XO / X9 shifters, what difference?

BM Epic

Eats Squid
Ok, so i am thinking of going from X9 shifters to XO shifters, i have 2011 X9 at the moment, what i want to know is, what performance gains are to be made with the XO, i know they are lighter, but i couldn't care less about weight, is there any difference mechanically between the two?, if there is no difference between them, i wont get the XO's just for weight loss!
 

Geoff Gump

Likes Dirt
I have never owned a X0 for any long term sort of testing, but of the bikes I service with them they have a much more, well its tricky to explain, accurate, precise metal click than x9 generally has. Less up-shifting friction aswell, noticeable.

Bit of a plug but if you are going to get rid of you x9 shifters I would be interested :) .
 

skwiz05

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Ah....

Weight, Bling come to mind,

But there are those who will say that the XO is crisper than X9 and so on and so forth.

Personally, I still run X7/X9 stuff, and it all works fine for me.

And , when you smash one off ya ride, it dont cost another mortgage (or when you discover that bling parts wear just as fast as midrange -so again more cost).

But if you must have carbon (or your riding buddies will ridicule you for not having it) go the XO.

Or follow sensibility and your wallet - stay with X9.
 

BM Epic

Eats Squid
I understand you talking bling and carbon etc, but the question is , any difference mechanically?, and if yes, what difference and performance benefit, as i said, i couldn't care less about weight or for that matter what they are made of, performance is the issue!
 

BM Epic

Eats Squid
I have never owned a X0 for any long term sort of testing, but of the bikes I service with them they have a much more, well its tricky to explain, accurate, precise metal click than x9 generally has. Less up-shifting friction aswell, noticeable.

Bit of a plug but if you are going to get rid of you x9 shifters I would be interested :) .
Thats what i am trying to establish, if they perform better i will go for them, BTW, my current shifters are 2x10!..thanks for your answer!
 

Shredden

Knows his goats
any difference mechanically?
Yes! X0 is a much higher quality of finish, definitely, definitely a hugely noticeable performance increase. Has a much more defined and direct "click" than X9.

Although the upshift paddle is really weak and a good hit with the knee will bend it.
 

Wellsey

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I have X9 on my Ragley and X0 on my Blur. The difference is very noticeable to me, the X0's are much sharper and more crisp, feel nicer to operate, and feel much more precision-ish than the 9's.

All that said, they both change gears just fine.
 

driftking

Wheel size expert
As mentioned the X-0 has a more crisp, direct and frictionless feel. In terms of performance it is much better than X-9 but in terms of trail time the benefit is very minimal so much that I would not consider there to be much of one at all on a dh trail. On a xc loop you could make up maybe a few seconds in a race it's not a big difference. That been said the feel of them is very nice and I found due to them been so precise it meant less worries on the trail and less chance for delayed shift response which can have clear benefits in a race.

At the end of the day I would buy them for the feel and brilliant function not to make up time in a race. It is very much a minimal last upgrade if you are looking for it's performance increase in time.
 
Last edited:

Nerf Herder

Wheel size expert
Yep ... XO shifts very cleanly... not sure if there is a difference in the amount of cable pulled/released, but it seems the XO is a bit less effort (prolly just less friction in the system)

Interestingly I'm running XO shifter mated to X9 mech ... plus an X9 Shifter coupled with an X0 Mech on separate rigs ... and I much prefer the XO/X9 combo ... over the X9/XO combo ... primarily because the shifter is the interface between rider and gears ... not the mech, if that makes sense.
 

RICOCHET

Likes Dirt
I ride X0 stuff on my bikes, however, road a test bike with x9...the x9 was great...but compared to the X0 it an't got shite
 

muskimo

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Apart from the performance gains from the x0 over the x9 being adjustment of the up shift lever, looking much cleaner and professional, and having a coated cable (nylon I believe), which is where everyone is finding the shifting more smooth, clean and crisp, especially if you don't use a product like cable magic on your bare cabe x9 etc brothers.
The X0 is heavier than the X9, so if your a weight weenie then I doubt you will want one of these ;)
 

Dirt Devil

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I used to think X9 shifters were all I would ever need until I rode a friends DH bike with X0. I picked up a used X0 shifter for my bike the next week.
 

NUMBER5

Likes Dirt
I'm going to go against the grain here but I have found that there was pretty much zero difference between X9 & X0 re performance,,, if anything, I thought the X9s felt better & fit better. For the price difference I recon it doesn't justify the upgrade to X0.

I've run X7, X9 & X0. I thought X7 - X9 was like a different planet. I've run X9 & X0 with an X0 rear merch & run Jagwire cable & inners, maybe this is the reason for the lack of performance difference, dunno, but that's my experience....
 

BM Epic

Eats Squid
Thank you so much for the varying replies, they are appreciated, i am going from a bike that had xtr everything on it, so i am wanting as good as shifting performance as i can get out of the sram gear, i found that with shimano, going to xtr shifters was a massive upgrade, it was worth the extra money for the shifting performance, i am wanting the same thing with the XO shifter, it sounds like it would be a worthwhile upgrade, as i said, i'm not the slightest bit interested in weight, so it's up to shifting performance!
I will now be going XO shifters with goodridge cable set, this should improve things!
 
Top