[Balgaroth]

Saw those ztto cassettes but questioned it.. $150ish for it vs $300 for a GX from Sram.

How does it shift, because it looks to barely have any shift ramps?

Some of their ads say don't backpedal in the 50t gear. hmm.

At the time I pulled the trigger the HG was 70€, which was less than half the price of GX, HG compatible for less than 400g which basically have no equivalent on the market. I figured that even if it lasted half a season it would still be cheaper. Haven't experiennced back pedaling issue but I run non-boost rings on a boost frame because I find the chainlines totaly retarded with boost rings (i need efficiency so good chainline when I am climbing, not when sprinting). The XD version is on a bike which had issues with backpedaling using a cheap 9-42t xd cassette, the swap solved the problem even tho it never was a problem while actually riding. Look for a thicker biggest ring with the teeth ramped spoke side. As for shifting issue I have problem but I attribute it more to the poor performance of new shimano derailleurs past 200km rather than the cassette.

101?
199?

Since going on Aexpress seems too hard, 114poe to be precise. Anything above 60poe is good enough for my needs so rounding to 100 seems fair enough, usually you don't round to 100 for 199 ...

 

[dump]

So $300 for a cassette these days? What madness.

 

[rideit]

Deore and SLX shift amazingly well, are damn durable, and are cheap as fuck.

 

[Gary]

Deore and SLX shift amazingly well, are damn durable, and are cheap as fuck.

Zee with 105/Deore 10 speed shifts better. have smaller/closer less stupid jumps in gearing, create less chainslap is MOAR durable and a LOT cheaper

I remember when this used to be a DH forum

 

[rideit]

Zee with 105/Deore 10 speed shifts better. have smaller/closer less stupid jumps in gearing, create less chainslap is MOAR durable and a LOT cheaper

I remember when this used to be a DH forum

It’s not the retro/vintage forum, either

 

[Gary]

Kinda is

 

[rideit]

Fair fookin’ point!

 

[StiHacka]

Nah, you'll have to pray 11sp xx1/x01 drive train off my cold fingers.

 

[Balgaroth]

Deore and SLX shift amazingly well, are damn durable, and are cheap as fuck.

I beg to differ, cable housing receiver is at a stupid angle making it almost impossible to have decent cable routing without having a massive loop at the back. Add to this a very weak parallelogram spring that make downshift pretty poor as soon as your cable isn't 100% smooth and a clutch that needs to be rebuilt mid season and has a big impact on shifting performance when tight enough to keep the chain quiet on the downs. I usually prefer shimano products over sram but over the season I faced those problems on 3 different bikes, 2 with Deore, one with XT.

 

[rideit]

I’m just talking about cassettes. Yes, Shimano kinda fucked up all of the derailluers besides XTR, which is absolutely bomber. I have two bikes with XTR rears that both have about 1000 miles each on them, and they have been flawless. No clutch rebuilds, silent and as perfect shifing now as on day 1.

 

[Cerberus75]

I beg to differ, cable housing receiver is at a stupid angle making it almost impossible to have decent cable routing without having a massive loop at the back. Add to this a very weak parallelogram spring that make downshift pretty poor as soon as your cable isn't 100% smooth and a clutch that needs to be rebuilt mid season and has a big impact on shifting performance when tight enough to keep the chain quiet on the downs. I usually prefer shimano products over sram but over the season I faced those problems on 3 different bikes, 2 with Deore, one with XT.

I was a Shimano fan until the new generation came out. Weak shifters, derailleur, brake levers and piston seals. Half my customers have moved to Sram or smaller companies.

 

[HardtailHack]

Zee with 105/Deore 10 speed shifts better. have smaller/closer less stupid jumps in gearing, create less chainslap is MOAR durable and a LOT cheaper

I remember when this used to be a DH forum

I am still running an 11spd Sunrace road cassette and it is good, 11-36 lets me run a short cage mech.

 

[Leafy]

I have the same bleed kit from aliexpress. Besides the shipping times the buying experience there is on point. You basically win the dispute with the seller almost guaranteed if the item never comes or easily get some or all money back it its a scam product.

I also like the foamy grips for 99 cents vs $10 at the bike shop and snail brakes. The only thing I hate about the grips is you have to step up to $2 to get the ones that dont have a logo in the bar end plug, the logo ones break if you even gently set your bike down.

I dont get the shimano mech hate, besides the goody cable housing loop. SLX completely blows NX out of the water while only being 70% of the cost. It shifts way better even on an NX cassette and it basically never needs adjustment when the NX needs it like every other ride. I haven't used the SLX shifter, only the XT for the double upshift, but I assume that's also way better than the NX one. And dont say just get the GX derailleur, you can get a whole SLX/XT combo for what those fucking things cost, and you get the double upshift and a way nicer shifter for your money. So if we want to do comparisons, it should be on price, NX vs XT, SX vs SLX, XTR vs X01.

 

[slimshady]

I dont get the shimano mech hate, besides the goody cable housing loop. SLX completely blows NX out of the water

I agree on the shifting quality front. Having SRAM equalling GX to XT is a blatant lie. NX and below have enough plastic to make Greta Thundberg have a seizure. But yesterday I saw my friend, who is a veteran bike shop owner, get a SLX derailleur back into shape WITH HIS BARE HANDS.

The customer had hit a rock with it and the pulley cage was basically screwed up, but the hit also twisted the parallelogram. He grabbed the B knuckle with a vise and the pulley cage with his hands and basically manhandled the parallelogram back into shape.

What do I mean to show with this short Halloween story? The parallelogram isn't forged anymore, it's a stamped aluminum piece. If you try to force a forged part back into its original shape it would simply break, while a stamped part has a much greater plasticity. Shimano has been dropping the quality of every single product line since the introduction of their 12-speed groupsets. I mean, SRAM might have paved the way for them, but that is by no means a justification for them to charge an absurd amount of money for sub Acera quality parts in their medium/top tier.

 

[Leafy]

If SRAM doesn't want us to judge NX directly with XT they need to reduce the price.

 

[Gary]

I love that Shady's LBS owner has an actual vice for a hand

 

[Cerberus75]

I agree NX is junk. Just new Shimano is Junk in a different way. It feels great but it's fragile.

 

[slimshady]

I love that Shady's LBS owner has an actual vice for a hand

Ok, Mr. Shakespeare. A vice and ONE of his hands? Does that sound better to you?

Sorry for not being a native English speaker.

Also, it's vise, not vice IIRC.

 

[rideit]

Is your hand…sinful?

 

[slimshady]

Is your hand…sinful?

I'll go and ask my friend for you.

Mine certainly is...

 

[slimshady]

If SRAM doesn't want us to judge NX directly with XT they need to reduce the price.

That's actually "this is what's wrong with the industry" material. SRAM pretending GX is a tier-2 groupset is pure BS. I've seen brand new derailleurs with so much play in their parallelogram you just can't get them to shift properly. Yet they charge enough for NX to place it directly against XT .

 

[Bike078]

This season I have experimented the following parts with good success:
- 11-46, 11spd, HG light cassette (ztto) currently 1500km of enduro and some Bikepark and looks barely used.
- 9-46, 11spd, XD light cassette (ztto) same built but less time on it but no reason not to believe it will be as good as the HG.
- bleed kit (transparent with yellow bits)
- ARC boost hubs, 100+ poe, 32 jbend spokes. 1500km on it, nearly 80,000m of elevation enduro and bike park. Bearings died mid season which is easily replaced and happens to me even on reputable hubs. Freehub sealing isn't the best so a quick clean every so often is advised. Got a new set for my next bike and the freehub seal seem to have been improved.
- I used different flat pedals on my race bmx and off season too. Currently using some nylon carbon fiber models that looks pretty close to the Kona wahwah pedals (named shanmashi or something). Excellent grip and feel, the oversized bearing isn't amazing but it is an easy fix, everything else is good.
- Satori 31.8/150mm dropper has been really good, I installed it on my winter hardtail last winter and it is still going super strong. It was pretty dry inside out of the box and after a little bit of stendec fork grease it has been perfect since.
- ZTTO dropper control. Now this one is so/so, it works really well and is pretty well built, but ergonics are a bit off if you don't have big or bigger hands I think. I am a size 11 for gloves and it is just ok for me, wouldn't give it to my girlfriend for instance.
- ZTTO single clamp grips with the really thin rubber fins are pretty good if you like thin grips, rubber is tacky enough
- I tried different discs mostly from ZTTO in 180 and 203 size, all good. They are on the heavier side but I guess it is not a bad thing for heat management (had branded light discs that would heat-up way to quickly before). Not sure if they wear out faster than normal discs but since they are cheap as chips I replace them as soon as the braking surface starts dishing.
- Miscellaneous like cables, housings, barbs and olives, stem spacers, grub screws, Ti screws, valves and so on.

Once I saw some of the AExpress products sold on Alltricks under their brand name (Neatt) it definitely helped me trying more stuff off AExpress. Not all is good (rings are cheese, cheaper cassettes are meh, still experimenting with pads) but you can make substantial savings and not compromise on performance soI would rather put my money into buying quality tires for instance.

Havs you tried Sunrace cassettes? How do they compare to the ZTTO ones?
Good to know that the Satori dropper is working well for you. I have seen them recommended in local fb bike forums as an alternative to more expensive droppers.

 

[Gary]

it's vise, not vice IIRC.

In the UK it is definitely "vice"

Sorry for not being a native English speaker.

Don't be sorry. Just don't defend "American English". it's an oxymoron

 

[slimshady]

Don't be sorry. Just don't defend "American English". it's an oxymoron

Point taken. And thanks for the free language lesson!

 

[rideit]

Don't be sorry. Just don't defend "American English". it's an oxymoron

Are you a little butthurt GB lost the colonies?

 

[Gary]

I'm Scottish mate.
"Great Britain" is another oxymoron

And if you'd ever been here you'd realise why "United Kingdom" is an even more ludicrous title.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

I'm Scottish mate.
"Great Britain" is another oxymoron

And if you'd ever been here you'd realise why "United Kingdom" is an even more ludicrous title.

Greedy Britain...

 

[rideit]

Seeing as I studied (Poli Sci) in London and travelled all of the Isles extensively…ahh, whatever…”Never Forget BRIGADOON!

 

[Balgaroth]

Havs you tried Sunrace cassettes? How do they compare to the ZTTO ones?
Good to know that the Satori dropper is working well for you. I have seen them recommended in local fb bike forums as an alternative to more expensive droppers.

Go a Sunrace 10s/11-40/HG a while back for my hardtail (csmx3, maybe ?) sourced from Alltricks or Probikeshop so legit and it is still shifting super well despite having shit loads of km on it since my hardtail is also used for "road cycling" and commuting. Not as light as AExpress cassettes but definitely decent option.

 

[slimshady]

I'm on my second 11 speed, 11-46 Sunrace cassette. Shifting is very good, durability is on par with the two big S, and price is about half of the offerings from those brands. Their only weak point IMHO is the lock ring. Being aluminum it tends to get destroyed much sooner than the more reputable ones.

 

[Leafy]

Oh I did remember another thing I've bought there. Narrow wide aluminum jockey wheels. Quality really varies in mainly the bearings. Most of them have no seals on the bearings. All the ones I got that claimed to have ceramic bearings were actually nylon, or at least the races were nylon since they were flexible. And it's hit or miss if they actually fit tighter into the axel screws than even nx wheels. They're also weaker than the stock nylon jockeys from either major brands, so I'm guessing they're not even 6061 so either a 3000 series or one of the strange Chinese standards. So they're probably best left for road bikes. I haven't tried the nylon bodied ones because they don't really have sizes that work with 12 speed derailleurs. Either way they do take standard size bearings, but any us source of sealed bearings costs twice what you paid for the jockeys, ha.

 

[dovbush66]

+1 for the motsuv / whatever chainrings, 2 bikes with good mileage on them, no complaints

'ez mtb' bleed kit is spoken highly of already, I haven't much to add.

I have a 'Fouriers' bash guard on the DH bike, holding up pretty well so far with some decent hits to it.

 

[Jm_]

When y'all say durability is on par with big Ss, do you mean the ~5 seasons we get out of X01/XX1s?

 

[slimshady]

When y'all say durability is on par with big Ss, do you mean the ~5 seasons we get out of X01/XX1s?

Good observation. I've never been able to afford X01/XX1 so I can only compare to NX/SLX (i.e. HG compatible) stuff.

 

[Gary]

WTF does " ~ 5 seasons" even mean?

 

[johnbryanpeters]

WTF does " ~ 5 seasons" even mean?

Winter, spring, summer, fall, and death.

 

[Bike078]

Go a Sunrace 10s/11-40/HG a while back for my hardtail (csmx3, maybe ?) sourced from Alltricks or Probikeshop so legit and it is still shifting super well despite having shit loads of km on it since my hardtail is also used for "road cycling" and commuting. Not as light as AExpress cassettes but definitely decent option.

I currently have a 10 speed Shimano 11-42 and would like to go 11-46 or 11-50. Sunrace and ZTTO 10 speed are about the same price. If I remember correctly Sunrace also make the Box cassettes?

 

[Bike078]

Good observation. I've never been able to afford X01/XX1 so I can only compare to NX/SLX (i.e. HG compatible) stuff.

Same. I could never afford XO1/XX1, it would be financially irresponsible and life-threatening (via my wife). Someone here said SLX was cheap as fuck. It isn't to me and many others you arrogant son of a bitch.

 

[rideit]

As quality cassettes go these days, SLX is cheap. Very cheap. ($124 vs. $300 for GX)
it’s all relative.

 

[Leafy]

Slx mech is cheap as fuck, for 12 speed (and 12s shimano is cheaper than 11s for that matter). Idk about cassettes, I've never had a bike long enough to wear it a cassette to need to replace it.