is it worth upgrading to XT

stanny_uk

i have a 6 series 2012 trek.. now my shifting at time leaves a bit to be desired at times a little inconsistent.. now i have a deore 10 sp set up with xt shadow rearmech.. i've read that main improvements in shifting come from quality shifters??? i road my mates ex5 with sram kit today and it shifted lovely.. now should i buy xt shifters?? or buy xt groupset complete and have nice everything??? which would i benifit from most in terms of quality shifting???? answers on a post card...

supersonic

Try fresh new cables first, and check adjustment and alignment.

XT shifters are crisper and lighter than Deore though.

stanny_uk

its all new really checked cables etc.. its like you say deore shifters seem heavy and clumsy compared to sram i tried today.. my shifters dont seem consistant one min nice then dodgy shift!!

DHA987S

I went with XT shifters (10 speed versions) when I built up my new bike. I had SLX previously on my old bike. The models were 2 years apart so that might account for something but the shifting is so much more precise, exactly the same effort required to change to any gear (even the largest cog) and the double shift option is great too.

ilovedirt

depends which sram shifters etc, my x7 ones are a bit clunky. Used to have x0 though and it was amazing, same i couldn't afford another when i smashed it to bits! lol

stanny_uk

so are we saying the best marked improvement in shifting consistency is in the shifters???? hmmmm now xt or if it really does make that much differance a pair of xtr????? lol this hopping up your bike is nearly as adictive as riding the damm things lol

DHA987S

yes I know all about upgrade-itis!

The XTR are meant to be a bit of a step up from XT but not enough to warrant the big increase in price over the XT.

ilovedirt

I think both make a difference, but the shifters make the biggest difference in terms of ergonomics etc. My X7 shifter takes considerably more force to shift down than my old X0 frinstance. I'd go for X9 all round personally (or XT all round in your case) as X0/XTR is a little extravagant, and as DHA says, not quite that much better to warrant the huge price increase.

Eranu

I'd agree with ilovedirt. I have XT on my hardtail and XTR on my full sus. There is a definite difference but not sure its worth the extra cash.

stanny_uk

cheers for your input boys i'm resonably new to this.. upgradeitus!! lol i like that..

nicklouse

Sounds like poor set up. If you can not sort it I do not believe changing o XT would help as you can not sort out your current set up so you could will find yourself with issues with any newbies.

Learn how to sort the current kit before wasting money on new.

stanny_uk

its six weeks old and and has since been back to leisure lakes for reindexing but still has strange wobblers at times... just read somewhere that xt are much better in terms of consistancy than lower kit which mine are.. consistancy is all i'm looking for..

cooldad

If you are taking it back to the shop to be indexed, learn to do it before you waste your money on shifters. Or you'll just have more expensive bad shifting most of the time.

ilovedirt

True, learning to index your gears is worth doing. It might seem complicated, but once you get your head around how the mech/shifter works, it's pretty easy. Well worth spending half an hour and the cost of a new gear cable (not strictly necessary, but i like to start from scratch when i do it) doing it yourself, rather than a tenner or so at the LBS.

omegas

stanny_uk wrote:

consistancy is all i'm looking for..

XT will not give you this over any other shifters , good clean cables and setting up your indexing will.

stanny_uk

Sod it new xt shifters and cables en route.. Gonna xt everything over time like bling!!

nicklouse

omegas wrote:

stanny_uk wrote:

consistancy is all i'm looking for..

XT will not give you this over any other shifters , good clean cables and setting up your indexing will.

+1 all gears can be consistent all gears can be inconsistent it depends on the users ability to maintain them.

stanny_uk

Time to learn then. I,m a maintenance fitter so sure it wont be too taxing

dudleypipe

stanny_uk wrote:

Time to learn then. I,m a maintenance fitter so sure it wont be too taxing

SO unfair. I'm useless at maintenance, so I guess I'll just have to buy and get someone to fit new XT stuff every so often instead

stanny_uk

had a good sniff around this morining.. fired a load of gt85 into shifter and came out BLACK and did find one quite gritty cable out to rearshifter so cleaned out everything and try again..

nicklouse

Sounds like a replacement of the cables is in order.

mrmonkfinger

its usually the cable right by the mech that ruins the indexing/shifting IME

cooldad

Just the cable - anywhere, everywhere.

d00m

Flying snake cables made my slx shifters light and crispy