2012 XT

[Vinnydabutcher]

My Personal choice:

 

Gears - Sram

Brakes - Shimano

 

Sram shifting with 1:1 ratio is just far more crisp and much less hassle - check the youtube clip on Sram vs Shimano rear derailleur. Sram all the way - but then again, I have been riding sram for the last 5 years

 

I have ridden both XT and Avid juicy ultimate brakes - XT wins hands down on performance, reliability and ease of servicing!!!

[ngala24]

2012 Groupset available?

 

It was, sold to one lucky individual though yesterday

 

Check back again next week

[scuzzy]

You okes can gaan on about the looks and sensitivity to rain and warra warra.

 

Shimano has got this one right from a technical point of view. Try and bleed a set of Elixir brakes and then do the same on XTR and now XT - chalk and cheese.

 

With the Shimano brakes they've redesigned the bleed path and bubbles have nowhere to hide anymore. One simple bleed with the other hand on the phone and the other on your lunch sarmie, and the job's done.

 

With Elixir or Juicy for that matter, they went out of their way to create cavities and labyrinths for the bubbles to hide behind. Several bleeds and test rides and waiting periods and re-bleeds and you're done.

 

Not to mention the ghastly Dot fluid you have to work with.

 

Shimano all the way.

 

 

I agree with the brakes, but all this talk about shifting with XT vs X0? I rode next to a guy in Knysna over the weekend and asked about the grip shofters on his bike, he said that he never has a problem with shifting, like I have with the normal trigger shifters. Is this legit? Would love to know, cause then I am changing

[Wolweseun]

You okes can gaan on about the looks and sensitivity to rain and warra warra.

 

Shimano has got this one right from a technical point of view. Try and bleed a set of Elixir brakes and then do the same on XTR and now XT - chalk and cheese.

 

With the Shimano brakes they've redesigned the bleed path and bubbles have nowhere to hide anymore. One simple bleed with the other hand on the phone and the other on your lunch sarmie, and the job's done.

 

With Elixir or Juicy for that matter, they went out of their way to create cavities and labyrinths for the bubbles to hide behind. Several bleeds and test rides and waiting periods and re-bleeds and you're done.

 

Not to mention the ghastly Dot fluid you have to work with.

 

Shimano all the way.

 

+1

[heed0]

NICE! love the pics

awesome groupset

Edited July 6, 2011 by heed0

[Johan Bornman]

I agree with the brakes, but all this talk about shifting with XT vs X0? I rode next to a guy in Knysna over the weekend and asked about the grip shofters on his bike, he said that he never has a problem with shifting, like I have with the normal trigger shifters. Is this legit? Would love to know, cause then I am changing

 

 

He's lying or just doesn't ride enough. All shifting systems give problems. Problems are mostly cable related and dirty cables make for poor shifting, no matter what brand of stuff you have.

 

I don't know how people say this (TOP BRAND) shifts better than that (TOP BRAND). They all shift perfectly. Clack, clack, clack, x 9 or 10. This goes for anything from Shimano LX and up, and SRAM whatever and up.

 

Obviously, if gripshift is your thing, then you have only one option. Otherwise, if your Shimano shifting isn't great, have it seen to. It should and can work perfectly.

[splat]

I think he was refering to the compatibilty of Sram and Shimano shifters/deraileurs

 

Different pull ratios or something.

[Johan Bornman]

JB: seems Avid consulted their glassball and saw that in the future you'd finger them for bad design. So, a few weeks (or months) ago, they announced their new avid elixir setup that eliminates bubble hogging design and moves the bleed port to a more phone and sarmie double shock combo friendly location.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I'll keep my eyes open for them.

 

I didn't see the marketing stuff but let me guess, they didn't confess that the current range is crap. They simply waxed lyrical about lighter, better, stiffer, faster. At best they mentioned an "improved bleed procedure" and not "finally, easy bleeding."

 

Shimano must now just come clean and admit that their new alu-axle hubs are rubbish.

[Swift01]

@rouxtjie

I think you should change that to I have XT/Shimano and I HAD a zula with XO .................. Hee Hee

 

May be the XT brakes are working well because your's has Avid Cleen sweep 3 rotors and the Avid Cr's only had aligator Pizza rotors......... Hee Hee Must say my CR brakes improved a lot when i ditched the Aligator rotors and put the real clean sweeps on. Same happened whan we went Magura Rotors with the Magura brakes (instead or aligator rotors). There is a reason why companies say stick to their products try not to mix n match. Ask Kevin Evens........... I will say my Avid CR's even with the Aligator rotors were way better than the Maruga Loiuse BAT brakes that had the same Aligator rotors. Since buying the correct rotors and pads for both brakes (Magura Storm SL's and Clean Sweep 3's) both sets of brakes have drastically improved but I am sad to say my GF's Magura brakes are way stronger and stop way better than the CR's..... Food for thought.

 

As for the XT shifters vs XO I can't comment as I went from older generation XT shifters to XO and you can't compare them.

 

I have read though that the new XTR brakes are the business, and what I read makes sense. Now it looks like the technology has filtered down to XT. So it's catchup time for Avid I reckon..... Can't wait. The heat fins on the new XTR and XT make a lot of sense

 

my R5 worths (hey inflation is bad)

 

Oh and I have first hand experience of Shimano XT hubs...... Be prepared, very prepared to service them often......... (Thanx to rouxtjie I sleep well at night as he sold his Zula and now the GF has new set of wheels on her bike)

[rouxtjie]

cut cut cut

Oh and I have first hand experience of Shimano XT hubs...... Be prepared, very prepared to service them often......... (Thanx to rouxtjie I sleep well at night as he sold his Zula and now the GF has new set of wheels on her bike)

Hey let it not be said that I dont look out for my chommies , you got those wheels at a verrrry good price but its only because I knew I was gonna lose when bargaining with a scotsman...

 

Ok back to the topic...if I had to buy a groupset right now, it would be XT with the exception of the crankset which would be SLX(I am a cheapskate) Oh and I wont touch XT wheels(hubs to be more precise) for reasons you and I know(loved watching you service K's wheels after going through a small puddle)

[scuzzy]

Johan

 

Just on the subject of the gears. I am trying to figure setting it myself out and I am almost there. With the Shimano trigger shifters, is there any way one kan make it "tighter" so that it doesn't go through 2 clicks on it's own?

[brussel]

without opening the debate on SRAM vs himano here is my 2 cents:

 

i have had two sets of XT on two different bikes, I have had great shifting but I had to replace cables every 4 months or so to keep it running well. I had at one stage SRAM twist shifters and I rode with one set of cables for more than a year including training for and riding an epic - no problems, nada, nothing.

 

I can only assume it is the 1:1 actuation ratio of the cable - whatever it is, I set twisters up and never touched them again.

[scuzzy]

Brussel, do you mind explaining the 1:1? Not quite sure what that means.

[brussel]

in short, the cable travel per shift is less with shimano than with SRAM hence there is no compatibility between the two. The theory is that dirt makes less of an effect with SRAM

[AndreZA]

I love my 2008 XT groupset. Not a single ghost shift, chain drop or chain suck. Brakes are awesome and have destroyed a Speed King tyre on the back in one ride. Have no problems with the hubs (stand alone hubs, not the factory built wheelsets). Will go 10spd maybe in 2013.

[brussel]

Mampara I dont get ghost shifting but I do find I have to overshift to get the shift to work cleanly