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Can you class 2006 bike parts as retro yet? Well, I think they are 2006 parts.
I was given a set of 3x9 shifters and mech last year (they had a spring clean). They look in very good condition. I know nothing of this vintage of Sram.
My plan is to use them on a 24" bike build I am putting together for my daughter, once I have offered up the mech to see how well it works with 24" wheels.
My question is, how is the shifting mechanism? Is it a light, easy shift? Suitable for little hands? Or are they too nice/rare for an 8 year old? ?
I've mostly used sram and found them to be easy to shift, but on the XO, so cant say how light lower groupset models are.
I think I've got a set of the 2/3x10+ mech sitting new in a box with some lovely custom ano purple paddles on them.
The only downside I've ever heard about them was the cage tended to be a bit flimsy, so avoid bashing it.
Yeah it's really good kit- when shimano made their 10-speed range they just outright copied the Sram 9-speed shift feel and cable pull, nice compliment. Lovely mix of chonky feedbacky substantial feel without being too heavy which I reckon will suit a kid's bike well. You get some adjustment on the X0 as well which might help small hands.
The rear mechs are weird, they wear really fast and develop tons of slop and flex and generally feel completely broken, and yet inexplicably once you put cable and chain tension on them they just work perfectly no matter how wrecked they are, it's uncanny. Sram literally never worked out how to make a front mech that worked properly mind you but if you need a front, shimano 9 speed works perfectly and is actually good.
More than 20 years old is retro in my book.
Yeah not far off 20 years (assuming that it is a 2006 model).
Are 9-speed Shimano cassettes compatible?
The rear mechs are fragile as anything - I'd bear that in mind if it's going on a kid's bike. How rough is she with her stuff? Does she just chuck her bike on the ground? If so, I'd not put that mech on. It was the product that initially put me off Sram, and I've not had any of their stuff since that's convinced me otherwise.
The shifters are pretty good. Good for little hands as you can adjust the position of the thumb paddle, and there's no slop at all so small hands aren't pushing a lever a fair way before the cable engages. The insides are made of cheese but should be fine.
The carbon cages seemed too delicate. I went through in quick succession before switching to an older alloy cage version which I still have.
That would be fantastic @IvanDobski, thank you very much!
I might have spoken too soon, I've now got a sneaking suspicion I threw it all out when sorting kit for my classifieds clearout. I'll have a better look and let you know for definite but it'd definitely be sod's law that after keeping it for 15yrs I then bin it all a week before it would be of use to someone!
I'm still using those exact shifters and mech on... ummm... 4 of my bikes!
Still work great and look cooooool ? #3x9ForTheWin !
I dunno, I found the carbon cages to be kind of differently durable- they shrug off some stuff, and explode under other stuff, it's kind of all or nothing. I always felt like sideloading and such- ie the stuff kids tend to do a lot of- they were good with, maybe they had a little more flex or something sideways. But rockstrikes while riding, not so much, and if they go in a wheel they are just dead whereas the alu ones you could often hammer and bend flat again. Eh, this isn't science but I'd a feeling that when the carbon cage did explode, it was maybe protecting the knuckles? And they're basically impossible to straighten once bent.
Definitely had a couple of spectacular failures but i felt like overall they were probably more durable, it's just you don't really feel it when you've just exploded some carbon.