smahatma

If every other component is low-end, then yes its pointless. Generally XTR is combined with other high end parts to culminate in a substantial weight saving [can be 5+ lbs]

skyfish

But I seriously doubt that Lance Armstrong could have won 7 TdF, had he been riding a Sora groupo

worker4youth

I beg to differ. Maybe not Sora, but 105s

Hopper

Whoops meant Tiagra...... however, does it really matter? If you want crisp ultimate shifting, throw a Short Cage derailleur on, not a medium MTB cage, but a short cage road, it works brilliantly, handles abuse and none of this crappy rapid rise stuff.

Also I reckon that many people on here would have no need/ hardly tell the difference between one level to another. If I gave you a blind test ride, on a bike equipped with, XTR, XT, X0 or X9, most would not be able to tell the difference. I honestly can feel hardly any difference while riding on a set up Deore vs XT, however it is harder and needs more adjustment to get the Deore there. I can tell the difference between XT and XTR, it is miniscule but it is there. X0 and XTR are very very similar, it is up to personal prefrence which one you use. Believe it or not but Shimano derailleurs are more user friendly you can actually get spare springs for them (if it doesn't blow up on a rock, this is often a needed replacement if shifting quality gets sloppy in the derailleur), SRAM you cannot. Also SRAM stuff costs more also. As it says in my signiture, There are two lines of SRAM, X.Plode and X.Pensive, I whole heartedly agree, I have seen many derailleurs below X.9 just blow up, quite seriously. Then X.9 and X.0 are in their own price range compaered to the equivelant Shimano. X.0 may JUST squeeze out ahead of XTR in shifting quality, but the XTR has a quicker shift.

I believe both companies have a place, both produce great components and bith will do just fine for all of your needs. What I hate is people who bash other components and have no reason too.

shimaNO is teh crap0rz, dey r evil cos they r big. Newsflash SRAM owns way more than Shimano. SRAm owns Rock Shox and Avid..... Yes Shimano are big, yes they have their problems, like rapid rise and sti shifters, but there are ways around, you can believe it or not get older style non rapid rise units Also Shimano are brining in state of the art technology, they do more than just bike components you know, plane parts and fishing reels.....

Another one which annoys me is all this bad mouthing Manipoo......
Why do you hate them! They are an excellent company, have excellent forks and, contrary to what some would have you believe, willing to help customers! If I started bad mouthing Marzocchi I would get heaps of stick for it, lay off.

Do not, I repeat, do not spread crap about companies about an issue you have had, talk to a distributor and get the problem fixed, if it broke, chances are you have abused. If you don't like the way a company does it's business or a type of feature in their componentry, don't buy it.

C Law

No doubt you can. I just stocked up on 'old style' XT replacements. Is there some guarantee I am not aware of that they will be easily available in two years? 4 years?

If there is I apologize to Shimano.



Exactly

qksl2

What difference exactly do you notice?

Ian

nodnerb

You mean between deore and xtr hubs? Deore hubs are far from smooth rolling hubs. You hold an xtr(or even xt, never had lx hubs) in your hand and give it a spin and it rolls smooth as silk for longer than I care to hold a spinning wheel. With a Deore hub, spinning it in your hands, you can feel the bearings rolling and it's kind of jerky. Not smooth at all. Won't free roll nearly as long. I have Deore hubs on my bike now and they are ok but I notice a big difference in rolling distance than with xt rear hub and Ringle front hub I had before.

nos

I can only comment on what I have used. I started with shimano exage, then moved to DX, XT, Sachs New Success, now XTR. The weight difference is not what I considered, instead it was durability. I rode a lot off road, in mud, rain, rivers etc. crashed a lot and sometimes on the drivetrain side. So these parts took a lot of beatings. Slop in the pins where the big issues on why I replaced the deraileur. The sachs was very expensive at the time, but I figured I'll do non-shimano. Well, that POS lasted about one summer, with the bolt easily stripped. I didn't like grip shifts, since it was pretty much impossible to shift if you where riding in the wet.

ghettocruiser

Everything works pretty well at the start. As the miles really start to pile up on your bike, the differences will become more apparent.

You will eventually get what you paid for, although it might take a while to notice.

Binda

Well, I'll agree with one thing.

Acera = junk.

Either the guys at my LBS aren't quite with it, or this system is crap, because I'm having to have it adjusted a lot.

That will be my first big upgrade on my bike next spring. And a new fork.

- b

Cipollini

For rear derailleur, i think that deore lx, deore xt and xtr fall into same group. The shifting between 3 of them are acceptable and nothin much differs in speed. I upgraded to xtr from deore lx rear derail. Honestly, only that xtr is lighter. That's it. Unless the material is bent, malfunction or did not set up correctly, i cant see any big deal about paying so much for xtr. Yeah..im a weight watcher..

willtsmith_nwi

You could tell the difference between X.0 and XTR by all the chain slapping on the XTR system.

xodeuce

Go to your LBS with a digital meat scale... put deore front derailleur on it. write down the weight. put XTR front derailleur on it. write down the weight. compare. Deore is lighter.

(hearsay from LBS mechanic on group ride this week)

bcsmithct

I am actually riding a bike from like 95 with deore DX on it all around the bike is heavy (30+) but the components are rock solid. I have problems with the front deralier but that is due to the bottom pull. I have ridden this bike on and off for the last 10 years ad the shifting is still on the mark. My Dad has a bike with alivio that he got in the late 90's that constantly needs adjustments. I got on it and rode and started to tinker with it and he said don't bother.

I think that bottom line it is all about 2 schools of thought:
1. do it for the Bling (yeah I said bling sorry)
2. buy the best you can afford to and still be able to stop at the lcs (local coffee shop) on the way back from your ride.