SRAM vs Shimano Drivetrain
- Thread starter Rhubarb
- Start date
I've been there, and done that with 9sp and 10sp Deore cassettes. Still wore out in 1 or 2 seasons. Obviously, nothing is perfect, there's no unicorn drivetrain out there, but the 11sp XO cassette has worked better for me than anything I've tried before. I like it for durability, weight, and shifting. I got an OEM one from the Commençal store, so it was half off. FWIW, I don't run it out of blind fan-boyism: I run Shimano shifter and derailleur, SRAM cassette, KMC chain, Blackspire ring, and RaceFace cranks.
I agree about fatbikers. There are some people who ride them year round. And I suppose that's fine, but in my opinion (and that's what I said earlier) it's a pretty different sport. Any time I've taken my fatbike out on trails not covered in snow, I have not enjoyed the experience. Any time a buddy has broken their "summer bike" and ridden their fatbike with the group, it has not been the same. Kinda like e-bikes. not the same sport.
Over here. Fatbikes seem to have replaced XC hardtails for older less, skilled riders who are basically riding XC slowly. Or the weird cult thing where they all meet at a coastal location to do an incredibly dull group ride along a 5mile stretch of beach and back. A bit like a roadie cafe ride with even less excitement.it probably more cake/coffee/ice cream.
This pretty much describes e-bikers over here!
Fatbikes mostly come out in winter here. There's a bunch of very fit roadies who use them to ride throughout the year. If you're willing to string "single track" with (plowed) gravel roads, there's 1000s of km to ride around here. And it can be quite pretty. These guys are on gravel bikes here but also ride fat from time to time: https://www.teknecycling.com/collection/winter-cycling-snirt-road-riding
gravel/road riding is not for me, summer or winter, but I got nothing but respect for those guys...
By XC I mean proper natural off road trails. Something I don't think the US even has with their crazy access laws. Guessing Canada is probably more sensible in that respect?
E-bikers over here do fall into a similar category but they're actually less clued up so far more likely to visit waymarked (trail/centre/bike park) trails or follow STRAVA/Trailforks routes than actually do rides involving thought, planning or actual mapping. Ebikes are not widely used here at all though.
The South East of England is by far the UK Emtb capital of the UK. and it's ironically a fairly flat area with only one vaguely hilly area (it's really not hilly by anyone elses standard). Where Brendog and Bernard Kerr are from if you've ever watched any of their local riding vids. and pretty poor access laws in comparison to Scotland.
I stumbled across Box’s Prime 9 range last week and was seriously considering this option, but couldn’t find stock. Dropped by the LBs yesterday and the owner just got a 8 and 9 speed set to try. Asked him for prices and availability. My Shimano parts have started to arrive though
The stupid burns at times. When they say how much faster they are on their fatbike. Normal people can’t comprehend how slow these ex-mountain bikers must be to be faster on a fatbike.
Been running the Box 9speed widerange on my Salsa, been pretty happy with it so far. ... and replacement parts are a fraction of Scam Sram's.
We've put the microshift cassette on a lot of bikes at the shop and they seem to go pretty well.
Just as well as Shimano NZ is a pathetic joke when it comes to holding stock..... They claim they are improving (been making these claims for maybe 5 years) but today's email from them was that they have done a really good job and now expect to be able to fill 87% of FORWARD ORDERS by the end of October.... this is forward orders not holding stuff in stock for day to day orders.
At the end of last summer put in a forward order for this spring...... if all goes well you'll get 87% of it and the rest gets backordered.
#FuckShimano
We've put the microshift cassette on a lot of bikes at the shop and they seem to go pretty well.
Just as well as Shimano NZ is a pathetic joke when it comes to holding stock..... They claim they are improving (been making these claims for maybe 5 years) but today's email from them was that they have done a really good job and now expect to be able to fill 87% of FORWARD ORDERS by the end of October.... this is forward orders not holding stuff in stock for day to day orders.
At the end of last summer put in a forward order for this spring...... if all goes well you'll get 87% of it and the rest gets backordered.
#FuckShimano
Damn, thought I'd finally be buying a Rohloff hub but their electronic shifter is moped only.
My 11 speed Sunrace cassette has been fine, mech is overdue to have the clutch adjusted.
My 11 speed Sunrace cassette has been fine, mech is overdue to have the clutch adjusted.
Just had to send back my eagle cassette- broke a handful of teeth off the largest cog and damaged one on the second largest. In the interim i upgraded to the 52t rear dinner plate, very helpful for winching up really crappy climbs
Fat bikes are faster, in sand.
I do enjoy mine and ride it often, but I have more time for winter races than summer so, there is that.
I do enjoy mine and ride it often, but I have more time for winter races than summer so, there is that.
Damn - they make a 11-50 9sp group. Interesting... very interesting... how is the shift quality?
Seems pretty good so far.
jumps are bigger between gears as 11-50t in 9 jumps instead of 11/12.
But that doesn't worry me as with 11 & 12 I tend to always change multiple gears at once, I almost never shifted 1 gear at a time.
Clutch tension is super easy to adjust with an allenkey as well.
I expect like any one by system it'll pay to have a chain checker and keep an eye on chain wear.
Yeah - that's where I am - I almost *never* just shift one gear with my Eagle GX. It just seemed to me a decently spaced 8 or 9sp wide range would be the ticket. And there it is...
And not having to buy retardedly expensive cassettes and chains would be nice...
Finally getting around to chime in on this subject.
I've got 2 bikes.
1) Latest XT shifter, derailer, XTR cassette, chain. Love the feel of the shifter, love it's crisp shifting and feedback. As mentioned the "double drop" feature is awesome (that's when you can shift into 2 smaller cogs at once). It just works. No ghost shifting, no half shifting, no noise.
2) SRAM AXS electronic shifter ("controller") and derailer. Shifts are FAST. And precise. I did not have to adjust anything when I installed this. The shifter ergonomics kinda sucks TBH IMO. Why not just make it like a mechanical shifter? Takes a bit to get used to, but after that you get it. Expensive AF. Super adjustable via phone app.
The AXS really blows away any other SRAM product IMO. Mainly based on its speed and accuracy of shifts. But there are plenty of risks with battery and...well...it's electronic. You lose any "feel" from your shifter/derailer. Mainly when "feeling" you are in the biggest or smallest cog via the shifter/der tension feedback. Not really a bad thing, but it's a thing.
The XT/XTR combo is the best I've experienced in a while from Shimano. Ergonomics, feel and performance are the best vs SRAM mechs. I do feel like the mechanical shifting is "slow" compared to the AXS. That's the only negative I can give it. But the shifter lever feel of Shimano is way better.
I've got 2 bikes.
1) Latest XT shifter, derailer, XTR cassette, chain. Love the feel of the shifter, love it's crisp shifting and feedback. As mentioned the "double drop" feature is awesome (that's when you can shift into 2 smaller cogs at once). It just works. No ghost shifting, no half shifting, no noise.
2) SRAM AXS electronic shifter ("controller") and derailer. Shifts are FAST. And precise. I did not have to adjust anything when I installed this. The shifter ergonomics kinda sucks TBH IMO. Why not just make it like a mechanical shifter? Takes a bit to get used to, but after that you get it. Expensive AF. Super adjustable via phone app.
The AXS really blows away any other SRAM product IMO. Mainly based on its speed and accuracy of shifts. But there are plenty of risks with battery and...well...it's electronic. You lose any "feel" from your shifter/derailer. Mainly when "feeling" you are in the biggest or smallest cog via the shifter/der tension feedback. Not really a bad thing, but it's a thing.
The XT/XTR combo is the best I've experienced in a while from Shimano. Ergonomics, feel and performance are the best vs SRAM mechs. I do feel like the mechanical shifting is "slow" compared to the AXS. That's the only negative I can give it. But the shifter lever feel of Shimano is way better.
There's a piece here at Bike stating it's a match made in heaven actually...
A Mismatch Made in Heaven: XTR/AXS | BIKE Magazine
Bike's Senior Editor and world's biggest hypocrite explains why his mixed Shimano/SRAM drivetrain has left him regret-free.
www.bikemag.com
I'm so glad I finally pulled the trigger on the XT shifter when I had to replace my broken SLX derailleur (tension spring got tweaked in the crash that broke my shoulder in june and it wouldnt keep tension on the chain with the clutch engaged). The double upshift makes me not even consider going to one of those wide range 9 speed solutions. And the shift effort is so light sometimes I even accidentally double upshift when I didnt want to. Its way lighter than the bike was with all NX, or SLX mech and NX shifter.
There's actually a hidden feature... if you *pull* on the upshift lever instead of pushing it, you can *only* shift a single gear, so there's no way to accidentally double-shift that way. You can even kinda hook your thumb under the upshift lever and pull it backwards to engage this mode; not exactly the most ergonomic but maybe easier than using a finger if that finger is on the brake in you're in the super-rough and don't want to move it. Apparently this was added way back in the Saint 10sp days because DH racers were accidentally double-shifting too much. On the Saint the double-shift action was a lot lighter, it's way better in current XT/R stuff.
And yeah... I use that double-upshift ALL. THE. TIME. I can't even consider SRAM because of it. (and other reasons...)
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I find the second shift on current xt8100 is quite well defined....
But for me it was not a problem on the older xt or Saint
Cut Gary some slack. Si doesn't recognize whiskeys per haggis as an official unit.
... which is why I said you can technically use your thumb for this too, albeit in a weird non-ergonomic hook-under-and-pull way. I actually used to do this sometimes with the old Saint 10sp, because contrary to others' experience noted above, I found it way too easy to accidentally double-upshift in the rough stuff. Current XT has a lot stiffer action so I never feel the need to do that anymore. YMMV.
Wish I could find the original place I found the info that this was added to Saint only initially as a DH feature way back in the day... here's one post about it but I could have sworn I saw more "official" info at one point:
Zee 10 speed shifters are double direction upshift but single upshift. multiple downshift.
I think they are my favourite shifter and I do upshift with my thumb and finger dependent on my hand position and what I'm doing. you can even pull the upshift lever with the back of your thumb.
I don''t like multi upshift at all either.
I think they are my favourite shifter and I do upshift with my thumb and finger dependent on my hand position and what I'm doing. you can even pull the upshift lever with the back of your thumb.
I don''t like multi upshift at all either.
Ok, quick question. Seeing as it is next to impossible to keep up with bottom bracket, crank interface shitshow, does anyone know if SRAM GX eagle are self extract crank bolts? Its been 2 years since a new crank set and no SRAM in several years so not sure what is what on these.
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Went though B-Tension again, verified chain length again, filed notable burrs on the 3-4 higher cogs (where the issues were showing up), and then managed to pick up and install a new hanger. Issued resolved immediately. Thinking it must be as everyone else has reported, and the Derailleur is sensitive to hanger alignment.
All Shimano parts arrived just prior to picking up the hanger so will be keeping these till the current SRAM drive train is done (will be pushing to get through Winter).
Cheers to all for help and advice.
All Shimano parts arrived just prior to picking up the hanger so will be keeping these till the current SRAM drive train is done (will be pushing to get through Winter).
Cheers to all for help and advice.