@mak After many years of having Shimano shifters because they came with the bikes I bought I finally bought a bike with Sram bar furniture. After a settling in period, I decided that I preferred the Sram set up and converted my other bike to the thumb only set up instead of the Shimano thumb and forefinger.
What I liked about the thumb only shifting of Sram was that I could brake and change gear at the same time. The Sram Matchmaker mounts are a work of genius and I would be proud to be the designer who came up with that. The Shimano I-spec system by comparison is clunky and restrictive.
I can't recall ever having a gear shifter that didn't have multi-shifting from small to big, although I must have had in my first few bikes but without having a clue at the time. I have always had what I term "mechanical sympathy" and I've never been able to force myself to change gear under load, I just seem psychologically incapable of doing so. I just change gear when I need to, pausing the pressure from my feet without having to think about it. The emtb has a handy feature that helps when you absolutely must change gear when climbing, but can't let off the pressure without losing momentum, and it's called a mode shift. That is a seamless and mechanically simple way of getting past that crunch point without crunching the gears. A second or so later I can usually shift gear and then downshift the power mode. No crunching required!
My current bike, my first and only emtb, has an 11-speed Shimano XT M8000 shifter & mech and with an XT cassette. I can shift from small to large up to five gears in one go. I seldom have the need to do so and you can be sure that I use mechanical sympathy when I do. Two, three or four shifts is much more usual. Going from big to small is one at a time and I have never needed more.
Sram NX is lower down the scale on Sram's universe than XT is on Shimano's. Sram and Shimano compete like crazy, so I expect that their top and bottom are probably each close equivalents. I guess it is a matter of personal opinion on which is best. My opinion is that the XT is better than NX. Many would say that Shimano SLX hits the sweet spot and maybe GX in the Sram universe. But often we get no choice, we buy a whole bike and we get what is on offer at the price. It's a balance between the suspension, the shifting and the braking.
Getting used to Sram when I was used to Shimano was easier than moving from stick shift to an auto box on a car. Problems arose when I had one of each and moved from one to the other frequently. But that too settled down and I automatically made the mental and physical adjustment required. Although I can use either, I have my preference. (Auto boxes and Sram).
Edit: If you believe the Shimano shifter requires too much lever pressure to shift from small to big gears, then adjust the clutch tension on the mech. It's easy to do.
