9 speed or 10

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by crossboy on November 5, 2008 at 10:35am

SRAM all the way, which means 10sp. Of course, I'm a bit biased ;-)

Permalink Reply by Jim Nowak on November 5, 2008 at 11:23am

I went to SRAM Rival last year. Best decision I ever made. I have used bar-end shifters, and Shimano STI (8 and 9) and the SRAM stuff is fool proof. I highly recommend it. I run a 38/48 on the front and 11-28 on the back. I have yet to find a course where I ran out of gearing.

BTW, yesterday I bent the right brake blade (lever) in a crash (long story). I was able to order up a new blade as opposed to Shimano where I would have needed a whole new lever. That in itself is AWESOME!

With SRAM coming out with carbon for the Rival, you can probably find some aluminum Rival on ebay cheap.

Good luck

Permalink Reply by SuperTick on November 5, 2008 at 12:57pm

I go 9 since I feel that the 10 speed is just so closely spaced that there may be a higher chance of things getting gunked up during muddy races. Since there is more play in 8 or 9 speed drivetrains, I feel thay they hold an advantage over the 10speed stuff. Just my 2 cents.

Permalink Reply by crossboy on November 5, 2008 at 1:04pm

SuperTick, I hear you, but after a year + on 10sp, I found my fears to be unfounded. The 10sp gets clogged just like 9 when there's a leaf in the cassette, but other than that, it hasn't been a problem.

I run a single 42 up front, and it's nice to run a gutted Rival lever to match the rear lever, as opposed to a separate Cane Creek or the like.

Permalink Reply by bradyja on November 7, 2008 at 7:30am

And of course 10 is one more than 9

Permalink Reply by cxchiva on November 7, 2008 at 8:43am

The more and more I race cross the more I realize how few gears I need. Being fast in the transitions and having your race be as flaw free as possibleis more important than whether your are riding a 9 or 10. This year I have switched to a 40 up front with a 12-27 in the rear. I find that my racing is much more fluid. I watch many riders fumbling between the big and small ring and it costs them time/energy/places. I do have another bike with the standard 38/46 if the course requires such. Let's put it this way, I have been on the podium many more times this year with the single ring.

Permalink Reply by crossboy on November 7, 2008 at 3:25pm

cxchiva -- the choice to run single up front is a different discussion than with 9 or 10sp. Either way, in my opionion, single up front is superior -- less weight, fewer chances of screwing things up.

If that's part of the consideration, by the way, 10sp works well with single up front, although 9 gives you a bit of room for slop on the chainline/derailleur set up.

Permalink Reply by crossboy on November 13, 2008 at 2:38pm

Did you guys see this? http://flickr.com/photos/natearm/3023113649/

Permalink Reply by Jim Nowak on November 13, 2008 at 7:22pm

Hey, if one of them get mucked up he has another one to rely on!