Daddy Dirtbag
Member
The best answer I can give is: "It depends."
And: "Sometimes, I truly prefer lower end parts."
Back when current XT was still 9 speed, I was laying waste to XT cassettes far too often. One failed while I was on vacation up in Big Bear, and the owner of Bear Valley Bikes suggested I drop down to the then LX level cassette as he and his race team had found it to be more durable. IME, he was right. I never bent the cogs or shredded the teeth from those LX level cassettes like I did the XT's, and they shifted just fine. At the time I was not yet breaking XT freehubs, so the steel freehub bodies didn't care that there was no alloy spider on those LX cassettes.
Forks? I have both great and not-so-great experiences with Rock Shox, Fox, Manitou, and Marzocchi. FWIW, I really can't tell much difference from the Reba and the Fox Float CTD on two of my current MTB's. Both are pretty good, but not necessarily what I would consider great. I will say that a decidedly entry level fork will not perform as well as a good fork, and that can slow me down. If there is one component that make the biggest difference, it is probably the fork, but once they get to a certain level of 'decent' and they are tuned properly, the performance difference isn't so huge.
Shifters? Once I get above the entry level stuff where you have to move the lever quite a ways to enact a shift, I can't say that any particular shifter has made me noticeably faster or slower. The X5 trigger shifters I had on my hardtail until very recently, didn't slow me down one iota. The shifting action was not as refined feeling as higher end offerings, but they shifted just fine.
Fun Fact: the newest XTR rear derailleur has an adjustment screw on it so you can set it to feel more . . . . . positive. Or is that more 'SRAM-like'?
As for freehubs, I have had my share of trouble with good ol' lower end Shimano freehubs. Consequently, I am currently riding a couple wheelsets with the tried and true DT Swiss 18 POE star ratchet hubs. Not cheap, butx I haven't been able to kill one of those yet in five years of trying.
I tried titanium inner chainrings (at $50 - $70 each), and went through three of them in a year. Aluminum inner rings fared no better than the titanium. Steel inner chainrings FTW, the small weight penalty is happily accepted.
Good quality carbon handlebars and seatposts do feel nice, as do high quality ergonomic grips,and on and on and on.
The bottom line is that even being able to ride a bike purely for the rush, enjoyment, exercise, attitude adjustment (whatever your reasons are for doing it), is no more than a 'first world' issue. It's natural to want to use quality items, whether it be the tools we work with, or the toys we play with. In the case of what choose for our MTB parts, these all just come down to things we want. If the high end stuff wasn't invented or available, we'd just ride with whatever was available like we used to to.
Be who you are. Be safe (to a reasonable degree), and have fun. Enjoy the fact that we can have the option to ride purely for the (net) health benefits, and the grin-inducing fun it provides.
Ladies & Gentlemen, have a great day!
And: "Sometimes, I truly prefer lower end parts."
Back when current XT was still 9 speed, I was laying waste to XT cassettes far too often. One failed while I was on vacation up in Big Bear, and the owner of Bear Valley Bikes suggested I drop down to the then LX level cassette as he and his race team had found it to be more durable. IME, he was right. I never bent the cogs or shredded the teeth from those LX level cassettes like I did the XT's, and they shifted just fine. At the time I was not yet breaking XT freehubs, so the steel freehub bodies didn't care that there was no alloy spider on those LX cassettes.
Forks? I have both great and not-so-great experiences with Rock Shox, Fox, Manitou, and Marzocchi. FWIW, I really can't tell much difference from the Reba and the Fox Float CTD on two of my current MTB's. Both are pretty good, but not necessarily what I would consider great. I will say that a decidedly entry level fork will not perform as well as a good fork, and that can slow me down. If there is one component that make the biggest difference, it is probably the fork, but once they get to a certain level of 'decent' and they are tuned properly, the performance difference isn't so huge.
Shifters? Once I get above the entry level stuff where you have to move the lever quite a ways to enact a shift, I can't say that any particular shifter has made me noticeably faster or slower. The X5 trigger shifters I had on my hardtail until very recently, didn't slow me down one iota. The shifting action was not as refined feeling as higher end offerings, but they shifted just fine.
Fun Fact: the newest XTR rear derailleur has an adjustment screw on it so you can set it to feel more . . . . . positive. Or is that more 'SRAM-like'?
As for freehubs, I have had my share of trouble with good ol' lower end Shimano freehubs. Consequently, I am currently riding a couple wheelsets with the tried and true DT Swiss 18 POE star ratchet hubs. Not cheap, butx I haven't been able to kill one of those yet in five years of trying.
I tried titanium inner chainrings (at $50 - $70 each), and went through three of them in a year. Aluminum inner rings fared no better than the titanium. Steel inner chainrings FTW, the small weight penalty is happily accepted.
Good quality carbon handlebars and seatposts do feel nice, as do high quality ergonomic grips,and on and on and on.
The bottom line is that even being able to ride a bike purely for the rush, enjoyment, exercise, attitude adjustment (whatever your reasons are for doing it), is no more than a 'first world' issue. It's natural to want to use quality items, whether it be the tools we work with, or the toys we play with. In the case of what choose for our MTB parts, these all just come down to things we want. If the high end stuff wasn't invented or available, we'd just ride with whatever was available like we used to to.
Be who you are. Be safe (to a reasonable degree), and have fun. Enjoy the fact that we can have the option to ride purely for the (net) health benefits, and the grin-inducing fun it provides.
Ladies & Gentlemen, have a great day!