Converting a 9x3 XTR groupset in to a 1x11 (or10)

homers_double

So, long story short I have a 2007 Santa Cruz Heckler gathering dust in the workshop as I'm pretty much 100% road now however there is the odd time when I take the grand kids riding or I randomly agree to an MTB ride whilst drunk at a party.

I fancy sorting it to run 1x10 or 11 if it fits and depending on whats available.
Once I'm only running the right shifter I can also fit a dropper post.

Obviously I need a new chainring, cassette, chain, shifter and derailleur. The question is, will my old XTR cranks take a new chain ring and would I need some fancy bolts to make it work?

Links to what's needed would be appreciated as, to be honest, I'm quite outdated on MTB stuff these days.

Thanks

Wheelspinner

homers_double said:

So, long story short I have a 2007 Santa Cruz Heckler gathering dust in the workshop as I'm pretty much 100% road now however there is the odd time when I take the grand kids riding or I randomly agree to an MTB ride whilst drunk at a party.

I fancy sorting it to run 1x10 or 11 if it fits and depending on whats available.
Once I'm only running the right shifter I can also fit a dropper post.

Obviously I need a new chainring, cassette, chain, shifter and derailleur. The question is, will my old XTR cranks take a new chain ring and would I need some fancy bolts to make it work?

Links to what's needed would be appreciated as, to be honest, I'm quite outdated on MTB stuff these days.

Thanks

Depends on exactly which XTR model. The 960 series had a rather weird bolt circle diameter (96 i think) that nothing else matched, but 970 reverted to “standard” 104/64.

If you have the 970, you could just whack on a new chainring in place of the middle one, and keep/machine the existing outer ring to be a bash guard? Grind the teeth off it or something. Would Use the same bolts then. Any Race Face or Hope “narrow wide” style ring probably best choice.

If you have the 960 cranks, your options reduce dramatically, because very few aftermarket chainrings were made for them.

Can be hard to get new 10 speed stuff these days in shifters particularly, mechs ok, chains and cassettes no probs. Better off going for 11, and your rear wheel should have no issue there, cassettes still fit 9/10 speed hubs for MTB unlike road.
Shifter:
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-slx-m7000-11-speed-rear-shifter/rp-prod148460

Mech:
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-slx-m7000-11sp-rear-derailleur/rp-prod148563

You could go XT, or even XTR, but no real need, SLX is fine.

homers_double

Thanks for that, I was thinking 11 would be better as more is available. 12 would mean a new wheel and as it's an occasional thing it isn't worth the expense. Again I'm not fussed about XT or XTR for the same reason.

My issue will be getting parts at the moment as some are out of stock.

I'm going to dig everything out of the loft and photo the (what will be second hand) spares off the bike and see what sort of values I can come up with.