jwill911

I'm planning to modify one of my bikes to be more suited to climbing steep hills. The one I'm targeting has Shimano 105 9 speed w/ triple crank 30/39/52, I'm going to replace the rear derailluer with a long cage XTR. Now I'm looking at cassettes and haven't decided yet on 11-32, 11-34, or 12-34. What confuses me is the price dis parody between all the different models of Shimano and SRAM. I can see the XTRs three largest cogs are titanium, and is fairly light but >$200 is more than I plan to spend. Many of the SRAMs are ~$30-$65. Any opinions on the best bang for the buck in this area?

Thanks in advance,
jw