Shimano XTR M970, M971, M972.... what is it?



blingUK

New Member
Oct 25, 2006
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Hi please help!

I'm trying to buy parts for a bike using Shimano XTR gear.

Can someone advise me what the differences are in the M970,M971 and M972?

I want to use rapidfire shifters and V brakes. What are the following that I need:

Rear mech
Front mech
Levers
Chain
Cassette
 
blingUK said:
I'm trying to buy parts for a bike using Shimano XTR gear.

Can someone advise me what the differences are in the M970,M971 and M972?

I want to use rapidfire shifters and V brakes. What are the following that I need:

Rear mech
Front mech
Levers
Chain
Cassette
Wow! That will be a really nicely equipped bike ... AND, you must have really deep pockets!

FYI. The difference in the rear derailleurs is that the 970 & 971 are the older/traditional, slant parallelogram rear derailleurs -- the 970 is the RAPID RISE version & the 971 is the one whose "pull" is the same as on a ROAD rear derailleur (in the distant past, the RAPID RISE variant had the "odd" number in the sequence).

The 972 is the SHADOW version -- RAPID RISE.

While the 972 rear derailleur looks really nice (exquisite, IMO), you may really want to consider equipping your bike with XT components ... it is still my prediction that Shimano will eventually use RAPID RISE type rear derailleurs in their road groups, too, UNLESS they eventually improve their STI shift mechanism ... not that anyone will really care until that particular 'day' arrives!

FWIW. In the past (and, probably now) there was little-or-no functional difference in the Shimano front derailleurs of the same vintage ... that is, you probably woudn't notice any difference on a bike with a LX-or-lower front derailleur if you compared it on a bike with an XT or XTR front derailleur (presuming the same XT/XTR shifters were used) ... and, other than the clamp & cosmetic difference to the outside plate, I would say they are therefore equivalent.

And, depending on the "trails" you ride on, rear deraileurs are sometimes subjected to excessive abuse; so, you may want to consider choosing an XT rear derailleur.

Perhaps, more than with Shimano's ROAD components (i.e., Ultegra vs. Dura Ace), the XT "stuff" is really the best value if you want something better than LX.
 
alfeng said:
Wow! That will be a really nicely equipped bike ... AND, you must have really deep pockets!

FYI. The difference in the rear derailleurs is that the 970 & 971 are the older/traditional, slant parallelogram rear derailleurs -- the 970 is the RAPID RISE version & the 971 is the one whose "pull" is the same as on a ROAD rear derailleur (in the distant past, the RAPID RISE variant had the "odd" number in the sequence).

The 972 is the SHADOW version -- RAPID RISE.

While the 972 rear derailleur looks really nice (exquisite, IMO), you may really want to consider equipping your bike with XT components ... it is still my prediction that Shimano will eventually use RAPID RISE type rear derailleurs in their road groups, too, UNLESS they eventually improve their STI shift mechanism ... not that anyone will really care until that particular 'day' arrives!

FWIW. In the past (and, probably now) there was little-or-no functional difference in the Shimano front derailleurs of the same vintage ... that is, you probably woudn't notice any difference on a bike with a LX-or-lower front derailleur if you compared it on a bike with an XT or XTR front derailleur (presuming the same XT/XTR shifters were used) ... and, other than the clamp & cosmetic difference to the outside plate, I would say they are therefore equivalent.

And, depending on the "trails" you ride on, rear deraileurs are sometimes subjected to excessive abuse; so, you may want to consider choosing an XT rear derailleur.

Perhaps, more than with Shimano's ROAD components (i.e., Ultegra vs. Dura Ace), the XT "stuff" is really the best value if you want something better than LX.

For info..all XTR rear derailleurs had the same dimension and 'pull' of road derailleurs so you can use any XTR RDer with shimano road shifters of any type. Done that many times. The only 'gotcha' is some later ones don't have a barrel adjuster on them so ya gotta add a Jagwire plug in one but o big deal.