XT/XTR Is there really any differance ?

[FluffyChicken]

The 'R' was brought in for Race, they why it's on the end.
It was XT taken to the next level in look and technology.
XT was never comparable to DuraAce which had a Race set, so they made one

M900 was lovely compared to what you could get at the time when it came out.

Of course as with all thing XTR gets old and everything is filtered down the groupset so in 1994 it was probably a harder choice to choose between them, though afak M900 was one of the last properly made chainset (cold forged) by shimano

Now in 2009/2010 current XTR is 3/4 years old and due a refresh as XT SLX/LX and now even Deore have many of the current XTR advances making it a harder choice.

So you'll soon get another 'Race' nudge in the XTR spec if the past is anything to go by.

 

[Pickle]

Depends if you are a snob!

Over the years I have always used LX the most, with a drop of XT here and there. I have always fancied XTR but could never justify the price over XT :roll:

My old Zaskar LE had full M900 XTR and if was so sweet to finally have the groupset of my dreams, and I can safely say it was worth the hype.

But, for mud plugging I stick with LX/DX/XT, XTR is too nice to trash.

 

[kaiser]

XTR........ because your worth it


Its hard to justify through performance, even reliability is tenuous. Its because we're bikey gear junkies that we want it. When you reach the ideal power/weight ratio and your VO2 max is sky high, then you can buy it on performance until then buy it because it makes you feel good.

 

[mikee]

like dx meself

my carbon zaskar has SLX on it but still not convinced by it

m900 is a lovely thing it has a stealth that later xtr and xt lacks
newer xtr is very "snappy" bang bang bang its changed gear
the older stuff was quieter smoother ,bit like modern deore i suppose

the thing that never ceases to amase me tho is that any shimano
stuff works beautifully ,i buy a lot of old bikes for maybee one part
some come with tourney and thumbies or rapid fire or some sort of gripshift
even if they need a bit oe a twiddle here or there they can work brilliantly

its that old what is best question
functionaly any well set up shimano system is best

 

[mechagouki]

Nothing shifts like properly set up XTR. Except maybe properly set up Dura Ace.

 

[fingers]

I have recently discovered 8 speed Record is rather good...

Still, I love m960, it just looks amazing (except the cranks. They scuff and look shite. So raceface there then)

 

[MJN]

Why would you want to run anything but XTR?
On the road/race bike I usually run DuraAce (having a play with Sram at the moment),in the past I ran 105/Ultegra on the winter bike and found it was trashed after 1 winter,I'm now running 9spd DuraAce on it and am currently on the 3rd winter with nothing but a cable change,whilst I don't do the same sort of mileage on the mtb I see XTR as fit and forget

 

[the great roberto]

V brake levers. Xt vs xtr. Was there any real differance ?

 

[MJN]

V brake levers. Xt vs xtr. Was there any real differance ?

Yeah,XT look shite and instead of little adjuster blocks XTR had an adjuster wheel.

 

[Splatter Paint]

OK here's my two-pence worth....

XT always seems to me as the thinking-mans transmission. It was always 95% of what XTR is in terms of performance etc. but at a lower price and less of a cult following. Anybody who races and rides alot knows that if you trash an XTR component it will cost you an arm and a leg, generally when you're pressed for time and need a component asap! If you're at the top of your class in racing and you're either rich or somebody else is footing the bill then XTR is ace. If you're not in the top 10 in the race, stick to XT it is cheaper and works great.

My bike (Hei Hei) runs an 9-speed XT set up but I do run XTR disc calipers and an XTR chain as that is where I think the majority of the performance difference is.

I think XT levers look and perform great, although they are heavier than the Deore ones, go figure?

DX is also good, especially if you can pick up an entire groupset and wheels from the tip for £2