Mountain Biking - Deore and Deore LX. Worth the price difference?

Colleagues,

I guess the subject line says it all. Is it worth the extra bucks? Is the performance THAT better?

That said, weight is not a concern since I don't race.

Thanks for the inputs,

Ricardo

About 2 weeks ago I mangled another LX and down graded to Deore. I have had no problems. A well adjusted Deore will shift better than an out of wack XTR. I don't race either and I just did'nt want to spend the money on anothe LX to tear it up again.

Deore is plenty for many people. I run an LX in front and XT in rear and think it's worth the extra. If you have to cut a corner, I'd suggest going one level down in front and putting a few extra $$$ in the rear. You can always upgrade if you want to.

simply put, deore is meant for all around MTBing and has longevity. LX is entry level xc racing and will break down more quickly. You might want to check out Dual Control shift/brake levers as LX is your cheapest option for this and the only DC for non-hydrolic braking.

i beleive the price difference is worth it only between deore and deore LX, and not LX to XT or XT to XTR. I've used both, but stuck with deore lx for my shifters and deraillers. However I think it's only worth it in the rear deraillre, a deore front is fine and so are the deore shifters, but my all my friends deores rear deraillers skip and my LX and my other LX friends skip rarely. But yet again, I tune mine more. If you plan on reselling, LX will make your bike worth so much more because people relate deore to the lower ranges of 400-600 appose to LX's 600+

simply put, deore is meant for all around MTBing and has longevity. LX is entry level xc racing and will break down more quickly.
Actually LX is just as durable as Deore if not more so. Durability isn't an issue until you get to XTR whcih sacrifices some durabilty in exchange for reduced weight.
Bang for the buck wise I'd get the LX

my local LBS mechanic said the LX hubs were more reliable than the Deore hubs and would always use LX in preference if that helps?

Actually LX is just as durable as Deore if not more so. Durability isn't an issue until you get to XTR whcih sacrifices some durabilty in exchange for reduced weight.
Bang for the buck wise I'd get the LX

I would have to agree with Raiyn on this one. I have full LX on my NRS and can easily tell the difference between LX and Deore. My brother-in-law could tell the difference as well. He bought a new Cannondale (still don't know why he did that) with all Deore at the same time I bought my NRS with LX. We both agreed right away the LX was much nicer and worth the price difference. It is a much crisper, cleaner shift compared to the Deore and shifts with less effort than the Deore and I don't think it is that much of a price difference. Hope this helps.

My experience with Deore has not been a pleasant one.

Have had broken front mechs and their disk brakes aren't that good when compared with their bigger brothers.

For me LX is enough for most but if you have the extra $$$ I would recommend to invest in XTR mechs and XT or LX everything else. The XT line is the one that will give you the most bang for your buck IMO.

I've never used deore components except for recently my rear wheel was written off and I needed a cheap temporary relacement so got one built on a deore hub. It works. What more can I say? One area where I really feel there is a big difference in shimano ranges is if you are running v-brakes. The actual brakes may well be all similar, I can't see much difference (except weight) between them, but there is a real difference in brake levers. LX levers feel nasty and spongy (and I would presume deore do as well) where as XT v-brake levers are so much nicer.

At the end of the day it comes down to what you can affoard at the time, and whether or not you really think an upgrade is justified. I've run LX V's for 2 years now and I still hate the levers, but I've never replaced them because they still work, and my current build project will be full XTR.

I've got to stop rambling on so much. Basically go for the best components you can afford.

For me LX is enough for most but if you have the extra $$$ I would recommend to invest in XTR mechs Hell no. There's a reason XT is the highest I go - durability and cost. XT is more durable than XTR and cost less as well. XTR is great if someone else is buying but the difference between XT and XTR doesn't justify the price.
The XT line is the one that will give you the most bang for your buck IMO.
No. LX is a good deal cheaper and almost as good. I have a LX bike and an XT bike and while the XT is a bit smoother and a bit lighter (like I care) if it wasn't for the fact that I was able to get the XT stuff at the employee rate I'd be running LX on both of them. Having said that I'm probably going to use all SRAM for my next build

Having said that I'm probably going to use all SRAM for my next build
Wow I didn't even mention the whole SRAM thing, when I posted. Be careful with SRAM, there's x-7/7.0 and x-9/9.0 that are smooth and reasonable... and then there's x-0/9.0sl which is over-priced and little to no performance difference, just material exclusivity. I speak from experience with 9.0sl.

Wow I didn't even mention the whole SRAM thing, when I posted. Be careful with SRAM, there's x-7/7.0 and x-9/9.0 that are smooth and reasonable... and then there's x-0/9.0sl which is over-priced and little to no performance difference, just material exclusivity. I speak from experience with 9.0sl.
I approach SRAM they same way I do Shimano. X-9 is as high as I will go

SRAM > Shimano.




:D