Tags:

• 29er
• buyers guide
• drivetrain
• Health
• shifting
• training
• Wheels

Mountain Bike Cassettes- Shimano or Sram?
When you look in the pro ranks, even Sram sponsored teams/riders have used Shimano cassettes and chains. Why? Sram cassettes and chains didn’t shift as well, and their top road cassettes were noisy and didn’t clear dirt as well (which has been fixed for 2012). But the Sram RED and 1099 and 1090 cassettes are works of art and weigh a lot less.

Are Shimano Mountain Bike Wheels Worth Buying?
There was a day when nearly every Mountain bike had Shimano hubs and somebody else’s rims. Then prebuilt system wheels became popular and even Shimano had to enter the wheel business. But now days they just don’t have the market share they once had.

Should you buy a chain brand other than Shimano?
Recently I did a report on Shimano v Sramcassette, and my conclusion was that with out a doubt most riders out there would be best off sticking with Shimano cassettes. Price, shifting, and in most cases weight are all in favour of Shimano's line of cassettes. But unlike with cassettes, there are a number of Asian companies competing in the chain market. Yes Sram sell road and MTB chains, but even thier sponsored pros tend to fit other brands so I'm not even going to worry about them!

How to bleed Shimano disc brakes
While it seems difficult bleeding disc brakes is not hard. Really nothing much new is needed that you wouldn't already have in your tool box.