddy piece of kit whichever way you slice it. I will say it again if you really want SRAM go X0 or X7 the X9 is not good value or quality.

ddraver

njee20 wrote:

It was more the 'Elite XC mechanic' part I wasn't too sure about! So it was someone spannering at the worlds?
!

Sorry, a mechanic for Elite XC's yes. He was brought in to work for a national team...