# Shimano Shadow vs Shadow Plus



## nbritton (Jul 26, 2016)

What is Shimano Shadow? What is Shadow Plus? Why is Shadow Plus better? If you already had an M781 (XT Shadow) is it worth $20 to upgrade to a M786 (XT Shadow Plus)?


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## Slash5 (Nov 27, 2011)

Don't have Google where you live?
Shadow is a lower profile cage and Shadow derailleurs have a more direct housing routing at the derailleur. Shadow plus has a clutch. If your bike is working well with your present derailleur then you don't need a clutch.


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## mfa81 (Apr 1, 2011)

shadow+ like said have a clutch which helps taking slack of the chain, if you want to go 1x is worth getting a clutch dr otherwise like said if working fine now, unlikely you are gonna see any improvements, other than maybe less chain slap


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## eb1888 (Jan 27, 2012)

If you're being offered the option of upgrading for only 20 I'd take the +.


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## 127.0.0.1 (Nov 19, 2013)

plus basically eliminates all chain slap

if anything it makes a helluva quieter ride in the chunder
and it really works to keep chain planted on front rings


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## oneupme (Jan 4, 2016)

Yes, it eliminates all chain slap. I forgot what chain slap was until I accidentally left the clutch off after some adjustments.

The clutch does make shifting a little more picky. I have to mentally push the lever a little further until it fully meets the next shift stop, otherwise the chain will be noisy. But it does make the chain stay put and saves my chain stays from abuse.


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## noapathy (Jun 24, 2008)

Slash5 said:


> Don't have Google where you live?


Profile says Texas, so they probably filter info like this. lol


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## nbritton (Jul 26, 2016)

noapathy said:


> Profile says Texas, so they probably filter info like this. lol


lol

Austin is very different then the rest of Texas. I asked because it wasn't clear what "Shadow" was. The M781 comes in a long (SGS) and medium (GS) cage and both look no different then the Deore LX on my old bike so I'm still not sure what you mean by "lower profile cage". I originally thought that Shadow was the old clutch technology and Shadow Plus was the new clutch technology.

For someone who is only casually into biking this terminology is very confusing. Also confusing was 27.5+ and 29+. It wasn't immediately clear what plus meant. From a marketing standpoint this is a bad choice of wording because the word "+" doesn't convey anything to people who have no knowledge of the subject. Furthermore, "+" can't be used in search engines. A better terminology would be 27.5 huskies because that gives you a good ideal of what it is without having to google it.


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## noapathy (Jun 24, 2008)

nbritton said:


> lol
> 
> Austin is very different then the rest of Texas. I asked because it wasn't clear what "Shadow" was. The M781 comes in a long (SGS) and medium (GS) cage and both look no different then the Deore LX on my old bike so I'm still not sure what you mean by "lower profile cage". I originally thought that Shadow was the old clutch technology and Shadow Plus was the new clutch technology.
> 
> For someone who is only casually into biking this terminology is very confusing. Also confusing was 27.5+ and 29+. It wasn't immediately clear what plus meant. From a marketing standpoint this is a bad choice of wording because the word "+" doesn't convey anything to people who have no knowledge of the subject. Furthermore, "+" can't be used in search engines. A better terminology would be 27.5 huskies because that gives you a good ideal of what it is without having to google it.


I can see that. Better searches turn up better results, but no matter. Here's a vid I found by searching "shimano shadow vs shadow plus" that explains the low profile part pretty well. (closer in toward the bike horizontally)

To me, plus bikes are harder to figure out with a straight search and the line between plus and fat bike are slightly blurred sometimes...but it's just a middle ground between standard mountain bikes and what they call "fat bikes", which have extra fat tires (like 4 inches or so, I think...like I said, blurred, but I'm no expert on them).


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## matt4x4 (Dec 21, 2013)

Shadow + is the way to go


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## nbritton (Jul 26, 2016)

matt4x4 said:


> Shadow + is the way to go


The clutch in my M786 Shadow+ stopped working, is this fixable?


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## tigris99 (Aug 26, 2012)

Yeap, order the parts kit or go to lbs and have them get it for you.

Sent from my XT1565 using Tapatalk


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## phlegm (Jul 13, 2006)

nbritton said:


> The clutch in my M786 Shadow+ stopped working, is this fixable?


Any chance the clutch switch is not engaged, or has moved out a bit?


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## eb1888 (Jan 27, 2012)

nbritton said:


> The clutch in my M786 Shadow+ stopped working, is this fixable?


The clutch has a cover with an o-ring seal. Take it off and investigate. Post a pic for more assistance.


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