Submitted by
What&son
a Weekend Warrior
from spain Date Reviewed: May 4, 2009
Favorite Trail:
collserola
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$100.00
Purchased At:
LBS
Strengths:
Light action, good looks, aluminium push lever, optical display removable, two way release feature, multi position clamp, lightweight(once gear display removed, then is only 15g over xtr)
Weaknesses:
Lower lever too close to upper lever...not good at all.
Sharp edges on inner side of handlebar clamps.
Steel hardtail, WCS narrow handlebar, xtr 960´s rapid rise rear and xtr 960 front derailleur.Gore sealed cables.
Bottom Line:
I´ve only used them once, but I´ve seen enough. As already posted here the push lever is too close to the release one. On the right shifter that might be unnoticed unless you push beyond the third click, but on the left lever it has to get pushed passed the upper lever (as expected)and they are so stupidly close together that you can´t avoid pushing the upper lever accidentally. I´ll have to figure out a way to solve this, maybe give them another try, readjust position(it looks like if I push from the outermost edge of the lever I can clear the upper lever), or just spend a few more hours to re-adjust my finger position...or get them back to the LBS where I bought them before I wear them too much.
Besides that, shifting is very crisp and light (partly due to gore cables, I´m sure) but still notice a great improvement on shifting performance over the Deores I was running before with the same cable set.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
aliikane
a Weekend Warrior
from stalking area Date Reviewed: April 11, 2009
Favorite Trail:
home trail
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$120.00
Purchased At:
universal cycles
Strengths:
they are lower profile so you can get your brake levers and shifters at a similar angle.
Weaknesses:
the redesign is bad. shifters feel like the bottom line deore shifters. choppy and rough. the downshift is extremely bad. the change with the dual downshift messed with the internals and made them bad. the upshift is fine. i don't know what happened to them but they change them a lot. the last rapid fire shifters i had were great. these are bad enough to where i want to swap them out for the older models.
Similar Products Used:
xt rapid fire, sram x-9, sram x-7.
Bike Setup:
intense 6.6, fox van 36.
Bottom Line:
don't buy them. they are not the smooth xt rapid fire shifters as before. the change with the dual downshift made the internals rough and choppy for the downshift lever.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Inyokerntom
a Cross Country Rider
from Newport Beach, CA, USA Date Reviewed: December 14, 2008
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Purchased At:
LBS
Strengths:
This shifter came with the bike. It has a nice light shifting touch & I like shifting down with either my thumb or index finger.
Weaknesses:
I agree with one of the other raters. The levers are too close together. When I try for 3 or 4 lower gears at a time, I frequently hit the downshift lever. This limits the shift to two. It is a nuisance, but for the most part, I still like the shifter.
Similar Products Used:
Lots of different rapidfire and grip shift shifters
Bike Setup:
2008 Stock carbon rush 2
Bottom Line:
A bit of a Shimano design error, but overall I can cope with the problem.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
evlgreg
a Racer
from Denver, Co Date Reviewed: July 7, 2008
Favorite Trail:
not telling
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Purchased At:
included with new bi
Strengths:
umm, I suppose it will be reliable. It was easy to set up.
Weaknesses:
Poor Poor idea to have the downshift lever so close to the upshift lever.
Similar Products Used:
from thumbshifters in the 80's to grip shift, I've tried it all
Bottom Line:
When I really need to downshift at the bottom of a hill, I attempt to shift 2 or 3 gears and my gloved thumb hits the upshift lever partway through the downshift motion. The bike will then downshift 2.5 gears and upshift 1 gear giving me a net downshift of 1 gear, then I have to try to shift down one gear at a time as quickly as I can. If you try it sometime under pressure, you will find it near impossible to shift three cogs with one push without hitting the upshift lever. I'm selling mine (look for them on ebay) and getting the old M750's that only shift one direction per lever.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Alan
a Cross Country Rider
from Toronto, Canada Date Reviewed: April 5, 2008
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$100.00
Strengths:
2-Way Release, Instant Release, Solid feel
Weaknesses:
- Missing Multi Release Feature - down shift two gears at once - I don't like the look when you look at it from the front, it says 'Shimano' (no XT) which makes it look like the Deore. Would have been better if it had no optical gear display in the first place.
Ventana El Fuego, Fox F80 RLT, DT XR 1540, Shimano XT M770 FD/RD/CS/SL, RaceFace Turbine crankset w/ Blackspire Superpro rings, Time ATAC Carbon
Bottom Line:
I am very impress with the instant release which makes it shifts faster compare to my old SL-M750 Shimano XT. The two new feature 2-Way Release and Instant Release are great. However, because of its instant release, down shifting maybe stiff and takes a while to get used to.
However, it is missing the Multi Release feature from the SL-M970.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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