XTR M900 vs XT M739

[ibbz]

Now I've just read these posts and discovered that it was actually the first of the bog standard ordinary XT components.

Not really. XT level has always been XT level. XTR came in above it. It wasn't the case that XT got significantly cheaper or worse (barring certain idiosyncracies as noted above), it's just that Shimano moved the high end upwards.

Conflicting accounts, I heard that XT went sharply lower end with M750,

ref. http://www.disraeligears.co.uk/

 

[Tazio]

I always work on the premise that XT will get the advancements the previous generations XTR had. But I think that applies more on the more modern stuff.

And I never had a problem using 739 levers and shifters together, though it is a snug fit to get them "just so"

 

[Anthony]

Now I've just read these posts and discovered that it was actually the first of the bog standard ordinary XT components.

Not really. XT level has always been XT level. XTR came in above it. It wasn't the case that XT got significantly cheaper or worse (barring certain idiosyncracies as noted above), it's just that Shimano moved the high end upwards.

Conflicting accounts, I heard that XT went sharply lower end with M750,
ref. http://www.disraeligears.co.uk/

I think you can take it that Mike knows more about these matters than anybody else here! I was going to say a vaguely similar thing actually - it's not about quality going down, as the designs were continually improved over the years. It's two other things really:

a. M739 had some design flaws as I noted above, but they weren't down-grades, they were just mistakes - e.g., the parallelogram V-brake was a sophisticated design, much more expensive to make than its rivals. And when new, it worked very well, it was just that they failed to anticipate the level of play that would develop. The M750 V-brake that superceded it got it right.

b. later groupsets don't look right on retro frames. 1997 was around the last time when frame colour schemes were generally designed for silver bars, stem, post. After that, black took over. So if you take the silver/grey colour of M750 shifters, that's designed for black bars and it's no wonder it doesn't look right on a retro bike with silver bars. Even worse, brake levers with silver bodies and black levers look terrible - they look ok with black bars though, which is what they were designed for.

To me, the point about retro is that it looks right, it works ok and it's top value for money. Modern stuff works better, but its cost is off the scale, so vfm-wise retro wins.

 

[Logic.Al]

Whats the difference between the cranks on m73* and M900?

 

[ibbz]

Thanks man. Very informative. One more point to add, modern stuff may work better but seems to be made of generic throw away composites

 

[cce]

Whats the difference between the cranks on m73* and M900?

M900 takes ATB pattern rings, and that's just for starters

 

[Anthony]

Whats the difference between the cranks on m73* and M900?

I was wrong in an earlier post in saying M900 cranks needed their own bb, in fact that was only from the M950 (96 onwards). The main difference is that M900 and M950 remained on standard drive until about 2002, whereas XT went onto compact-drive from 1994 onwards (M737).

 

[Logic.Al]

So the cranks themselves aren't that different?
Just asking as I'm considering powder coating a set of cranks but using XTR maybe a bit ott if they are powdercoated?

 

[elPedro666]

Just a word in defence of ugly ginger step-kid m750 - are they not just different coloured m953 shifters? Which backs up Tazio's trickle-down observation nicely.

I'm not at all convinced by 'upgrading' to XTR from a previous generation, just doesn't quite fit right for me.

Also, I believe there were both m739 Vs AND cantis, with different levers for each.

Mombat is your friend in this
http://mombat.org/Shimano.htm

 

[Anthony]

Also, I believe there were both m739 Vs AND cantis, with different levers for each. Mombat is your friend in this
http://mombat.org/Shimano.htm

No, if you look in the picture, it was just that they continued to sell M737 cantis as an option in the 1996 XT groupset, for those die-hards who were still holding out against progress. There wasn't an M739 canti though.