Out of the loop - MTB components

[owlgirl]

Thanks for the advice! I am pretty sure I'll get a HT. I actually have a mountain bike, an old Trek, but it's been living in the yard for ~4 years, and I think it would be cheaper to get a new bike than rebuild the old spider infested, rusted mess that the Trek has become. It makes me really sad that I let that bike go; I feel like a terrible bike mama but what's done is done. Thanks for the info on the components! i'm looking forward to testing out some bikes

[ikkin]

XT is great. Strong, light, reliable.

SRAMs X.9 group is also awesome. Better than XT in my opinion, but overall really comparable.

Goes a little something like this:

Shimano:
LX<XT<XTR

SRAM:
x7<X9<X0

[MyRubyE]

My Gary fisher hi-fi deluxx GS has S-Ram 7 &. 9 components. W/juicy-five disk brakes. No "major" problems, just a few minor with shifting. Shimano components on my other bikes never gave me any problems.