shimano xt and slx

raff1612
raff1612 Posts: 2
edited April 2010 in MTB general
hi there i was wondering if slx shifters and xt shadow rear derailer are compatable with each other and if all shimano items would work together say if you wanted to mix things up.

Comments

  • dot1
    dot1 Posts: 538
    Yep, all things Shimano work with all things Shimano. It's only when you mix Shimano with Sram that things start getting complicated.
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  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    Yes. And no ;-)

    The shifters must match the cassette for number of gears. The rear derailer isn't sensitive to this, you can use any, but it must match the capacity of your gears ie the cage length.

    There are many more minor complications: just look at the spec on the shimano website for each part.
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  • Trent Steel
    Trent Steel Posts: 31
    I'm not sure whether its best to have better shifters than mechs or vice versa, which of the 2 would be the most responsible for shifting "quality".
  • Northwind
    Northwind Posts: 14,675
    Trent Steel wrote:
    I'm not sure whether its best to have better shifters than mechs or vice versa, which of the 2 would be the most responsible for shifting "quality".

    Both matter but the mechs are dumb, the shifters are in control. Also the rear mech is delicate and exposed so if you have to cut a corner it's better to do it there, so you cry less if you mash it :wink:
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  • nickfrog
    nickfrog Posts: 610
    It's getting more and more difficult to justify XT over SLX really. You can buy an entire SLX transmission for £200 or so if you shop around (chainset, BB, shifters, mechs, chain and cassette). It does look very good, subjectively better than XT. I was looking at it, and that would only attract a 100g "penalty" compared to my old 8-sp XTR M950 tranny.
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  • richg1979
    richg1979 Posts: 1,087
    xt shifters really are a big jump up from slx, i have slx shifters on my ht and xt shifters on my fs and the xt really are a lot sharper more solid and smoother cant tell the diffrence between cheap deore and slx, seem identicle in feel and quality.

    xt shifters and slx mech will be a lot better than slx shifters and xt mech, i would just try and push to xt mech and shifters if you can.
  • D-Cyph3r
    D-Cyph3r Posts: 847
    I'm pretty sure I read that the internals of SLX shifters are identical to XT's....
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  • richg1979
    richg1979 Posts: 1,087
    the internals probably are but the levers and bearings are not, you get ally levers and ballbearings in the xt wich make them feel a lot more solid and smooth rather than the flexy plastic levers and plastic bushes in the slx.

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