Derailleur vs shifter

Shane C said:

Which makes the biggest difference?

Assuming you mean: that all things being equal (it's either all quality or all [censored] and that everything is compatible) my personal *opinion* is that if I have to save a couple of bucks (between those two choices) it's going to be on the shifters. I wouldn't argue with someone that felt the other way about it though. My theory being: the deraileurs are a more complex contraption and more can go wrong with them than a trigger system and certainly much more than with the twister systems. So, if the "get more for paying more" theory is true (I wish it were always true) then I would rather *get more* from my deraileur that seems to be more prone to abuse/danger. Anyway, those are just the ramblings of a madman...

Ride well.

K.

Don't forget your cables & cable housings. I neglected these for a while - then replaced them with new XTR cables & housings & the shifting was really sweet. If you have decent shifters & derailleurs, maintained & adjusted, then stiff shifting is probably in the cable. And to top it off cables are cheap.