XT vs. SLX: Better or just more expensive?

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

aaaah... the difference between features and benefits.

First: I agree with you and also not looking to fight 

Point adjustment and the screw (and probably also a small weight advantage, but I am speculating here) are clear added features and in this case differences between SLX and XT.

 

How do you benefit from having a screw in place of a splitpin? I dunno...

How do you benefit form having the ability to fiddle with point adjustment. I dunno and probably at my skill level will never know.

So in the end; agreed!

I also don't see how the R1000 worth of features lands me to benefit / better.

 

Cool man, ironically I went riding the weekend and had a front brake pad that was rubbing ever so slightly against the rotor. Enough to be just a little annoying. This could've been sorted with contact point adjustment I believe.

[Spez247]

I removed the drivetrain off my Wife's bike, under cover of darkness, to try out 1x10 on my SS, before I pull the trigger on some SRAM parts. I was really impressed with the Slx triggers. They were quiet, precise & never let me down on the few occasions I have ridden the bike. Might just stick to it... XT better? Probably, but probably not worth it, if you know how to tinker and get Slx up and running smoothly.

[Spez247]

As for Redlight's comments, I hope he was taking the piss. If you ride a bike recreationally, you Are the sport, Xtr or not.

[canfan]

I removed the drivetrain off my Wife's bike, under cover of darkness, to try out 1x10 on my SS, before I pull the trigger on some SRAM parts. I was really impressed with the Slx triggers. They were quiet, precise & never let me down on the few occasions I have ridden the bike. Might just stick to it... XT better? Probably, but probably not worth it, if you know how to tinker and get Slx up and running smoothly.

Thats what I thought. But let me tell you, XT is way better. I have SLX on 1 bike and XT on my other bike. There's just NO comparison!!

[canfan]

As for Redlight's comments, I hope he was taking the piss. If you ride a bike recreationally, you Are the sport, Xtr or not.

Yeah his comment might sound harsh, but I do hear his point. People that ride Deore, SLX etc will always tell you why its a waste of money to buy the high end components. Reality is that there is more to the high-end stuff that just weight. Yes it might not matter to you but people shouldn't tell others that its all the same. Because it just isn't. 

[Scott2luvit]

I just upgraded from XT drive train with SLX shifters and brakes to full XT brakes and shifters, I have only done 20kms on the new setup and at this stage my slx shifters shifted nicer, if I can call it that, Its almost as the xt is a little more sensitive, I might be over shifting, maybe pressing to far? Also the brakes are disappointing, almost ran into a gate, just didnt have the stopping power, I knew exactly where I was, I know the area and ride the same track every week at least twice, I know when to gooi on the brakes, also maybe the xt pads needs some wear before they start gripping? 

[Beast Tech]

I recently did a new build and played this went through my mind a lot. I rode my friends XT bike and my other friends SLX bike, and sorry Redlight, we are all too broke to afford XTR parts so I couldn't try any of those. And honestly the difference was minimal when I tested it. So my broke self decided to rather not spend that money on stupid minimal changes but rather spend that money on the other components (fork and wheels) which do make a larger difference to performance. 

 

At the level that most of us ride SLX Vs XT will not make you faster. What it will do is stroke your ego and make you feel that you are a good rider, when actually you are not because you have missed the whole essence of the sport, to have fun! 

[s14phoenix]

I just upgraded from XT drive train with SLX shifters and brakes to full XT brakes and shifters, I have only done 20kms on the new setup and at this stage my slx shifters shifted nicer, if I can call it that, Its almost as the xt is a little more sensitive, I might be over shifting, maybe pressing to far? Also the brakes are disappointing, almost ran into a gate, just didnt have the stopping power, I knew exactly where I was, I know the area and ride the same track every week at least twice, I know when to gooi on the brakes, also maybe the xt pads needs some wear before they start gripping? 

 

You need to run-in the pads obviously... check your caliper alignment also. Make sure the disks are clean and there is no contaminants on the pads either.

 

I had similar issues and found re-aligning the calipers and cleaning the pads and disks helped a lot.

[droo]

Cool man, ironically I went riding the weekend and had a front brake pad that was rubbing ever so slightly against the rotor. Enough to be just a little annoying. This could've been sorted with contact point adjustment I believe.

 

Contact point adjustment doesn't work the same as cable brakes - it only affects the lever, not the caliper. You either need to align the caliper properly or true your rotor.