So I've been thinking of switching to a SRAM drivetrain, mainly because of the weight of the cassettes. I've been riding Shimano for a really long time, I've always liked the feel of them, but I'm not too hung up on Shimano vs SRAM, I figure they're both pretty close in terms of performance.
I've been thinking of going 11-speed lately, if only to get Shimano's wider range cassette (I've found 11-42 is just about right for 1x for me). But then I'd have to change shifter/derailleur as well as cassette. So if I'm going to change my whole drivetrain, I figured this is the time to look at SRAM. I looked at the weight of the cassettes, and the SRAM cassettes are about 200g lighter than Shimano's. Given this is unsprung weight, this is pretty darn appealing... but...
When I last used to ride SRAM cassettes (maybe 4 years ago), I used to bend the cogs on a fairly regular basis, like at least once a year. Given the costs of these suckers, it's not a wormhole I'm willing to go down unless I'm reasonably certain this isn't an issue anymore...
Does anyone have any insights? Why are the SRAM cassettes so much lighter? Besides the manufacturing process, do they use lighter/softer materials?
I've been thinking of going 11-speed lately, if only to get Shimano's wider range cassette (I've found 11-42 is just about right for 1x for me). But then I'd have to change shifter/derailleur as well as cassette. So if I'm going to change my whole drivetrain, I figured this is the time to look at SRAM. I looked at the weight of the cassettes, and the SRAM cassettes are about 200g lighter than Shimano's. Given this is unsprung weight, this is pretty darn appealing... but...
When I last used to ride SRAM cassettes (maybe 4 years ago), I used to bend the cogs on a fairly regular basis, like at least once a year. Given the costs of these suckers, it's not a wormhole I'm willing to go down unless I'm reasonably certain this isn't an issue anymore...
Does anyone have any insights? Why are the SRAM cassettes so much lighter? Besides the manufacturing process, do they use lighter/softer materials?