9 spd XT is weak? Failures.???....

[Michael Hunt]

Okie dokie.....

I'm kinda pounding my head against the wall on this one.

I've got an older 96ish Trek Carbon Fiber MTB frame that came with all
XT. After 6000 or so original miles on the 7spd drivetrain one of the
shifters finally blew up. Never had any problems with anything except
replacing cogs and chains every 6 months or so and all the chainrings
once. Got my money's worth.

Decided to rebuild the whole thing with brand-new 9spd XT everything.
I did this in 2002. Did it all myself so it'd be right. V-brakes,
front and rear der., bottom bracket/crankset, headset, everything.

Seemed to work but now I'm bending rear cogs and demolishing chains
with frightening regularity. Shifts great for awhile but soon the
chain starts to go, cogs on that stupid alloy "spider" carrier bend,
and even replaced the outer front two chainrings already due to
horrible suck. The middle front ring was actually missing a tooth.
It's getting expensive and I was wondering if it's just me when I say
"THIS 9spd STUFF IS CRAP?"

I'm 6' 3" at 190 pounds and am pretty strong. I tend to ride big gears
in the hills.

Any alternatives before I start trying to find sources for the old
7spd stuff?

Thanks!

-Michael Hunt

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[Kelly Johnson]

(Michael Hunt) wrote in message >...
> Okie dokie.....
>
> I'm kinda pounding my head against the wall on this one.
>
> I've got an older 96ish Trek Carbon Fiber MTB frame that came with all
> XT. After 6000 or so original miles on the 7spd drivetrain one of the
> shifters finally blew up. Never had any problems with anything except
> replacing cogs and chains every 6 months or so and all the chainrings
> once. Got my money's worth.
>
> Decided to rebuild the whole thing with brand-new 9spd XT everything.
> I did this in 2002. Did it all myself so it'd be right. V-brakes,
> front and rear der., bottom bracket/crankset, headset, everything.
>
> Seemed to work but now I'm bending rear cogs and demolishing chains
> with frightening regularity. Shifts great for awhile but soon the
> chain starts to go, cogs on that stupid alloy "spider" carrier bend,
> and even replaced the outer front two chainrings already due to
> horrible suck. The middle front ring was actually missing a tooth.
> It's getting expensive and I was wondering if it's just me when I say
> "THIS 9spd STUFF IS CRAP?"
>
> I'm 6' 3" at 190 pounds and am pretty strong. I tend to ride big gears
> in the hills.
>
> Any alternatives before I start trying to find sources for the old
> 7spd stuff?
>
> Thanks!
>
> -Michael Hunt


I don't know about alternatives, however XT 9speed equipment has held
up well for me. I have 2000 miles on my current XT drivetrain and
have had to do nothing more than replace the chain once (at 1500
miles). The new XT 9 speed equipment has held up the best of anything
I have used.

I'm 6' 6" and 280 lbs, I am also pretty "strong", I put a LOT of force
into my pedalling.

Kelly

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[David Kunz]

Michael Hunt wrote:

> Okie dokie.....
>
> I'm kinda pounding my head against the wall on this one.
>
> I've got an older 96ish Trek Carbon Fiber MTB frame that came with all
> XT. After 6000 or so original miles on the 7spd drivetrain one of the
> shifters finally blew up. Never had any problems with anything except
> replacing cogs and chains every 6 months or so and all the chainrings
> once. Got my money's worth.
>
> Decided to rebuild the whole thing with brand-new 9spd XT everything.
> I did this in 2002. Did it all myself so it'd be right. V-brakes,
> front and rear der., bottom bracket/crankset, headset, everything.
>
> Seemed to work but now I'm bending rear cogs and demolishing chains
> with frightening regularity. Shifts great for awhile but soon the
> chain starts to go, cogs on that stupid alloy "spider" carrier bend,
> and even replaced the outer front two chainrings already due to
> horrible suck. The middle front ring was actually missing a tooth.
> It's getting expensive and I was wondering if it's just me when I say
> "THIS 9spd STUFF IS CRAP?"
>
> I'm 6' 3" at 190 pounds and am pretty strong. I tend to ride big gears
> in the hills.
>
> Any alternatives before I start trying to find sources for the old
> 7spd stuff?

No problems with 9 spd XT (or XTR) here. I'd suspect 2 things:
chain-line or shifting.

Make sure that when you're in the middle chainring in the front that the
rear cog that lines-up with it is the middle or one smaller. Do this by
sighting down the chain, shifting until there is no bend or angle to the
chain.

Are you shifting under power? This is a sure way to trash even the best
drivetrain. It took several walks home to convince my son of that :).
I've learned to err on the side of being in too low a gear. Annoying
when I guess wrong, but it's easier to just lose a little speed than try
to break the chain or bend the DR or cassette to get into a lower gear.

David

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[Michael Dart]

"Michael Hunt" > wrote in message
om...
> Okie dokie.....
>
> I'm kinda pounding my head against the wall on this one.
>
> I've got an older 96ish Trek Carbon Fiber MTB frame that came with all
> XT. After 6000 or so original miles on the 7spd drivetrain one of the
> shifters finally blew up. Never had any problems with anything except
> replacing cogs and chains every 6 months or so and all the chainrings
> once. Got my money's worth.
>
> Decided to rebuild the whole thing with brand-new 9spd XT everything.
> I did this in 2002. Did it all myself so it'd be right. V-brakes,
> front and rear der., bottom bracket/crankset, headset, everything.
>
> Seemed to work but now I'm bending rear cogs and demolishing chains
> with frightening regularity. Shifts great for awhile but soon the
> chain starts to go, cogs on that stupid alloy "spider" carrier bend,
> and even replaced the outer front two chainrings already due to
> horrible suck. The middle front ring was actually missing a tooth.
> It's getting expensive and I was wondering if it's just me when I say
> "THIS 9spd STUFF IS CRAP?"
>
> I'm 6' 3" at 190 pounds and am pretty strong. I tend to ride big gears
> in the hills.
>
> Any alternatives before I start trying to find sources for the old
> 7spd stuff?
>
> Thanks!
>
> -Michael Hunt
>

Sounds to me like you're shifting too much under power. I've run XT 9speed
for 3 years now. No real problems other than normal wear. You can send
those bent cassettes back to Shimano for warranty replacement. I power
shifted a XTR ti cassette that shattered. I returned it to them and even
told them that I mis-shifted when it broke. They sent me a new one in a
couple weeks. Warrany claim form link is at the bottom of this page...

http://bike.shimano.com/services/index.asp

As for chains, I run SRAM PC-99 and have never broken one.

Mike


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[Don Pickett]

My experience with nine speed chains is that they aren't as strong as
the seven and eight speed chains I have ridden. I suspect they're just
road chains repackaged, and road chains aren't designed for the abuse
off-roading gives them.

My experience with XT is only watching friends ride it and have
problems. IMHO, unless you buy XTR or Dura Ace, Shimano quality isn't
that good, especially with their bearing parts. I ride with a guy who
has an LX/XT mix, and his shifting has gone to hell after a year,
riding the same terrain I do.


In article >, Michael Dart
> wrote:

> "Michael Hunt" > wrote in message
> om...
> > Okie dokie.....
> >
> > I'm kinda pounding my head against the wall on this one.
> >
> > I've got an older 96ish Trek Carbon Fiber MTB frame that came with all
> > XT. After 6000 or so original miles on the 7spd drivetrain one of the
> > shifters finally blew up. Never had any problems with anything except
> > replacing cogs and chains every 6 months or so and all the chainrings
> > once. Got my money's worth.
> >
> > Decided to rebuild the whole thing with brand-new 9spd XT everything.
> > I did this in 2002. Did it all myself so it'd be right. V-brakes,
> > front and rear der., bottom bracket/crankset, headset, everything.
> >
> > Seemed to work but now I'm bending rear cogs and demolishing chains
> > with frightening regularity. Shifts great for awhile but soon the
> > chain starts to go, cogs on that stupid alloy "spider" carrier bend,
> > and even replaced the outer front two chainrings already due to
> > horrible suck. The middle front ring was actually missing a tooth.
> > It's getting expensive and I was wondering if it's just me when I say
> > "THIS 9spd STUFF IS CRAP?"
> >
> > I'm 6' 3" at 190 pounds and am pretty strong. I tend to ride big gears
> > in the hills.
> >
> > Any alternatives before I start trying to find sources for the old
> > 7spd stuff?
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > -Michael Hunt
> >
>
> Sounds to me like you're shifting too much under power. I've run XT 9speed
> for 3 years now. No real problems other than normal wear. You can send
> those bent cassettes back to Shimano for warranty replacement. I power
> shifted a XTR ti cassette that shattered. I returned it to them and even
> told them that I mis-shifted when it broke. They sent me a new one in a
> couple weeks. Warrany claim form link is at the bottom of this page...
>
> http://bike.shimano.com/services/index.asp
>
> As for chains, I run SRAM PC-99 and have never broken one.
>
> Mike
>
>
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> rec.bicycles.off-road is moderated by volunteers. To find help solving
> posting problems, or contact the moderators, please see http://rbor.org/
> Please read the charter before posting: http://rbor.org/rbor_charter.txt
>

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