Mountain Biking - Deore Vs LX Vs XT Rear Der

hay yall,

Looks like im in the market for a new deraileur after puting my big hoof down on the old one and bending it. :(

My Bikes a Kona Cindercone with LX rear, and everything else deore. is it worth the upgrade on the front to LX or XT? the XT design seems vastly different. how better it is who only knows.

I do tend to ride off my front chain ring alot, so i dunno which way to go?

any thoughts?

G

LX you need new everything for xt.

Why would you need everything just for an XT derailer upgrade from Deore or LX? Both are supposedly "Mega 9" compatible? Shifters should work the same.

Nothing wrong with deore, unless you want to spend double the money to save 50g with XT. After 2 hard seasons, some winter commuting, lots of racing & crashes my deore is still working like a charm.

Nothing wrong with deore, unless you want to spend double the money to save 50g with XT. After 2 hard seasons, some winter commuting, lots of racing & crashes my deore is still working like a charm.

I have Deore on both my bikes. Do you ever have a problem shifting into a higher gear (smaller cog) on about the 4th or 5th middle cog (I mean shifting down down to a smaller cog from 4 or 5)

LX generally seems to be the best compromise of weight, durability and price.

I usually stick with the rule of not downgrading parts: replace with an equal or better part.

LX is fine. Heck, my front is Deore, works great! and only like $13.00. Shifts almost as well as my other bike with XTR.

L8R

I have Deore on both my bikes. Do you ever have a problem shifting into a higher gear (smaller cog) on about the 4th or 5th middle cog (I mean shifting down down to a smaller cog from 4 or 5)

Nope, sounds like some sort of tuning issue to me. Perhaps you don't have enough tension on the return spring?

Nope, sounds like some sort of tuning issue to me. Perhaps you don't have enough tension on the return spring?

Not sure, I'm going to have to play around with it and see. It seems to shift fine everywhere else though.

cheers thanks :D

13 bucks? maybee on your side of the world! seems like our ones are gold plated at 60 odd bucks......

Here's an XT for under $20. LX and Deore level are even cheaper. http://www.supergo.com/profile.cfm?LPROD_ID=24095&lsubcat_id=1807&lcat_id=7604&referpage=

L8R

I have Deore on both my bikes. Do you ever have a problem shifting into a higher gear (smaller cog) on about the 4th or 5th middle cog (I mean shifting down down to a smaller cog from 4 or 5)

Check your derailleur hanger and make sure its straight.

thanks a2ps. unfortunatley after ocnverting it into australian currency then getting it shipped here i mite as well have bought one here :(

thanks a2ps. unfortunatley after ocnverting it into australian currency then getting it shipped here i mite as well have bought one here :(


True, but you guys have mail-order companies down there too don't you?

L8R

:cry: even from a mail order co its still 50 odd bucks. u guys should be stoked how cheap bikes and parts are there. we seem to pay through the nose for it and it sucks.

MY next bike, a NRS1 Giant will set me back over 3 grand..... :cry:

hay yall,

Looks like im in the market for a new deraileur after puting my big hoof down on the old one and bending it. :(

My Bikes a Kona Cindercone with LX rear, and everything else deore. is it worth the upgrade on the front to LX or XT? the XT design seems vastly different. how better it is who only knows.

I do tend to ride off my front chain ring alot, so i dunno which way to go?

any thoughts?

G

I wouldn't bother with upgrading your front derailleur. I have XT, Deore, LX, Alivio and even Altus front derailleurs on all the bikes currently hanging in my garage. They all work fine and the performance difference is pretty much minimal if any. XT's are great front derailleurs, but the LX and Deore are flawless as well if you have them dialed in correctly and keep things lubed properly.

My advice is to only spend the money on a new rear derailleur. Again, be it LX, Deore or XT you will be satisified. See what you can find on sale or the best price and go that route.

BB

I agree with others that there's probably very little difference between Deore, LX and XT in terms of performance. If you want to jump up in shifting smoothness and performance, you probably need to go with the Shimano XTR FD-M952 with the differential plates. I do think that the XT and LX wil surpass (in order) the Deore FD though and my vote would go to the LX for (as others have also said) the best combination of price and durability. In general, LX has always been the Shimano sweetspot as far as bang-for-buck goes. One other thing to note is that the FD is probably the component you have to worry least about in terms of durability as it doesn't see much wear even during aggressive usage when compared to other parts of the drivetrain. My last MTB was ten years old and had almost every part upgraded on it except the original DeoreDX front derailleur from 1990 and the shifting never suffered.

I have Deore on both my bikes. Do you ever have a problem shifting into a higher gear (smaller cog) on about the 4th or 5th middle cog (I mean shifting down down to a smaller cog from 4 or 5)sorry for reviving this 2 month old thread, but i thought that this might help if wonder squirrel was still having his shifting problems...


my sister in-law had bought me a copy of "zinn & the art of mountain bike maintenance" recently and i thought i'd do some work on my bike last night (an unsuccessful attempt at removing my cranks in order to install my new ones (i realised this morning that my cranks don't have the self extracting crankbolts - which i thought they had - and i'm going to need a puller :o )... anyhow, i thought since i was already working on my bike, that i'd clean my chain and see if i could fix the shifting problem i was having.

i was having similar problems to the ones described in the quote, only difference was my problem was shifting to a larger cog around the same place 4th or 5th. reading zinn's, i found that turning the barrel adjuster on the derailleur a couple clicks counterclockwise fixed the problem... for you it'd probably be clockwise instead. try that and see if it fixes it.

sorry for reviving this 2 month old thread, but i thought that this might help if wonder squirrel was still having his shifting problems...


my sister in-law had bought me a copy of "zinn & the art of mountain bike maintenance" recently and i thought i'd do some work on my bike last night (an unsuccessful attempt at removing my cranks in order to install my new ones (i realised this morning that my cranks don't have the self extracting crankbolts - which i thought they had - and i'm going to need a puller :o )... anyhow, i thought since i was already working on my bike, that i'd clean my chain and see if i could fix the shifting problem i was having.

i was having similar problems to the ones described in the quote, only difference was my problem was shifting to a larger cog around the same place 4th or 5th. reading zinn's, i found that turning the barrel adjuster on the derailleur a couple clicks counterclockwise fixed the problem... for you it'd probably be clockwise instead. try that and see if it fixes it.


I ended up replacing the cable, and readjusting both front and rear derailers at the same time, and then took the bike for a test ride after that, on the test ride things worked alright for abit, and then kablooooie, chain broke, and the ride turned into a walk. I think the chain was partially the problem, but I haven't got around to buying a new one yet. Thanks for the help though, I'll keep ya informed.

Any Deore product is a good product.... Period.

Now, the difference in $$$ means the difference in weight, however small that may be. After a couple of mudholes the XTR will weigh the same as an LX.....

Don't get caught up in the "fashion" game..... Go Ride!

It's usually no more than a weight difference between the Deore types.
Plus the price differences.

Any of you guys ever went from a Deore to an XTR front/rear derailers on the same bike with no other changes? By the way, my front Deore works great, couldn't really ask for anything better.

yeah..i originally using full set of deore grouppos. after every month, i changed here and there. first, i changed to front derail. to deore lx. then, deore cassette to deore xt cassette. in next month, i plan to shift to xtr 2003 rear derail. Although it's compatible with mega-9 shifters, some people recommend me to get xtr shifters as well. I think it should be no problem if we have xtr 2030 with xt cassette there. although i cant guarantee full xtr performance as im not using all xtr 2003 pieces, i certainly sure that gear shifting will be much more precise and accurate. btw, xtr 2003 rear derail is quite cheap here. around USD $80.

Brian.

i plan to shift to xtr 2003 rear derail. Although it's compatible with mega-9 shifters, some people recommend me to get xtr shifters as well. I think it should be no problem if we have xtr 2030 with xt cassette there. although i cant guarantee full xtr performance as im not using all xtr 2003 pieces, i certainly sure that gear shifting will be much more precise and accurate. btw, xtr 2003 rear derail is quite cheap here. around USD $80.

Just be aware that the 2003 XTR rear derailleur is rapid-rise.

I wouldn't bother with upgrading your front derailleur. I have XT, Deore, LX, Alivio and even Altus front derailleurs on all the bikes currently hanging in my garage. They all work fine and the performance difference is pretty much minimal if any. XT's are great front derailleurs, but the LX and Deore are flawless as well if you have them dialed in correctly and keep things lubed properly.

My advice is to only spend the money on a new rear derailleur. Again, be it LX, Deore or XT you will be satisified. See what you can find on sale or the best price and go that route.

BB

My experience with Alivio, Deore, and XT generally agrees with Bruce. I must say that I find the XT rear shifts significantly smoother than the Alivio even at optimal adjustment. The difference between the Deore and the XT is more subtle but still there. The XT is also better built than the Deore (i.e. should last longer). I find the Deore front derailleur to be significantly crisper than the Alivio (or lower). I'm not sure I feel any difference in shift quality between the Deore and XT in front (although again the XT front is a nicer piece of machinery and should last longer).
Just my 2 cts.