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I have had yet ANOTHER zee go boom, this time it's totally bent despite me not recalling any thumps. Last 2 had clutches that gave up of their own accord. It's a bit poor. The jockeys resembled 2p pieces despite it not getting a massive amount of use. So I can only conclude they are made of some brand of soft cream cheese.
Do any of the other shimano mechs genuinely last under heavy trail use? Are SRAM any better? I'm reluctant to use SRAM as I like the dual direction flippy shifters of shimano, unless SRAM have gone this way too?
I'm thinking of getting a saint. Wise or are they also not what they used to be?
SRAM nearly 2 years no issues.
People seem to have similar amounts of problems with both Sram and Shimano. I'm on a Zee that has been fine for almost 3 years But have heard a few reports of them doing what yours did and it does munch through jockey wheels. I have heard more reports of Sram clutches just going sloppy though.
Maybe try a longer cage, I suspect that the tiny cage and wide range are what's eating my jockey wheels and possibly putting the whole mech under more stress.
Put the new ZEE on that CRC had sent as a warranty replacement, first ride today and the frame has completely twisted. Not the cage... the actual body of the mech. I couldn't even figure it out from looking at it, but it's totally wrecked, and I didn't even recall a particular impact.
Never buying a ZEE again. Might spunk out on a saint and see how that goes.
zee is the toughest rear mech I've had, accept the XTR ones from before Saint existed… they were bombproof
If you are having trouble with Shimano, SRAM will fall apart without even riding the bike. Then again you might just be unlucky. The vast majority of people have no problems with ZEE stuff.
Anything will break under the right circumstances, I've seen a twig get caught in a mates Saint mech and destroy it.
IMO Shimano is always better made than SHAM.
Had an x7 last less than a year of racing and riding, so much play in each pivot by the end that it was ghost shifting all over the shop and the clutch needed retightening every couple of months, did get ridden thru a lot of mud during last years spring and 'summer'
not put so many miles in my on my zee one but seems a lot toughter though the skinny linkages between hanger and mechs worry me a bit
I couldn't call zee well-made... it's not just the impact of today. I've had the twig wreck one, and two seperate ones had clutches give up completely, beyond any possibility of just tightening up the slack.
Might be better just buying the cheapest 10speed clutch mechs I can find and consider them more consumable than I have done previously. Definitely wouldn't want an £80 saint falling apart when it sees the first sign of mountain biking.
chain too short on a full suss bike with chain growth?
What Kelvin says.
Zee is really a short cage SLX.
Try a GS XT - longer cage will give the capacity you perhaps need, and it's a tougher mech.
Kelvin+1
Could need a longer chain.
From the sounds of it, the chain might be too short.
My xt mech is fine after 18 months, an old x9 mech exploded after 3, while not pedalling and being in the middle of the block.
Agreed stuck a deore clutch mech on my hardtail and its ace, can't tell any functional difference between that and the zee or the xt(non clutch) I had b4 it
Think I've came to the conclusion that a large part of it is me... smashed an slx on it's first ride yesterday taking a slingshot berm too tight and hit the banking with the rear end. It's my own track too, must pay attention to these corners and chop the inside out a bit!
SLX and XTR here, both lasting well..
I've been pretty impressed with the XT, the one fo mine on the hemlock looks like it's been chewed by a big metal dog but it still shifts perfectly. The jockey wheels wore a little faster than I'd like, compared to old 9speed XT. And the clutch broke but all that means is it turns into a normal mech so it's not that big a deal, with the good warranty.
Zee is a weird mix of Saint and SLX parts so maybe part of it is uneven load distributions- a strong bit and a weak bit can be weaker than 2 weak bits.
10 speed Saint seems a pretty solid number, it's got an extra brace on the parallelogram and the cage is about the same size as the Zee. Ironically I don't think I've ever hit mine off anything.
+1 check the chain growth - my Banshee Spitfire has some horrendously long chain growth (just take your shock off to see), it makes the XT GS clutch creak like buggery and also causes a distinct "kink/resistance" if that's the right word (s) when going through the full range of travel.