Upgrading components

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JHZR2

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Hi,

Say you have a bike with a midline drivetrain, all by the same manufacturer.

Say you want to upgrade some parts, cranks, rear deraileur, gear shifters.

What parts need to be from the same component line? Like say my mike is all deore, and I put an XT crank set on, is this an issue? I know that lots of bikes have mixed component levels, especially lower end front deraileurs and stuff like this.

But are there any no-nos? Are all the parts pretty straightforward to replace?

Thanks!
 
The stuff that really has to be matched are the shifters and ft/rear derailleurs. Shimano actually has some cool compatibility charts which are accurate, and tell you if stuff will work, will kinda work, or won't work. Not all Shimano stuff is interchangeable with other Shimano stuff! As far as Sram, all of their 1:1 stuff is interchangeable--but not Shimano-compatible.

Besides that, cranks and chains are interchangeable as long as the number of speeds are the same; i.e. 8/9/10 speed cranks all have different spacing between the rings, and a 9 speed crank may not shift too well with a 10 speed chain and vice verse. But you can use a Shimano 9-speed crank on a Sram 9-speed drivetrain.

For your set-up, putting a 9-speed XT crank on is no problem. If you go to a new 10 speed XT crank, you'll have to change the chain to 10 speed (10 speed chains work on 9 speed cassettes, but not cranks).
 
Interesting, as I've seen deore and SLX shifters on xt rear deraileurs and other combos.

I'll have to look up the compatibility chart - that's good info.

Does model year of stuff become a consideration too?
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2

Does model year of stuff become a consideration too?


model year per se doesn't matter, as long as the cable pull ratio and direction (low normal/rapid rise vs. 'top normal') is the same. 7/8/9 speed stuff is interchangeable, but the new 10 speed stuff is where it gets confusing, with different cable pull from the shifters.

Your new bike is 9 speed, right?
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Hi,

Say you have a bike with a midline drivetrain, all by the same manufacturer.

Say you want to upgrade some parts, cranks, rear deraileur, gear shifters.

What parts need to be from the same component line? Like say my mike is all deore, and I put an XT crank set on, is this an issue? I know that lots of bikes have mixed component levels, especially lower end front deraileurs and stuff like this.

But are there any no-nos? Are all the parts pretty straightforward to replace?

Thanks!


you can mix and match stuff like cranks, chain rings, & cassettes.

Chains has to match the cassette type. 9-speed chains are meant for 9-speed cassettes. For example, 8-speed chains don't work on a 9-speed cassette.

Since it sounds like you have all Shimano... stick to Shimano derailleurs only with the shimano shifters.

Within the levels of Shimano, you can upgrade and mix and match levels.

Since you just bought a bike... ride it... think about upgrades on the components when they wear out or you break them. If you're thinking about upgrades now... you should have bought a higher end bike with upgraded components (because it costs less)
 
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why would you want to upgrade the components? Problems? Years and years ago only Campy stuf was any good and Shimano wasn't pro bike enough [for the bike shorts and jersy crowd] . Now days all the components seem to work really good well the bottom end is still bottom end. The most important parts are the frame and wheels .
 
Want to upgrade the components? Mainly because I want to learn about working on bikes, and if Im going to tear apart, put together and adjust parts, some things may be worth upgrading if I dont like the feel.

I bought the bike that felt the best. I couldnt get one with higher rated components, otherwise I might have.

Will the deore stuff work fine, likely so. But if the opportunity arises, why not put something better in? Maybe so, maybe not...
 
I personally believe upgrading is a waste of money.

It's much cheaper to buy a bike with the components you want rather than buying new components individually and paying someone else to install them...


But if you purchase discounted or used components, that's a bit different.

I have a ****ty *** 2006 TREK 3900. ALL the stock components are bad.

The rims easily bent and lost their true.

I was constantly replacing my rear derailleurs (using ****ty *** Altus and Acera derailleurs).

It was not fun having a low-end mountain bike.

But when I upgraded my rims to double-walled rims and switched to Deore front derailleur and Deore XT rear derailleur (combined with Alivio dual-control levers to keep it 8-speed cassette compatible), I've been doing well.

All thanks to a backyard bike mechanic I know (made labor and parts costs much cheaper). My bike is a "backyard parts special"
whistle.gif


But if you're installing the components yourself, maybe it won't be so bad...
 
Originally Posted By: AWDfreak
I personally believe upgrading is a waste of money.

It's much cheaper to buy a bike with the components you want rather than buying new components individually and paying someone else to install them...


But if you purchase discounted or used components, that's a bit different.


Agree. But the frame/bike I wanted wasnt available in the higher end group. In the country, from the mfr, etc.

No big deal. Deore from 2011 is probably as good or better than the 2000/2001 XT on my 26er.

I do have a source of wholesale shimano parts...

Just thinking about the future, because I REALLY like the geometry of my new 29er.
 
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