Mountain Bike Sram

Mountain bike Sram rear derailleur/trigger shifter question?

I have a Giant Revel 2 with a Sram x3 rear derailleur and trigger shifter set, 7 speed. I want to upgrade to a Sram x7 or x9 rear derailleur, but I was wondering how much of the performance of those derailleurs will be lost by continuing to use the x3 trigger shifters. I would like to upgrade the shifters to x7 or x9 as well, but they do not make them in 7 speed, only 9 or 10 speed. Any advice, recommendations? Would I get improved shifting with a better derailleur but same shifters?

Also, I do not plan on upgrading to a 9 or 10 speed right now, as I do not have the extra money to update to a new rear wheel with 9 or 10 cogs.

YIPES!

I read your question again… I thought the other guys had your answer so I wasn’t going to.

You CAN NOT use X3 shifters with an X7 or X9 derailleur. Although the pull ratio is the same the AMOUNT of cable the shifter pulls is different. On top of that, it is questionable whether a 7 speed chain will fit through an X7 or X9 cage… I’d want to verify that first.

On top of that, most bikes that use X3 (or as called in the industry MMRD, or “mass market rear derailleur”) also have a freewheel, not a cassette. This means that to go to 9 or 10 speed you need to have a cassette compatible rear wheel. On top of that, a 7 speed rear wheel is 126mm wide and a 8/9/10 speeds are 135 wide. If your frame is aluminum you can’t “bend” the frame to fit.

The lowest end shifter that can be used (successfully) with X7 or X9 derailleurs would be SX4 or X5.

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