Shimano XT parts , When did they become so ugly.

[xerxes]

Re:

I don't wholly dislike the "Transformer" looks of the modern stuff, but one downside is that the designs have a lot of nooks and crannies that get dust and dirt in them, so they look bit scruffy even a short while after you've cleaned them.

 

[The History Man]

So what's the M730 looking XTR one? I've got one and it looks identical.

I've got SRAM 2x10 on the cooker and it feels nasty but works well enough.

 

[dirttorpedo]

Re:

Interesting comments about the precision of the new stuff being mostly due to the shorter jump because of the extra gears. I'm pretty much riding 9 speed on all of my "modern" rigs (except for my racing bike which I upgraded to 10 speed for extra climbing power). I do have to say I find anything over 8 speed really finicky to set up and as noted above the 7 (and I'd argue 8 speed) stuff is pretty much bomb proof unless you get a stick stuck in it or smash it against a rock. I also agree that back in the day I didn't really want more than 7 gears - I wanted lower gears to climb the big bloody hills around here with knobbies on. Heck, that never changed even going to 9 speed because the damned tires kept getting wider and heavier.

 

[under the radar]

things became ugly the moment shifters had little indicators to tell you what gear you were in...the 730 was the pinnacle of prettyness for XT only to be outdone by the m900 XTR...if we don't count Campy stuff.

 

[mattr]

Re: Re:

I'm with OP on this. M900 XTR was the last pretty groupset Shimano produced and using the best alloys too.

Best? You mean the shiniest, the alloys in use now (and composites) are on most cases significantly improved. Just not so shiny.

And those - for a while very fashionable - chrome mech guards often seemed to cause more problems that they solved. I saw a couple of bent dropouts bitd as a result of them being made of somewhat tougher stuff than the frame they were attached to.

Whut? Fashionable?

They were never "fashionable", definitely pointless.

 

[FluffyChicken]

things became ugly the moment shifters had little indicators to tell you what gear you were in...the 730 was the pinnacle of prettyness for XT only to be outdone by the m900 XTR...if we don't count Campy stuff.

Exactly, thumbshifters look crap and are crap.

 

[greencat]

Re: Re:

And those - for a while very fashionable - chrome mech guards often seemed to cause more problems that they solved. I saw a couple of bent dropouts bitd as a result of them being made of somewhat tougher stuff than the frame they were attached to.

Whut? Fashionable?

They were never "fashionable", definitely pointless.

Sure they were. Even crappy ATBs had them - even if they still had side pull brakes and steel rims.

The big french cheese obviously disagrees with you on their utility.

 

[brocklanders023]

Re:

The 2016 stuff has turned up and looks very nice imo. Oh, and clutch mechs are ace as are modern XT shifters.

As has been said, M730/2/5 was the best looking and things went down hill from there although I like the new stuff.

 

[mattr]

Re: Re:

Sure they were. Even crappy ATBs had them - even if they still had side pull brakes and steel rims.

The big french cheese obviously disagrees with you on their utility.

Think you are confusing fashion with "fitted to any old shit to make it look more purposeful"