[evasive]

My main bike was somewhat ahead of the trends when I bought it in 2017 and I'm more than happy to keep it for a long while. I worry about wear parts though. Maybe I should pick up a new cassette and chain while I can. Stock up on brake pads? I wonder how the tire supply will hold up?

We have spare chains, tires, brake pads and bottom brackets laid in for this season.

 

[Curveball]

We have spare chains, tires, brake pads and bottom brackets laid in for this season.

Yeah, I really need to make a trip to the shop to stock up. I hate to admit it, but I still have the original cassette on my bike.

 

[evasive]

Yeah, I really need to make a trip to the shop to stock up. I hate to admit it, but I still have the original cassette on my bike.

I’m replacing my drivetrain with 12-speed XT in a few weeks (as parts trickle in). The lady has 12-speed XTR that was new last April. If we need cassettes this year I’ll flip out. The shift to pie-plate 1x drivetrains seems to have made us all toss chains much faster to preserve our expensive cassettes.

I have moderate fear about derailleur damage in a crash, particularly her XTR. A friend of mine says they’re basically made of hard cheese.

 

[Curveball]

I’m replacing my drivetrain with 12-speed XT in a few weeks (as parts trickle in). The lady has 12-speed XTR that was new last April. If we need cassettes this year I’ll flip out. The shift to pie-plate 1x drivetrains seems to have made us all toss chains much faster to preserve our expensive cassettes.

I have moderate fear about derailleur damage in a crash, particularly her XTR. A friend of mine says they’re basically made of hard cheese.

XTR has always been above my budget. I have XT 11-speed which has been very reliable. The XT 12-speed seems very nice and I might go that way eventually. I might sprinkle in some SLX bits where there isn't too much of a weight difference.

 

[SkyAboveDirtBelow]

XTR has always been above my budget. I have XT 11-speed which has been very reliable. The XT 12-speed seems very nice and I might go that way eventually. I might sprinkle in some SLX bits where there isn't too much of a weight difference.

I think Shimano's pricing for its lines is weird. It's like small increases between Deore, SLX, and XT--so small that there is very little reason not to pay the extra bucks for XT--then a giant leap up to XTR. It don't get the reasoning behind the price levels.

 

[Ksanman]

I think Shimano's pricing for its lines is weird. It's like small increases between Deore, SLX, and XT--so small that there is very little reason not to pay the extra bucks for XT--then a giant leap up to XTR. It don't get the reasoning behind the price levels.

The weight difference between SLX and XT is like 200 grams, but the difference between XT and XTR is 500g. Light weight.

I’m replacing my drivetrain with 12-speed XT in a few weeks (as parts trickle in). The lady has 12-speed XTR that was new last April. If we need cassettes this year I’ll flip out. The shift to pie-plate 1x drivetrains seems to have made us all toss chains much faster to preserve our expensive cassettes.

I have moderate fear about derailleur damage in a crash, particularly her XTR. A friend of mine says they’re basically made of hard cheese.

I had an old XT M8000 derailleur that I tore off about every 6 months like clockwork. I had the new XTR 9100 RD all last year no problems. It was beat up, lots of scuffs from rocks and stuff but it was still straight and worked great. I actually kind of miss it because the SLX on my new bike has the weird Shimano backpedal downshift problem. Maybe when my SLX stuff wears out the bike boom will be over and XTR will be cheap from oversupply.