Rear derailleur/Sram XO vs. XTR

Redliner said:

I see alot of pros use all shimano components except the rear derailleur. They use sram xo or x9. Why is this? Is there an advantage to using sram over shimano on the rear? If so what is the advantage? Thanks.

x0=carbon
no idea bout x9.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought both of those SRAM derailleurs required SRAM shifters?

It could be they don't like Rapid Rise and/or Dual Control shifting.

Shimano front derailleurs are lighter than the SRAM X-gen one.

GV27 said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought both of those SRAM derailleurs required SRAM shifters?

I know that u can use sram shifters with shimano front drerailleurs, but shimano rear derailleurs will not work with sram shifters from what I have been told.

Yeah - a Front D is a Front D. SRAM does sell shifters with the proper ratio for Shimano rears:

http://www.sram.com/en/sram/mountain/21shifters/index.php

the reason is likely that the x.o rear d has a very positive click w/the x.o shifter. always one click to make it shift. imho, much cleaner shifting that anything shimano offers.

on my ellsworth i have a x.o shifter and rear d. xtr front d.

cheapie said:

the reason is likely that the x.o rear d has a very positive click w/the x.o shifter. always one click to make it shift. imho, much cleaner shifting that anything shimano offers.

on my ellsworth i have a x.o shifter and rear d. xtr front d.

Agreed, the crisp response from 1to 1 shift ratio is much more desireable. all shimano's that I have used exibit slow or sluggish response, especially under load. Sram, on the other hand shifts before you have even taken your finger off the trigger. Never knew how crisp shifting could be until I tried the Sram stuff. Currently have XTR's on two bikes and can't wait to wear them out and switch.

Srams shifting action is SOOO much better than Shimano's. My old bike was and Lx/ XT mix. The new ride is all X-9/ sram. First time out, i was shifting up two or three gears too many due to my habits from my slow shimano stuff.

I have sram rocket shifters on my bike which are compatable with the shimano components. The sram shifters are very crisp and changing gears is a lot smoother compared to shimano shifters.

I am not sure of the difference between sram X.0 and xtr rear derailleurs. They are probably both pretty similar in terms of performance.

Quoted post said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought both of those SRAM derailleurs required SRAM shifters?

I Know that Sram shifters will work with Shimano front drerailleurs because thats the setup I have on my 2006 Cannondale F400 for whatever that is worth.

Redliner said:

I see alot of pros use all shimano components except the rear derailleur. They use sram xo or x9. Why is this? Is there an advantage to using sram over shimano on the rear? If so what is the advantage? Thanks.

XO or X9 rear derailleur have to be used with SRAM shifters.

I see several pro bikes with XTR cranks and front derailleur, then everything else is a mix.

Redliner said:

I see alot of pros use all shimano components except the rear derailleur. They use sram xo or x9. Why is this? Is there an advantage to using sram over shimano on the rear? If so what is the advantage? Thanks.

I found that using SRAM the shifting was always precise but I used Shimano on a road bike for 30 years and after 1 year on the SRAM I was still wondering which direction to shift, up or down. Always had to think about it. I love the newer Shimano combo shifter/brake levers and the simplicity of push up on either lever for a lower gear and push down for a higher.
The SRAM work as well but it was just a pain to retrain my slow learning brain.