Shimano SLX or XT, worth the extra ££?

sonnyjim

Hi all, looking to buy a complete groupset probably from Merlin cycles, is the XT worth the extra £120 above the SLX kit? Was hoping for 2 x 10 which the XT kit comes with rather than the 3 x10 that the SLX kit offers. Money a bit tight just now, the mrs's car has decided to ask for a new clutch among other things just as my build was staring to take shape, so will have to do a bit of stealth saving for the groupset as all other bits can be easily excused if bought bit by bit!
frame is a ragley piglet with Reba (15mm axle) forks so far if this has any bearing on any suggestions.

Also thinking about a superstar wheelset, but mixed reviews on other forums have got me rethinking.

Any thoughts on above?

Thanks
Sonnyjim

.blitz

If you've not experienced XT then SLX is perfectly adequate in the same way that all anybody really needs for UK trails is a 120mm SLX hardtail.

But at the weekend I was looking at an XT cassette in one hand and an SLX in the other. Was the XT cassette worth £20 more? Yes imo it was just...better. Functionally there's very little difference from new but XT shifters/mechs are very nice.

The first bit of XT kit you buy won't be the last.

styxd

See if you can get the groupset from one of the german retailers such as actionsports.de or roasebikes. They'll probably be cheaper than Merlin.

If moneys tight, buy SLX. Its good. The only thing thats really any better with an XT groupset is the shifters.

benpinnick

I would say the cranks & cassette are worth the extra too. Otherwise the mechs are functionally the same, and the chain... well, its a shimano chain so you'll only get 10 minutes from it anyway.

sonnyjim

Cheers for the replies.
Any thoughts on the brake sets that are included with the Merlin groupsets?
SLX vs M785, believe both are good but also worth the extra?
Any other suggestions as to a complete set apart from shimano, have X9 on another bike but not 100% happy with them.
Thanks
Sonnyjim

toasty

I've not tried the 2012 stuff, used to prefer the XT brakes and shifters on the older sets though, the SLX ones were a bit plasticy. Not a huge amount of difference in chainsets, and the XT rear mech looks better, but functionally I've noticed no difference.

felix.london

Or do what I did. SLX for the front, XT for the back (with an XTR rear mech thrown in for good measure )

felix.london

felix.london wrote:

Or do what I did. SLX for the front, XT for the back (with an XTR rear mech thrown in for good measure )

That's only the drivetrain btw not the brakes although maybe XT front brake SLX rear could work :P

leaflite

http://www.actionsports.de/gb/Components/Groupsets/Shimano-XT-785-Groupset-2x10-speed-black::39825.html
http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/shimano-deore-xt-disc-brake-br-m785---servo-wave--/aid:515724

Depending on what rotors and adapters you use this setup could work out quite a bit cheaper

blablablacksheep

out of interest, which groupsets left you change the lower parts of the cassette ie the higher gears as these tend to wear out first and replacing the whole cassette seems a waste, sure i heard some let you change just the higher gears while leaving the lowers in palce, is that XT or SLX?

benpinnick

XT and SLX. In 10spd I think the XT is a 4, a 3 grouped, + 3 loose. SLX I cant remember the grouping, but some are loose. Either way a pointless exercise as the cassettes are cheaper than the parts

jayson

Ive just fitted some new SLX brakes to my HT and short of a bit of fancier finishing i would say the 2 are identical in performance and certainly not worth payin a sizeable premium just for XT.

The reach adjuster screw is abit knackered on the front lever right now and im tryin to see if i can fix it but other than that im well chuffed with them and im not exageratin when i say with 203mm discs they could stop a train, awesome awesome brakes.

XT kit for gears and SLX for brakes would be my choice, great shifting and fantastic stopping power.

benpinnick

Given the 20quid price difference I'd say XT was worth the extra, if just so it says XT!

sonnyjim

Well thanks for the ideas guys, more thinking along the lines of the full SLX kit from Merlin cycles including brake set, use the extra pounds for a decent wheel set I think. Hoping to get the piggy finished in the next 2 months or so as long no more unexpected expenses crop up,so stealthy saving it is. Could dip into joint savings but the wife was a bit miffed when I bought a canyon Nerve last year with no prior consultation!
Cheers
Sonnyjim.

benpinnick

Slx drivetrain from action £200, xt brakes from rose, 130. Job done! Also from action you can pick the shifters, meaning you can have ispec set up if you want.

benpinnick

For the same money as Merlin's slx, you could go full xt using the same trick.

Blanco77

Toasty wrote:

I've not tried the 2012 stuff, used to prefer the XT brakes and shifters on the older sets though, the SLX ones were a bit plasticy. Not a huge amount of difference in chainsets, and the XT rear mech looks better, but functionally I've noticed no difference.

Just on XT and SLX. I stupidly was under the impression that SLX brakes, shifters, group sets etc were much the same. Just took delivery of a 2010 second hand “hardly used” Kona Caldera. The SLX kit is shocking! It looks so cheap.

Before I left Aus I had, and still have a 2005 Cauldera, I’d just upgraded the Hayes hydro brakes on my Aussie bike with XT, front and rear, Jeese they were nice and a perfect upgrade to my golden steed.

Now in uk, this “hardly used” or maybe it should be “used hardly” 2010 Cauldera looks nice appart from these really shabby looking SLX components. We will see how she rides, getting it serviced, new tyres etc. ha, “hardly used!”

cooldad

You revived a 6 year old thread to talk about an 8 year old bike.

Excellent.

steve_sordy

Have a heart cooldad and don't be too hard on Blanco77. He has only made two posts and when I first started it took me a while to start looking for the date of the post that had captured my interest. This forum is like a sweet shop, you do a search and all sorts of stuff emerges. It's easy to miss the date of the post.

t0ffeeman

Indeed, its an old thread, but still a relevant topic

cooldad

Both SLX and XT (and Deore for that matter) have changed significantly over the past 5 or 6 years.

Massively improved.

tom_howard

This forum is like a sweet shop

The stock rotation is terrible though