A mate's son's bike has broken - ancient bike and the rear mech has snapped. It's a long story but looking to replace rather than buy a new bike.
Will a standard SRAM X3 work?
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That mech looks ancient which I think means it probably predates the 1:1 cable actuation thing that SRAM brought in (IIRC this was around 2006, at least on the higher end SRAM stuff).
My guess is that your X3 mech will be 1:1 so it won't work, unfortunately.
EDIT: if all else fails, you should be able to get a mech + shifter in a more modern flavour.
Thanks. I wasn't quite expecting a museum piece when he called and asked me to have a look.
I was thinking that might the old SRAM stuff might be pre-1to1. Hmmm... might check out the charity bike shop round the corner.