[rshank3499]

i had the opportunity to test ride a cannondale scapel 2000 this weekend and one of the things that impressed me the most was the smoothness of the drivetrain. i didnt like the xt dual controls, but i thought the bike shifted real well. what makes it shift so well. is it the xtr rear derailer, or the shifters?. also, did this bike have rapid rise, and what is it? are the sram derailers and shifters as smooth or smoother? i was thinking about uprgading my prophet 600 from xt rear der, decore rapid fires to a sram rear der, and xo gripshifts. i like grip shift the best. after riding the scapel, maybe i would want to go to shimano rear der, and sram shifters that are 2 to 1 compatabile

 

[glenk]

chain rings and cassette

Given everything in new and clean condition and good index adjustment.

I put my vote in for the quality of the chainrings and cassette. How well the pickup ramps, and pins work and the quality of alignment of all the cogs.

glenk

 

[Brad]

Shimano drivetrains just work very well.
It's the engineering for everything to work together that does it.
Give teh duel controls some time you'll love them.

 

[h1pst3r]

new and good...

Shimano drivetrains just work very well.
It's the engineering for everything to work together that does it.
Give teh duel controls some time you'll love them.

I agree. I just finished building up my Hollowpoint with XTR rear (952 sgs), XT front, XTR chain, XT chainrings, and an LX cassette. The shifters are the latest LX pods.I had the LBS do the cabling for the drivetrain and this is the smoothest shifting bike I've ever ridden.

I had read in this forum that XTR and XT work very well when they work together including chain, cassette, mechs, etc. However, the overall performance of the group together is far beyond my expectations. Whatever gripe anyone has against shimano, the 952 XTR rear mech (non rapid rise) is a beautiful piece of gea; and when matched with an XT up front the shifting is fast, quiet and exact.

You can find some amazing deals on XTR/XT if you look around--not just ebay but the classifieds here and the usual onlike suspects' clearance bins.

good luck,

h1pst3r

 

[Entrenador]

I agree. I just finished building up my Hollowpoint with XTR rear (952 sgs), XT front, XTR chain, XT chainrings, and an LX cassette. The shifters are the latest LX pods.I had the LBS do the cabling for the drivetrain and this is the smoothest shifting bike I've ever ridden.

I had read in this forum that XTR and XT work very well when they work together including chain, cassette, mechs, etc. However, the overall performance of the group together is far beyond my expectations. Whatever gripe anyone has against shimano, the 952 XTR rear mech (non rapid rise) is a beautiful piece of gea; and when matched with an XT up front the shifting is fast, quiet and exact.

You can find some amazing deals on XTR/XT if you look around--not just ebay but the classifieds here and the usual onlike suspects' clearance bins.

good luck,

h1pst3r

Having a well matched set of chainrings and a good chainline works wonders when the cables & derailer travel stops are set right. I've set up bikes with Alivio & STX shifters that shifted better than some of my friends' LX & XT stuff, mostly because they just start turning barrel adjusters when things aren't working right -- without really understanding what they're doing. As for chainline, I'm about to swap out a bottom bracket on my hardtail from a 110 (I think) to a 113mm, because the derailer just doesn't come in enough to drop the chain off of the middle ring efficiently.

 

[beeristasty]

It could be a few things. First thing that comes to mind is clean cables and housing. To keep with the clean idea... the second is how clean and straight the cable routing is. You'd be surprised how effortless shifting can be when straightening out your rear cable run and using a rollamajig... but I'm running off on a tangent here. Another possibility could just be the general new-ness of the drivetrain.

 

[Jaybo]

I agree that Shimano is the smoothest shifting drivetrain...

i had the opportunity to test ride a cannondale scapel 2000 this weekend and one of the things that impressed me the most was the smoothness of the drivetrain. i didnt like the xt dual controls, but i thought the bike shifted real well. what makes it shift so well. is it the xtr rear derailer, or the shifters?. also, did this bike have rapid rise, and what is it? are the sram derailers and shifters as smooth or smoother? i was thinking about uprgading my prophet 600 from xt rear der, decore rapid fires to a sram rear der, and xo gripshifts. i like grip shift the best. after riding the scapel, maybe i would want to go to shimano rear der, and sram shifters that are 2 to 1 compatabile

However, I like the more distinct shifting of SRAM. Howeverk you cannot go wrong with Shimano. Great stuff.

Jayby