Which XTR rear derailleur?

[jebon]

Hi!
I'm looking to treat my "nice bike" (a '94 Kona Kilauea) with a rear derailleur upgrade.
Currently it has an LX RD-M567.
I never had a bike with anything XTR so I thought now is the time.

I'm looking at an RD-M952 or an RD-M950, which looks to be a medium cage.
I'm running an 11-28 cassette and 1x (36T) front, so I think medium cage won't be a problem.

Anyway, my questions:
Are the XTR's mainly made for performance and not so much durability?
Should I go for 952 or 950 medium cage or is it tomato tomato?
Any other considerations with vintage XTR?

Thanks for your help,
Jess

 

[Tricky1977]

On the durability...
I believe XTR was always just the “best of the best”. Built for racing but really that was to justify the price, I’ve never thought of them as being fragile at all. I’ve used an original M900 mech and it looked as good as when it was made. Certainly true for rear mechs, at least. I’ve also bought a used M9000 Mech for a build.

Others may have different views of course

 

[captaincowelly]

Re:

Can only speak from my own experience but have found M95# series rear mechs to be pretty bullet proof.Over 20 years service on one bike,many thousands of miles and a fair bit of mud n the odd impact..Still no noticeable play or issues.Always cleaned n lubed of course.
Not sure if there's any production differences between M950 and M952,for all I can see there's just a slight change of form and slightly darker grey.
Generally I would say that XTR components perform as well as XT,the extra cost is usually just for the weight saving.And maybe the cool finish.

 

[ishaw]

Re:

M95x is in my view, the best xtr series. M950 was 8 speed and had a different hanger bolt which was similar to the m900 and other mechs of that era. M952 was 9 speed and I think slightly nicer, slightly lighter. Bomb proof too.

 

[al-onestare]

Watch out for the reverse (rapid-rise) spring/tension after M950.

 

[Gerard]

Watch out for the reverse (rapid-rise) spring/tension after M950.

My favorite......I'm one of the few who seem like rapid rise. They did them on 951 and 952 (without the give away rollajig copy....SRAM's patents got in the way).
The 950's though 8 speed will work on 9 speed.

As said pretty much bullet proof!

 

[Cloverleaf]

Watch out for the reverse (rapid-rise) spring/tension after M950.

Wasn't that given RD-M953?

The M950 from memory came in a not-quite-long-cage only but I'm possibly wrong. Either way, both the M950 and M952 were utterly bombproof when I was using them on downhill bikes. That said, I much preferred the ceramic bushed jockey wheels of the M737/739 XT mechs. The bearings on the XTR ones were pretty rubbish.

 

[jebon]

Re:

Thanks for all the replies.
I went for an M952 regular pull with medium cage.
I believe the shorter cage will benefit my 1x and small cassette.
Will post pictures when I get it on