Ken said:Shimano XTR cassettes come in both steel and titanium versions. The Ti version uses titanium for
the biggest few cogs. It weighs somewhat less and costs somewhat more.
My question is how durable are the Ti cogs? I assume they only use Ti in the largest cogs since
your load is distributed around more teeth.
No, it's because they're the biggest pieces of metal, where switching to Ti will save the
most weight.
Quoted message said:Do these cassettes wear out significantly faster?
I haven't used XTR Ti cassettes, but I did have a couple of SRP ones. Yes, they wore out faster --
perhaps twice as fast.
Normally I wouldn't buy such a thing, except they were available as 12-32 7 speed, which Shimano
were not. I got them for half price. Building a custom Shimano cassette from loose cogs would have
cost just as much.
Quoted message said:Are they intended only for racers who can afford a steady stream of replacement parts? Thanks.
XTR is for people who want the bestest, and will pay whatever it costs.
In my experience, the highfalutin', chromey-plated, XTR and XT cassettes don't last any longer than
the much cheaper HG50 ones. Buy the cheapest one that gives you the gearing you need. Don't feed
the beast.
Matt O.