SRAM X.9 Trigger Shifters - Gear Review

Shimano has long forced mountain bikers to accept their take on how shifters and brake levers should work together, or how rear derailleurs should downshift quickly instead of upshifting. Well, thanks to the boys at SRAM, we don't have to take the force-fed Microsoft, er, Shimano drivetrain components. We can choose to have SRAM shifters and Hayes or Hope brakes. Heck, we could even pair the Shimano XT trigger shifters with SRAM-owned Avid levers. But, you'll never find SRAM integrating their shifters and brake levers into one, proprietary system. Just killer SRAM bike parts. When the SRAM trigger shifters were released to the public in 2004, I took an immediate liking to them. There was something much more intuitive about them than Shimano's triggers. Finally, it was possible to both upshift and downshift without taking a finger off the brake lever. We all know that stuff happens really fast on the trail, and that split-second without your finger on the brake can mean the difference between slowing down just in time to maneuver around an obstacle and having a close encounter with dirt. Dirt, meet face... face, meet dirt. Those kinds of greetings usually result in high-dollar grillwork that we'd all like to avoid. As I said, the beauty of SRAM X.9 trigger shifters is the ability to shift with your thumb in all occasions. This is so intuitive and so simple that I wonder how we lived so long without it. On the trail, the SRAM X.9 trigger shifters perform flawlessly. Crisp shifting occurred under all conditions, and when the cables got stretched, a quick twist of the dial fixed that right up. I love the feel and function of SRAM's drivetrain overall, and especially the X.9 trigger shifters. They are the only shifters I've had on my bikes since they were introduced. Buy Now: Search for SRAM Components