Upgrading drivetrain on basic 2013 kona operator

dj_14

dj_14

Likes Dirt
hey guys,

been thinking about upgrading my drivetrain on my 2013 kona operator, and i need some help :) been out of the loop for a while and its my first DH bike in about 18 months.
its currently running
- Gravity Gap Cranks
- X9 rear mech
- x7 shifter

and i was thinking of
- shimano zee cranks or travativ descendants
- shimano zee shifter or x9 shifter (prefer the X0/saint Feel but dont have the cash)
- simano zee rear mech or X9 type 2 rear mech

im open to anything else. or tell me that im an idiot and not to bother! :)

thanks for your help :)

Mitch.
 
morticus

morticus

Likes Dirt
Swap the x7 shifter out for an x9 or xo. You probs won't feel much difference in the way the derailler works. 2013 was type 2 stuff i thought? Dont worry about the cranks or derailler, upgrade forks or rear shock. It could be a cheap upgrade if buying some r2c / world cup / 40s that are a year or so old and your current forks/ rear shock are in good condition.
My 2 c
 
moorey

moorey

call me Mia
I've just gone from an old xo shifter to new zee.... I miss my xo feel.
Crc have xtr rear shifter for about $70 on special. Just ordered one. Bargain. Zee shadow+ is $70.
<$150 well spent for you I'd reckon. Avoid the type 2 in my opinion.
 
dj_14

dj_14

Likes Dirt
morticus said:
Swap the x7 shifter out for an x9 or xo. You probs won't feel much difference in the way the derailler works. 2013 was type 2 stuff i thought? Dont worry about the cranks or derailler, upgrade forks or rear shock. It could be a cheap upgrade if buying some r2c / world cup / 40s that are a year or so old and your current forks/ rear shock are in good condition.
My 2 c
Click to expand...
My last bike was a pimped out glory 00. I found the suspension was over the top and had to many adjustments and was quite overwalming. I wanted to keep it relatively simple interms of suspension set up. Maybe swap out springs to get the righht weight if needed but im not overly phased on having a simple suspension set up :)

I like the idea of swapping the shifter out. I had a type 2 mech on my butcher and it was really quite amazing how much load you could put through a crank without it jumping.
Thats why i was thinking it would be great on a dh bike?

Thanks for reply much apperaited :)
 
dj_14

dj_14

Likes Dirt
moorey said:
I've just gone from an old xo shifter to new zee.... I miss my xo feel.
Crc have xtr rear shifter for about $70 on special. Just ordered one. Bargain. Zee shadow+ is $70.
<$150 well spent for you I'd reckon. Avoid the type 2 in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Food for thought....
I had xtr on my last dh bike. Wasnt so impressed. :( xo shifters feel much crisper than xtr in my opinion. I do really like the shimano mechs at the moment though.

Why do you say aviod the type 2?
 
moorey

moorey

call me Mia
Some people report a knock as suspension compresses....not everyone. Also, they hang out a fair way compared to shimano. ALSO, zee shorty for $70!!! Shit yeah.
Been living SRAM shifter feel for last few years, which is one of the reasons I've been keeping 2 of the bikes with 9sp xo shifters with shadow+ mechs on 9sp cassettes.
 
S

Shredden

Knows his goats
Yeah, get a clutch derailleur. Zee shifter/derailleur is sick.

Keep the cranks until you bend them, which will probably be about 5 runs if my previous experiences with gap cranks is anything to go by.
 
moorey

moorey

call me Mia
Shredden said:
Yeah, get a clutch derailleur. Zee shifter/derailleur is sick.

Keep the cranks until you bend them, which will probably be about 5 runs if my previous experiences with gap cranks is anything to go by.
Click to expand...
You bend every crank you touch, you fucking fat fuck.
 
dj_14

dj_14

Likes Dirt
moorey said:
Some people report a knock as suspension compresses....not everyone. Also, they hang out a fair way compared to shimano. ALSO, zee shorty for $70!!! Shit yeah.
Been living SRAM shifter feel for last few years, which is one of the reasons I've been keeping 2 of the bikes with 9sp xo shifters with shadow+ mechs on 9sp cassettes.
Click to expand...
Shredden said:
Yeah, get a clutch derailleur. Zee shifter/derailleur is sick.

Keep the cranks until you bend them, which will probably be about 5 runs if my previous experiences with gap cranks is anything to go by.
Click to expand...
not to interested in bending cranks so i might look to upgrade.

sram type 2 89 short cage/ x9 shifter and decendant cranks is $400 on crc

shimano zee shifter , mech and crank $260 on crc

worth the extra $150?
 
donthucktoflat

donthucktoflat

Eats Squid
Zee shifter feels quite plasticky.. is single release though so is great under pressure (no accidental double shifts and henceforth stem eatage) on a dh bike.
 
morticus

morticus

Likes Dirt
Could always buy a saint shifter? I'd be going zee if building a bike i think. Good bang for your buck
 
dj_14

dj_14

Likes Dirt
donthucktoflat said:
Zee shifter feels quite plasticky.. is single release though so is great under pressure (no accidental double shifts and henceforth stem eatage) on a dh bike.
Click to expand...
Saint shifter is about $30-40 more? Worth the coin? I would have thought the saint shifter was similar to the m810's plastic feel too?
 
donthucktoflat

donthucktoflat

Eats Squid
dj_14 said:
Saint shifter is about $30-40 more? Worth the coin? I would have thought the saint shifter was similar to the m810's plastic feel too?
Click to expand...
Haven't had a go at the saint shifter. I know lopes (and prob others) use the zee for the single release.

As I'm riding a trail bike I kinda wished I'd gone with an xt shifter for the feel but it has proven itself very robust and has taken a few nasty hits without an issue. For the price I don't know if I would bother with saint.
 
dj_14

dj_14

Likes Dirt
Yer, it would seem that there wouldn't be a huge amount of difference between saint and zee in terms of the shifter. I could buy 2 zee shifters for the price of a saint.
I pick up the bike tomorrow. I've upgraded my wheel set and cockpit and have revised the funds and don't have enough room on the credit card to do the upgrade. Id have to sell some parts. :( so ill have to wait til next month :(
 
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