I guess I'll see tomorrow if they have any at the LBS.

been using Shimano XTR and SRAM x.9 on my bikes now for two years.
I prefer the XTR over the X.9.

also I prefer the Dual Control shifters over triggers but like Gripshifts so the X.9 is gripshift.

Under riding conditions:

The XTR dual control does not shift if you hit bumps if don't rest your weight on the levers. I can brake and down shift or upshift at teh same time while keeping my thumb wrapped around the bars for max control. Trigger shifter don;t allow this because you thumb is resting on a lever.

I'll keep my SRAM bike gripshift but the Dual control is where the ergonomics is at at this moment.

top kit that can;t be faulted, except by free ridy types who feel the need to continually break things to increase their cool factor

This is full of innaccuracies, X.9 is not gripshift. The impulse shifters are easy to use with one finger. One finger on the shifter and one finger on the brake lever, peice of cake with the X.7/X.9. Save the dual control crap to the road folks. Freeriders breaking things to be cool is a bunch of BS as well. Because of our nature of beating on the equipment parts fail quicker than with pansy with xc where the biggest obstacle is a smallish bump and freak out because it can break the bike, stop, dismount walk bike over the small bump and continue on until the next small bump.

Not sure where this came from. X.9 Shifter and Rear Der can be had for $119. Hardly even $200 much less more than XT Shifters and Der.

KonaRider, go easy on a sissy XC Riders. I don't disagree with you on his inaccuracies and stupid comments but no need to diss us weight weenies that prefer speed to jumps!

I know, I have no expectations of having a xc ride with big jumps and a bunch of drops, I just think it is sad that a Pro XC racer will dismount and walk the bike over a small patch of roots.

I consider myself to be an XC/Aggressive XC, but I have never considered walking anything, and always try something at least once. That is sad that someone wants a bike so light that they worry about breaking it...

Whats the 1:1 ratio deal with the X.x stuff? and how much difference in spring tension/ smoothness does an XT have over a regular Deore piece? Whats up with the rapid rise? someone gots some splainnin todo

Or, someone else has some research to do...

Helpful fellow aren't you.

https://www.sram.com/en/service/sram/...27a0c99bff6710

So theres no real benefit of the 1:1 ratio over the 1:2 ratio, other then being "unique" (read; more proprietary parts to buy during upgrade/downgrade)..?
Thinking logically, it would seem a larger ratio, would be more beneficial, easier to shift (less thumb/fore finger movement, allowing more leverage), would use smaller shifting mechs/pods, and would aid in faster shifting from cog to cog (1mm of shifter movement = 2 or more mm of derailer movement). Am I missing something here?

Just trying to push you to be independant, at expense of myself.

It's the other way around... I rode an X-9 equipped bike today and one stroke of the thumb shifter moves the derailleur through its entire motion. You can basically shift from 9 to 1 in one sweep of the thumb lever. With my Deore components, it's about 3 strokes to move the entire sweep. The only thing I thought was odd was the placement of the lever to go from larger cog to smaller. It's actually a press UPWARDS directly in front of the other lever. It would take some getting used to, but it was incredibly smooth shifting. I was pretty impressed.

Trust me, you WILL love it once you get used to it. You can blast through gears under hard hammering no-problem.

I'm tempted to go for it, though I'm not sure how well I'll adjust to the odd placement of the downshift lever. It was really smooth and such, though... Oddly it had the X-7 shifter with X-9 rear derailleur

The 1:1 thing with Sram started with their GripShift system. They had to change the ratio in order to get the proper spacing. Even though GripShift does make a 2:1 ratio (Shimano compatible) shifter (The Attack), it is not as precise and requires constant tuning. Since SRAM made so many claims about the benefits of 1:1, they stuck with it when they went to triggers.

The thing I really like about SRAM is the direct routing of the shift cable into the derailleur. With a Shimano system you have to have a wide loop in the cable. A shorter cable = crisper shift. and a better feel. Plus, less friction due to lack of a tight bend in the housing.

I'm running an XTR system right now and have no problems with it. However, it is old skool ('00 vintage) and 8-speed. I'm no retro grouch in most things, but I never understood the benefit of a 9-speed system. It's more finicky to set-up, requires more frequent tuning, is more delicate and clogs quicker.

When I was running 9-speed on my bike, I had constant problems with broken chains, ghost shifts, weeds in the cassette.....etc. I went back to 8-speed and eliminated almost all my shifting woes.

My next system will most likely be a Sram set-up.

Just putting off going back to 9-speed as long as possilble. As long as NOS 8-speed stuff is still available, that's what you'll find on my bikes.

X.7 is 8/9 speed compatible.

Kona, how would that work?

The spacing for 8 is different for 9. Am I missing something?

It says on the spec sheets for them that the x.7 is 8/9.

Too bad the 2005 XTR is prohibitively expensive... Even going with the X.0 is infinitely cheaper than the entire 05 XTR system. I didn't see much of a difference between the x-9 and the X.0, so I figured I'd save some cash and get the X-9 set. That's an interesting point about the cable routing on the SRAM stuff. I didn't really notice the lack of the huge loop in the back on the SRAM derailleur.

I'd assume that means it'll work on an 8/9 freehub.

CAN you set up the x.7 to work as an 8-speed?

That would be a very nice feature, but I don't understand how they could engineer that compatibility as the spacing is different on the cassettes.

It can be set up to work as an 8speed.

Did NOT know that!

Schweet dude! (Think Cartman voice)

Almost every derailleur I know of that does 9 can also be setup to work with 8 speed rear casettes. Even though the spacing is different, it's still within the range that the derailleur can handle. I can't imagine it working properly on a 7 speed hub, though.

The derailleur isn't the question. All 8 or 9 speeds will work due to the overall width of the cassette being equal, the derailleur "throw" will be the same.

I've just always thought (or led to believe) that the amount of cable pull at the shifter corresponds to the spacing of the cogs in the cassette. So, if you run an 8-speed cassette, you NEED 8-speed shifters, and conversly 9 spd cassettes you need a 9-speed shifter.

What Kona is saying is that you can use the new X.7 9 spd shifters WITH an 8 speed cassette. True Kona?

I didn't think this was possible, but I learn something new everyday.