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XT rear derailleur vs. SRAM X9

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htjunkie

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
My bike comes with SRAM X9 rear derailleur and I tried riding friend of mine and his comes with XT. The shifting seems so precise and quick, is XT supposed to be better than X9?

Much appreciate your help.
 
#5 ·
htjunkie said:
My bike comes with SRAM X9 rear derailleur and I tried riding friend of mine and his comes with XT. The shifting seems so precise and quick, is XT supposed to be better than X9?

Much appreciate your help.
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I have seen two different riders ride the same two bikes, one with Shimano, one with SRAM, and one rider say the Shimano shifts better, and the other prefer the SRAM.
 
#6 ·
the-one1 said:
Cables and housing makes a huge different on "crispness".
Also, it's not the RD that defines how "crisp" it feels, it's all in the levers.
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This ^

Also cable routing can make a big difference. Frame design as well as where the zip tie/cable stops are located will affect cable routing. A good build will factor this in.

Also as Shiggy says personal preference will always prevail. I think X9 and XT are designed to be at the same performance level.
 
#7 ·
the-one1 said:
Cables and housing makes a huge different on "crispness".
Also, it's not the RD that defines how "crisp" it feels, it's all in the levers.
Click to expand...
Winner winner, chicken dinner.

With modern drivetrains cables and housing makes a world of difference. Unfortunately a lot of manufactures are sending nice bikes out the door with housing that is complete crap and almost needs replacement out of the box.
 
#8 ·
Doesn't the LBS assembling the bike do the cabling? If so it seems easy to imagine one of their less-experienced techs doing something a little less than ideal with the housing routing and length, which will have huge impact even if you have decent quality housing.
 
#9 ·
ColinL said:
Doesn't the LBS assembling the bike do the cabling? If so it seems easy to imagine one of their less-experienced techs doing something a little less than ideal with the housing routing and length, which will have huge impact even if you have decent quality housing.
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Complete bikes are cabled at the factory.

Cable routing and housing length can be "perfect", but if the housing ends are not clean or the ferrules set well the friction can be high.

Different model frames have different cable routing, which can also affect shifting performance.
 
#10 ·
I like Shimano better. I do think that good cabling and well-finished ends on the housing are more important than who made the drivetrain, however. After that, probably the cassette.
 
#12 ·
Gore RideOn cables are great, especially if you ride in muddy or dusty conditions frequently. Their design keeps the cables sealed all the way from the shifter to the derailleur. Other less expensive but still good standard cables will shift just as well as Gore cables, but will degrade over time as they get contaminated with dirt.
 
#13 ·
My experience with Srams low end (bulk housing) was very poor. I quickly developed shifting problems. I thought my inner cables might be corroded so I popped the housing off the cable stop so i could slide it over and discovered that the housing had degraded so much that some of the longitudinal wires actually pulled through the ferrel along with my inner cable. I put Bontrager 5mm diameter shifter housing on to finish out the season. So far, so good.

BTW! I am running Sram X9 and prefer it to Shimano XT.
 
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#14 ·
breckenridge said:
Gore RideOn cables are great, especially if you ride in muddy or dusty conditions frequently. Their design keeps the cables sealed all the way from the shifter to the derailleur. Other less expensive but still good standard cables will shift just as well as Gore cables, but will degrade over time as they get contaminated with dirt.
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:skep:

can't you install any cable housing as full-length from shifter to derailleur?

and in doing so, don't you have to zip-tie it or drill out any existing cable guides that are sized for cables only, in order to fit the housing through?
 
#15 ·
You could do that with regular cables, yes. You'd probably get a lot of drag that way as they're not meant to be carrying cable their entire length, not to mention it would look like crap.

The Gore RideOn cables use a thin inner liner which runs the full length of the bike which the cables move through, and thick housing for it all where standard housing runs to the cable stops on your bike. It all looks like a standard cable job once its installed unless you look closely.

Check it out:
Wrenched & Ridden bike reviews: Gore's RideOn cable system
 
#16 ·
shimano xt all the way, i run xt and shifts way better then sram, shimano has push pull shifters unlike sram, ya even thou sram is tryign to catch up but shimano has been in the business longer....this is just my opinion i alomst went sram till i used the xt shifters and man what a difference...
 
#17 ·
breckenridge said:
You could do that with regular cables, yes. You'd probably get a lot of drag that way as they're not meant to be carrying cable their entire length, not to mention it would look like crap.

The Gore RideOn cables use a thin inner liner which runs the full length of the bike which the cables move through, and thick housing for it all where standard housing runs to the cable stops on your bike. It all looks like a standard cable job once its installed unless you look closely.

Check it out:
Wrenched & Ridden bike reviews: Gore's RideOn cable system
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I read that, albeit quickly, and also this: Review of Gore Ride-On Sealed Low Friction Derailleur Cable Kit - Competitive Cyclist

...and I see coated cables, not full-length housing.

You can run full-length housing without any significant performance concern, especially considering the sections of cable that are exposed often are straight runs. Some bikes actually come with full length housing; all that is different is that their cable guides on the frame are larger to accept housing the whole way through.
 
#18 ·
ColinL said:
I read that, albeit quickly, and also this: Review of Gore Ride-On Sealed Low Friction Derailleur Cable Kit -

...and I see coated cables, not full-length housing.

You can run full-length housing without any significant performance concern, especially considering the sections of cable that are exposed often are straight runs. Some bikes actually come with full length housing; all that is different is that their cable guides on the frame are larger to accept housing the whole way through.
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Gore isn't full length outer, as has been explained before, but a way of replicating the protection of full length outer but with the crispness in shifting that only cable stops can provide.....if there's one thing that the full length outer is notorious for, its the elimination of the fully crisp shift.
 
#19 ·
Yep. Its basically a full length little plastic tube that the cables run through, that continues through the housing, that isnt tensioned like the housing is against the stops. The cables are coated, but they are inside of that plastic tube, which does not move when you shift.

Its kind of hard to describe without a picture, but trust me, they're the cats pajamas.
 
#20 ·
lardo said:
Interesting. I find SRAM stuff more crisp and precise. I think it depends on who tuned your equipment and your personal preferences.
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+1 snappier shifting on X7 and X9 though louder than XT/XTR for sure. I have two X9 rear derailleurs from 2009 and they are both awesome- never had probs. (Had two X7's for about a year on other 29er's I sold and they were also trouble free). The new X7 rear derailleur is very nice as well- installed one on my SO's pimped out carbon hard tail a couple months ago and she loves it.
 
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