Stiff shifter?

[thebarber]

I've just bought a new cable (outer and inner) to try and ease / lighten the shifting on my gears but I'm thinking I might aswell upgrade the shifter while I'm on.
I've got slx atm and wondering if xtr is worth £30ish more than xt and would this do the job?

 

[steve_sordy]

I have had XT, SLX shifters and ones further down the range, but none of them felt stiff except when the cables were mucky. New cables always fixed the feel. One thing that was a definite benefit was the ptfe coated inner cable. I reckon it was called "slickwire" or similar.

 

[thebarber]

Cheers
I read that the xt is 20% lighter action, assuming that's against the slx so thought while I'm on do this.
Have you noticed the difference between six and xt?

 

[steve_sordy]

Cheers
I read that the xt is 20% lighter action, assuming that's against the slx so thought while I'm on do this.
Have you noticed the difference between six and xt?

Not in the terms you were using, ie increased ease and lightness in shifting. I took that to mean the resistance to movement felt on the lever. But the crispness of the shift and the positiveness of the feel was marginally better.
Most shifting problems are fixed by fitting new cables (both inner and outer).

 

[thebarber]

Not in the terms you were using, ie increased ease and lightness in shifting. I took that to mean the resistance to movement felt on the lever. But the crispness of the shift and the positiveness of the feel was marginally better.
Most shifting problems are fixed by fitting new cables (both inner and outer).

Yeah might be a good time to fix both issues.
I have XO on an old bike and they were great, infact if they were 10spd I'd use that instead of the 11slx I've got they're machined ally instead of plastic

 

[flash]

The only real advantage of the XT shifter over SLX is that XT can shift up more than one gear at a time with a deep push. I love this feature so, for me, it's worth the upgrade to XT. But the action and feel is essentially exactly the same, especially in 11 or12 speed. XTR is all about saving grams over XT.

I think XT11 speed might actually be the sweet spot for many eBikes, if you like Shimano (I do). I'd probably have an XT mech and shifter and SLX (chain, cassette, 4 pot brakes) everything else if I were building a mechanical groupset on an eMTB.

Gordon

p.s. although I've got to say that AXS is absolutely so good if you want to go electronic.