xc pro vs. xt

[kool maudit]

thinking 90-92 era stuff here....which was the better group? i am considering an xc pro build, but i am used to shimano.

 

[BikePimp]

Somewhat of a personal preference question....but here's my input...

I like the Suntour XC Pro stuff more than the Shimano XT. Reason being is I feel that the Suntour is just more durable and better made. Forged cranks, WTB Grease Guard hubs and pedals, super light thumshifters.

The main drawback on the Suntour is that it doesn't shift under power as well as Shimano and you really have to get the rear mech adjusted spot on (within a click of the adjustment barrel). The Shimano Hyperglide rear cog had a design advantage over the Suntour Accushift one.

Still have Suntour parts lying around so I'll be doing a bike build with them in the near future.

 

[ededwards]

In case it's of any use I have XC Pro thumbies indexing fine with an XT 8 speed rear mech and cassette, so I think mix and match can work if you want best of both

 

[gump]

Isn't XC Pro only 7 speed?
Thumbies are very wee and light compared to XT, with light action too.
As a gruppo, think it was lighter than the equiv XT

 

[LQQK]

I was in the same boat back in ’93, and I chose XC-Pro over XT. At the time you could get good deals on XC-Pro as they had just released their Micro-Drive group I got the ‘older’ non Micro-Drive which was being dumped by the shops. I got a full groupo for US$329 (In the olden days you also got a seat post, headset and pedals as part of the groupo).

The parts that I thought were way better were the thumbies (better shape and smaller), break levers with the rubber coating on them (better in the wet) and any part with Grease Guard!. I thought their 8 speed version didn’t come out until ’94?

 

[terryhfs]

Suntour's big problem was that the groupsets weren't interchangeable transmission wise - so if you wanted to upgrade you had to do the whole lot at once. whereas plenty of people started off with Exage Mountain or what have you and upgraded parts willy nilly using the Shimano route.

 

[Elev12k]

XT is easy to maintain and there is plenty of stuff

XC Pro has the GreaseGuard feature and the finishing is a bit nicer

For example their thumbies look more high profile, but personally I do prefer the ergonomics of the XT ones

 

[billinjah]

xc pro as its rarer and much nicer on the finish as said previously. ive always been a suntour fan as my first mtb was equipped with X1!

 

[john]

think the later xc-pro microdrive was 8 speed.
I had xc comp microdriuve and that was certainly 8 speed...

 

[JustKev]

Isn't XC Pro only 7 speed?
Thumbies are very wee and light compared to XT, with light action too.
As a gruppo, think it was lighter than the equiv XT

XC Pro was seven speed until they introduced Microdrive which was 8 speed with choice of thumbies or X-press shifters.
It was much lighter than XT and more durable - not something that can be said of all Suntour v Shimano comparisons though.
I've always found the gear adjustment easy - bit more room for error although agree with the comment that shifting under power is not as good with XC Pro - case of select a gear before the hill and work with it!