My Ripley V1 arrived with an XTR drivetrain. I loved it so much I also swapped out the XT brakes for XTR. That was probably one of the best bike related purchases I ever made. Even though my new Ripmo came with XX1 AXS Ibis still puts XTR brakes on the bike. They are phenomenal.
Over the 6 years I’ve owned my Ripley I’ve replaced my XTR drive train twice. That’s because the largest chain ring is aluminum and wears quickly if you spend a lot of time climbing. My most recent drive train replacement was just a few months ago and I’ve already worn out the largest chain ring. Luckily Shimano is going to replace it under warranty. Still I’m betting if I keep burning them up eventually they will stop replacing them and blame me for abuse of equipment.
A new XTR cassette will run you around $380 and weighs 359 grams. An Shimano XT cassette runs around $165 and comes in at 476 grams only incurring a 117 gram penalty. So far I’m a sucker and I’ve gone for the XTR cassette every time but I might have to use the XT cassette the next time I have to pay to replace it.
The problem with XTR is that buying it is expensive. Also, replacing it is expensive but to quite Ferris Bueller, “It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.”