Wide Ranging Review
Garbaruk 11-Speed Wide Range Drivetrain
As some of you may remember, I had some complaints about the 2x GRX drivetrain in my first look at the Canyon Grizl CF8 Suspension. And here at NSMB, we've been preaching the benefits of 1x for a while now. There's a whole series on Fewer Gears. A bit of research revealed there are several ways to go about increasing the overall range of your Shimano GRX drivetrain while ditching the front derailleur, and I was all over it.
I should note that Garbaruk manufactures a wide range of wide range options that cover most 11- and 12-speed options and freehubs for your mountain bike if you're looking to increase range or desperate to shave a few grams off your bike. Or if you're looking to replace a worn out cassette and min-max your upgrades. So while we'll focus on the GRX group here, have a look over at the website for a whole range of upgrades.
At heart, I'm a bit of a nerd. But as tempting as it is with a product like this to dive into gear inches, percentage changes between gears, ratios, and the like... anyone who cares enough to deep dive into this is already opening a spreadsheet or web calculator to do their own numbers (if you're unfamiliar with any of this, you should go read Morgan's piece here as a preamble). The rest of you want to know how much this costs, does it work, and do you need to run the flashy oversize pulley wheels? (no, but you can also get them in lots of fun colours).
Out with that little guy, on with the pie plate. I pulled the GRX cassette off at about 350 kilometers, and have a similar number on the new Garbaruk.
At the heart of this swap is an 11-50 tooth cassette. Shift ramps, bevels, and chamfered tooth profiles across the range. For the nerds, it's composed of 11-13-15-17-20-24-28-32-36-42-50.
Construction
Gears on the ridiculously light (314 gram) cassette are a chromoly steel for gears 2-11 with only the 50-tooth made of 7075 aluminum. All 10 steel gears are machined from one piece - think SRAM Eagle XO1 - and bolted to the aluminum pie plate. Garbaruk lists compatibility with most Shimano 11-speed systems including Di2, as well as SRAM 11-speed mountain rear derailleurs.
The largest gear is aluminum, while the rest are steel. They're mated with torx fasteners and in case you've forgotten what you bought, you can always check your gearing as it's machined directly in to the cassette.
Replacement jockey wheels as well - these roll on sealed bearings, have tonnes of fun machining to look at, and are made from aluminum with a touch of drillium.
The front ring is also labelled; with 42 teeth it yields a significantly lower gear than the stock drivetrain with its 48/31 rings and 11-34t cassette.
Your standard Shimano GRX cage won't clear the big 50-tooth ring, and even if it did you'd be adding so much b-tension that shifting would likely be mediocre in the middle of the cassette. While there are different solutions for this (Wolftooth and others make small links to add between your derailleur and derailleur hanger), Garbaruk sells replacement cages that modify the geometry such that you retain shifting performance across the range and have appropriate throw to take up the necessary chain length change. I've also got Garbaruk's replacement pulley wheels - CNC'd from aluminum and oversized for bling factor, as well as their front narrow-wide round chainring.
Garbaruk offers multiple anodizing color options for all aluminum parts. Go rasta, go purple, or be boring like me and go silver?
From left to right: Garbaruk, GRX RD-RX812, and GRX RD-RX810. Note the varying cage lengths, as well as the offset upper pulley wheel on the Garbaruk and RX812 - both 1x setups - designed to keep the pulley wheel and chain closer to the cassette in the middle of the range and improve shifting. This is unnecessary with the flatter profile of 2x cassettes, but the RX810 does need to take up a larger variation in chain length. If you're using GRX, the Garbaruk cage will only work with RX812 derailleurs.
The lower pulley wheel is oversized with 16 teeth, and has narrow wide profiling. If you're a fan of looking at teeny tiny tool paths on your machined parts, you'll like Garbaruk. You'll reuse the stock bolts. Pulley wheels are also available in other sizes and for standard derailleur cages from both major manufacturers.
The (effective) one-piece construction of the replacement cassette should minimize any future galling of the freehub. And as it's one lump, you shouldn't drop any spacers or gears under the bench while taking it off for cleaning or other maintenance, or pull it out of your parts graveyard in two years.
Installation
If you're a remotely competent home mechanic with a few tools, the only part of installing a Garbaruk cassette, cage, and pulley wheels you may not have ever done previously is swapping the derailleur cage. This isn't a complicated process, Garbaruk has good videos and there's plenty of other YouTube content out there, but its something to take your time with. As always if you're not comfortable with it... just take it to a shop and save yourself the headache of buying a new derailleur, and paying for the install. The only questionable part of installation here is setting the b-tension, as the instructions are a bit vague if you're used to something like SRAM Eagle, but I've set it about as loose as possible and had zero issues.
The complete colour matching kit after about 300 kilometers. We're far from a long term review here, but I've abused this enough to expect that any significant issues would have shown up by now.
In colour, if we must (we must -Ed.).
Riding Impressions
Pleasantly, the Garbaruk cassette was very much a case of "does what it says on the tin." I've now got full control of all my (fewer) gears with only the right brifter*; bless you 1x. I'm enjoying the significantly lower gearing and haven't missed anything out the top. If we're nitpicking (and we are, this is a review after all), shifting into the 50-tooth ring occasionally makes a touch more noise than a SRAM or Shimano setup, and at either extreme end there's a bit of tooth noise off the front chainring - presumably the enormous amount of complicated machining and R&D from the big guns paying off. It's minor.
But of course, there's some compromise. You're covering 455% range with 11 speeds and as a result some of the jumps between gears are quite large. Now, I'd argue this is mostly irrelevant if you're riding solo, or riding at a relaxed pace. The challenge comes when you're in a fast-paced group setting, and the wide spacing lacks resolution. This can leave you hunting between gears to stay with the group - either struggling to turn a gear that's too high, or spinning an uncomfortably high cadence.
So far wear is negligible on everything, as it should be at this mileage. As usual, I'm going to keep using these parts, and if there's any concerns or issues that materialize down the road, you'll get an update.
*This also frees up the left brifter for modifications to operate a dropper post. Which is a very enticing option, but not something I"ve done because I don't want to take a grinder to expensive parts on a bike I don't own. Although saying that, maybe that's the best kind of parts to take a grinder to?!
There's a lot of short, steep punches around here, and a few nasty climbs well over 15% for significant distances where extra low range is greatly appreciated. If I had the time, and was out bikepacking with a fully loaded Grizl, I'd also be looking for lower gears than stock. Photo: Deniz Merdano
Conclusion
I'm pretty much all in on 1x - or at least the simplicity of a system that operates like 2x Di2 and AXS. I feel the simplicity benefits outweigh most of the drawbacks for most riders, on road, gravel, or mountain bikes. If you're on a Shimano GRX system looking to expand your range, I'd recommend taking a look at Garbaruk. If you're on a mountain setup and looking for more range, this is an option worth considering if you're due for a parts refresh and committed to that 11-speed life. Keep your shifter and derailleur, gear resolution is significantly less of an issue mountain biking (especially if you live somewhere like I do, where 90% of the riding is winch and plummet) and no need to worry about changing freehubs.
Parts are available as kits, or individually to suit your application.
Cassette, 11-speed Shimano Freehub USD 243
Comments
Devin Zoller
1 year, 10 months ago
PSA about Garbaruk cassettes with the bolt on aluminum pie plate- they’ll sell you the aluminum piece separately if you ask. I got an 11-46 with two extra 46s (gold Jerry! Gold!) and I think they charged $30 each.
Also, don’t use their supplied aluminum lock-ring. Everyone I know (including me) that’s used them has had it loosen during riding (resulting in some comical scoot-bike action to make it home.) Swap it for any big-S lock ring and accept the 7 gram penalty.
Given the all-steel unibody and swappable pie plates I expect this to last me at least two years of pedaling (XX1 chains swapped possibly too early, but whatever- keep the expensive cassette happy right?) Now if I could just get my broken leg to knit a little faster I’d be putting some real hours into this thing….
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
Whoa, that is a hot tip!
Heal up - your bike will still be there whenever you're ready.
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Devin Zoller
1 year, 10 months ago
Yeah, surgery on Friday! I’ve never been more excited to be sliced into before.
I don’t think them selling me extras was anything out of their norm- just had to ask. Thanks for the awesome content while I’m stuck prone with a computer balanced on my chest, you guys are truly the best Mtb content on the web.
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slyfink
1 year, 10 months ago
Interesting to know about the pie plates. I had emailed them a few years ago inquiring about this, and they told me they don't sell them separately. Hopefully they've permanently changed their tune and this wasn't a one-off.
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Pete Roggeman
1 year, 10 months ago
That's amazing. I was hoping that would be the case.
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Moritz Haager
1 year, 10 months ago
For my gravel bike I actually specifically wanted a 2x setup. I wanted my gravel bike to be more a "groadie" than MTB lite. I'm very happy with that decision as I really like the closer spacing of gears, and have found no downside to the 2x setup. If I was riding lots of singletrack on this bike then maybe 1x but prefer to ride my MTB on trails. As it stands I can ride trails to link stuff up or when exploring without much fuss. The other advantage is that running a "small" ultegra cassette really keeps replacement costs down and I am considering buying a 2nd wheelset to run faster road wheels and potentially ditch my road bike all together. Horses for courses as they say.
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
Totally fair - for a more "all road" setup, I get the desire to run 2x. Its just not for me.
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slyfink
1 year, 10 months ago
Interesting timing. This past weekend I just installed Grabaruk's 10-50 cassette, front oval ring, cage and pulleys on my 2016 Transition Patrol. It replaced a 10-42t XO1 cassette.
A couple of things I learned during the install:
wide-range cassettes and their longer cages also need longer chains. This makes for a floppy, bouncy experience, which I wasn't expecting. Almost like going back to the days before clutch derailleurs.
Also, the chain needs to be longer than the old method of "full compression + 1 link" in order to get appropriate chain wrap and b-position. I had to do some digging through on-line tutorials about how to determine appropriate chain wrap and its effects on shifting, and how to set b-position. I eventually got there, but had shortened my chain too much, and had to add some links back in.
In terms of performance, it seems to shift fine. I have an XTR shifter and XT derailleur body. It definitely prefers one-click shifts, and seems to get overwhelmed by the 4-jump thumb presses. But I can live with that. I'm definitely still on the fence about the floppy chain. We'll see after this season. I need the extra range to rehab after a back injury. Once I'm back to full strength, I may go back to the older "taughter" system as I still have all the old parts packed away.
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
Yeah, there's always some compromises. And as I mentioned, the chain length/b-tension could probably be.... a bit better explained. I typically use the SRAM method to get close - wrap the chain around your chainring and largest cog, pull it tight, and then add four links.
I'd agree that shifting isn't fully XTR, especially HG+ XTR, but GRX shift performance isn't quite at that level either, so the difference wasn't terribly noticeable.
Have you tried adjusting your clutch at all? With the longer derailleur cage, you may just need to add a bit more tension to offset the longer lever arm.
EDIT: also adding I'm glad someone posted a picture with fun anodizing colors... that's not my jam personally, but I know its a big selling feature for some folks!
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slyfink
1 year, 10 months ago
I'm generally a form follows function type of person too, but when given the option, I figured why not! I had originally selected blue plates and orange pulley wheels, but figured that would be too much!!!
re the clutch, I thought about it after my second ride, but haven't done it yet. I should have thought of it while I had the cover off during the installation. But I'm not sure it's the derailleur bouncing around as much as the chain oscillating between the pulley wheels and the chainring.
another point worth mentioning is that this system is quieter than what I had before (XO1 cassette, KMC chain, black spire snaggletooth ring). part of it may be that I'm not constantly parked on the largest cog and my chainline is better, but I think their chainring runs very quietly.
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
I'd surmise that's largely chainline, but as you note there's a huge amount of factors that play into noise (which really is drag/wear), so it could be some other factor, too. It could also be a factor of size - I'm running a 42t on shorter chainstays than your bike.
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AndrewR
1 year, 10 months ago
I can help you right away there in regards to your KMC chain.
Match the chain to the cassette and you will get far better performance. SRAM with SRAM and Shimano with Shimano.
However as this thread is about the Gabaruk cassette I would recommend:
XX1 chain for the ultimate in wear and durability (easily 3000 km +/- 10% depending on how abrasive your dirt/ grit is and how well you clean your drive train. Also key to chain longevity is good chain line ie spec a chain ring that allows you to use the 1st gear as a bail out gear and replacing your chain ring as it wears out - should be the fasting wearing part in the system if you run alloy chain rings).
XO1 chain for slightly less durability but also uses less energy in the drive train system (6W for those number nerds).
XTR HG+ chain for shifting under load (although your Gabaruk cassette won't have the extra machining/ shapes that Shimano has developed to facilitate this anyway).
I stopped using KMC chains due to a raft of durability issues and a significant lack of interest from KMC in either warrantying the chains or exploring the reasons behind why chains from the same batch were failing (within 50-150 km of being 'new').
Also if you are more of a climber than a 'pedal to go faster down the descending trail' type of rider (and it is where we spend the majority of our time, effort and torque) then adjust the chain line to reduce the offset as much as possible.
Most normal riders benefit from running a non boost chainring on a boost set up.
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Briain
1 year, 10 months ago
I agree about matching chains and cassettes is a good idea. But on the otherhand in my experience garbaruk cassette is the closest in performance to a full Shimano setup. It's way better quality shifting than my e13 cassette( although the e13 plays nicer with a SRAM derailleur). I'd probably have more if their stuff if they could keep it in stock
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Jenkins5
1 year, 10 months ago
I agreed with your e13 / Garbaruk comparison until I tried the new e13 Helix cassette....It has better quality shifting than my Garbaruk and the alu replacement cogs are easier to get.
slyfink
1 year, 10 months ago
I tried very hard to get a SRAM chain, but the 11-speed XO1 chains aren't available until June. 2023. But nooooo, I can't order them from Europe (or even the US), because that would be bad for North American bike shops.... (even an X1 chain doesn't show availability until November 2022)
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cheapondirt
1 year, 10 months ago
I looked at the 11-46 for a direct comparison against my slx 11spd, and it's not only 182g lighter but the gears also make more sense at the low end. The three biggest cogs are 36-42-46 instead of Shimano's 32-37-46. That's an extra useable climbing gear in my mind and less time in the aluminum bailout cog.
Looking so cool is just icing on the want cake.
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
Yeah I really dislike that 46t Shimano cassette - its MegaRange 2.0.
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IslandLife
1 year, 10 months ago
That Shimano cassette is so dumb... went with the Sunrace 11-46 for my Son's bike... gearing is so much better. Finding one is the bigger challenge!
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cheapondirt
1 year, 10 months ago
The Sunrace is the sensible choice!
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Kenneth Perras
1 year, 10 months ago
For those with 11spd Sram Rival drivetrains, you can get the Ratio kit and upgrade to a Sram 12spd cassette and derailleur.
https://ratiotechnology.com/product/12-speed-upgrade-kit/
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
Yes, this is the setup I'm running on my personal gravel bike.
Force 11 HYD shifter with Eagle XO1 cassette and RD.
Depending on what you've got sitting in the parts bin though, it's a much much more expensive swap.
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Briain
1 year, 10 months ago
I have that too. If your on a budget a standard derailleur will work fine it's just fully extended in the 50tooth cog
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
Youre running an Eagle cassette with a Force RD?
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Briain
1 year, 10 months ago
No sorry running was running it with a apex rd. Their a little bit bigger than force think their identical to rival though
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
Ah that's still interesting!
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Briain
1 year, 10 months ago
Yeah I'd say it isn't ideal. But if your on a budget it still pretty good.
SomeBikeGuy
1 year, 10 months ago
I'm in the middle of a similar experience in setting up my gravel bike, originally a 2X11 GRX drivetrain, with a single chainring up front and an 11-42t cassette. I've been informed that Shimano is quite conservative in terms of the the GRX 810 rear derailleur's ability to work as a 1X drivetrain RD and that it will, allegedly, work just fine set up to shift a chain up & down an 11-40/42t cassette if you keep the chainring reasonably sized (probably 40t or smaller). Will report back once I've got it set up and, hopefully, shifting properly.
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
Yes, I'd say "shimano is quite conservative" is pretty accurate all around, haha.
Supposedly you can even use the 46t cassette with stock RD, but, see above... I dislike that cassette.
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SomeBikeGuy
1 year, 10 months ago
MegaRange was a bad idea the first time and it was as bad an idea in 11-46 form.
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schmung
1 year, 10 months ago
Been running the 11-46 11 speed on my MTB and loving it. It's a lot to pay for the lighter weight and more sensible ratio than the shimano one, but it's done upwards of a 1000km so far and still behaving itself.
Been contemplating doing something like this build with my gravel bike as well once the existing 2x setup dies, maybe using a goatlink and MTB derailleuer rather than swapping the cage.
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Shoreboy
1 year, 10 months ago
A Deore M5100 cassette (11-51T) and Deore/SLX 12 speed RD will get you to the same place for less money. Keep your 11 speed shifter, gain the range, and the 12 speed RD can handle the pie plate in the rear. You will pay for it in terms of weight as the Deore cassette is much heavier than the Gabaruk.
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
I'm no expert in the mix/match that's possible with modern drivetrains - we have Andrew for that.
Assuming that shifter/RD combo works in the mtb realm, I'd bet it doesn't work here as the GRX pull ratio will be different, no? You could likely utilize the cassette, but you'd need to run it with a RoadLink or Garbaruk cage.
The Deore cassette is 2/3rds of a pound heavier, although I realize that's not a factor for many folks. I'd probably spend the extra hundred bucks for the Garbaruk?
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Alex D
1 year, 10 months ago
I don't see the proposed combination working out of the box. Shimano's 12S RD ratio is 1.1. For road 11S RDs, including GRX, it's 1.4. JTEK's Shiftmate 8 can pair them.
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Shoreboy
1 year, 10 months ago
I guess I'm not using it with road shifters, I will acknowledge that. XTR 11 speed shifter, XT 12 speed RD, Deore M5100 11-51 cassette. Shifting is perfect, no issues at all.
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danielshiels
1 year, 10 months ago
I'm running the same deore cassette with my old 11 speed xt derailleur and although it needs to be relatively clean and lubed all the time it works really well if you can stay on top of it. The next step will be a 12 speed Shimano chain and appropriate chainring to utilise the new shifting improvements built into the cassette
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danielshiels
1 year, 10 months ago
Also my bike weighs well over 35lb so the bit extra in the cassette is neither here nor there 🤣
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
Haha, yeah, at that point weight is less of a concern!
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Shoreboy
1 year, 10 months ago
Im not sure why you would want to put an 12 speed chain on an 11 speed cassette? If anything, I assume that would make shifting worse.
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Briain
1 year, 10 months ago
It makes setting it up easier because the chains narrower so less likely to contact other cogs
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TristanC
1 year, 10 months ago
I've done something very similar on my gravel bike. M5100 cassette (11-51t, 11 speed) + Deore 11sp der + Microshift 1x brifter. I don't care about weight, it shifts good and I can grind up any hill.
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Max Nodwell
1 year, 10 months ago
Shift quality aside , how was the operating noise from that cassette?
I had a Garbaruk 11sp cassette a couple of years ago and it creaked badly. I figured it was from the construction, having the 10 steel sprockets on a hollow pyramid, the largest sprocket bolted to that block, the spline contact points at the smallest and largest sprockets only and a spacer between the two spline contact points. The torsion across the cassette would cause the loose spacer to twist and move slightly against the two spline-grab-ends and make creaking noise.
Otherwise it’s a beautiful piece of kit.
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
I haven't had this issue - talking to shop guys, they've seen one of these. Removing the large sprocket, cleaning everything up, and bolting it back together apparently fixed it.
But yours could be a different issue.
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Jake Smith
1 year, 10 months ago
A few years back when I first made the jump to 1x I was using a Shimano SLX RD, Wolftooth Goatlink, and a SunRace 11-42T 10s cassette. I was never all that happy with the performance, and swapped to a Sram derailleur and longer b-screw that played a little more nicely with the wide range cassette.
These days I've gotten quite used to my 50T Eagle pie plate rings, but due to part availability, budgetary considerations, and a wheel swap I jumped back to a 11s Sram GX setup with a 10-42T cassette. I don't miss the big ring all that much for normal riding but if I'm carrying tools and a loaded frame bag I do wish I could get a bit lower. It seems that the simplest/cheapest solution would just be to get a smaller chainring especially for generic MTB gearing needs.
But I also wonder if a good min-maxed solution for those who want more range rather than just lower range (compared to a 36t or 42t cassette) would be a SunRace Cassette and the Garbaruk cage. Lower cost but higher weight cassette, but with optimized shifting performance of the Garbaruk cage, that is more consistent than one of the Wolftooth doohickeys or a longer B-screw.
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
Yep, there's a lot of options out there to mix and match parts to suit your weight/cost/performance matrix, for sure.
And, to your point, depending on your application a smaller front ring can be advantageous. I wanted to go 42 here, I've got a 40t on my personal gravel bike, and I find myself in the top gear or two more often than I'd really like. Those gears are watts goblins, hard on chains, etc. So going up to 42 still gives me a much lower gear than GRX, as well as a bit less time at the pointy end of the cassette. I'll be going to 42t on my bike if this Force XSync ring ever wears out.
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Jake Smith
1 year, 10 months ago
Most definitely, I certainly spend a lot more time overthinking the gearing on my gravel bike than I do my MTB.
The funny thing is that the bikes I ride the most are the ones with only 1 gear!
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Alex D
1 year, 10 months ago
That cassette is artwork. There are a few other 11S options from Chinese vendors that might be worth a comparison: ZTTO's 11-50 (HG, 400g, $100) and SROAD's 9-43 (XD, 300g, $150). Both have the same CNC steel, 1 alloy sprocket construction. Garbaruk's own 10-46 is a little easier on the derailleur if XD/XDR is available.
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Haberdasher
1 year, 10 months ago
Interesting option. I can see it working great for some builds. I personally love a 2x setup for gravel though since some of the point of the platform is efficiency over longer distances and higher speeds. Being able to settle in to the 'perfect' pedal cadence is nice. I have GRX with the Wolftooth Roadlink and get 592% range with an 11-42 XT cassette. Shifting is great and never dropped a chain. It's great to see these 1x options though if that better suits the machine to the riding style.
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
31x42 would have been a pretty solid improvement in low range over the stock setup, for sure.
But I also just wanted to ditch the FD.
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Haberdasher
1 year, 10 months ago
The GRX-RX600 crank will get you a wee bit lower yet with a 30t small ring (30x46t) over the GRX-RX800's 31t. The RX800 gains you a bit of extra range on the top end with a 48t over the RX600's 46. Helpful for when you need to get over 70kph down Cypress lol.
For mtb or where you are endlessly thrashing between the highest and lowest years, I agree 1x all the way.
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Sethsg
1 year, 10 months ago
I wonder if the cassete will start to loosen up after a while on the freehub? I have a SunRace 12spd cassete, it goes on an included adapter that goes over the XD freehub. For some reason, all the cogs are loose on the adapter (it isn't even worn and looks brand-new) I wonder if there could have been a manufacturing problem.
it's just super annoying because the bike has an i9 rear hub, and the high engagement is now non-existant because the cogs rotate 4-5 degrees.
Also, my bike is super loud and sounds like my spring and shock are loose because of the cassete nocking back and forth over bumps.
A side note, if there is anyone who has an i9 Hydra MS freehub they would trade for an XD one shoot me a message.
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
Ooof. That sounds very sub-optimal... No way of knowing if that'll eventually befall this cassette w/o continuing to log miles on it, but I haven't heard of that happening to anyone.
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rotorburn
1 year, 10 months ago
I've got the 12 speed MTB version. The shifting isn't as good as the original XX1 of course, but not terrible. Slightly better than SunRace level, which is a little disappointing at that price. Not as good under torque as the XX1, with the occasional loud prong as it finds its place again.
I did pre-emptively take the big cog off, loctite the bolts and torque them to what felt appropriate (they came rather loose) and I haven't had issues with creaking. No issues with the lock ring coming off either.
I'm not even a year into riding it though, and it appears to have as much wear as my XX1 did after 2 full seasons - just about dead. This is true on on both the steel and alloy teeth (they appear to wear fairly uniformly). That's really disappointing, as I was expecting the steel to last way longer. Given this (and assuming I'm not crazy), it seems like it's actually a fairly poor value. Not Hope Cassette bad (I'm still bitter), but the X01 would seem to be a better value and have better shifting.
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
Ugh, that's disappointing to hear.
As I mentioned, this setup will keep going for a while here, and if there's reliability or wear concerns that materialize, you'll all hear about it.
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John Williamson
1 year, 10 months ago
I don’t think anything beats the Shimano Hyperglyde + for shifting performance. I’m running the 51T cassette, and it shifts so quick and effortless. Pulled the crappy ASX off and put the XT on and couldn’t be happier.
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
But GRX isn't Hyperglide+ anyway. So you're not losing significant upshift performance.
Agreed HG+ shifting is amazing, though.
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Frorider
1 year, 10 months ago
For mtb drivetrain nerds I think the best combination of range / weight / shifting / rock clearance is the 11 spd SRAM xx1 shifter / derailleur with the E13 9-46 T cog set.
511% range obviously blows the setup in the article out of the water. And you don’t need to modify the derailleur.
But yeah, for anyone forced to use the older Shimano freehub this Garbaruk option is nice.
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
On the MTB side its not a bad call, but on anything with drop bars I'd be pretty loath to use that 9t. Its a power goblin.
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damientheo
1 year ago
How about longevity (for helix)? I had trs cassettes and they were softer then cream cheese. Didn't even make it through 1 chain worth of wear.
Shifting was fine and weight was great but 2-300$ for so little use was completely cost ineffective
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DadStillRides
1 year, 10 months ago
Nice write up. On point for me because I'm looking to convert my grx-600 that came on my knolly cache to 1x. Not looking to blow all my funny money on the side bike, though. Seems like the min-max move is running some 11-42 cassette on the existing derailleur. Any consensus on the best value without a big weight penalty?
Also, and sorry if I missed this in the review, what chainring are you running? I don't think I could go down much from the 46 for actual gravgrav riding
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
I'm running a 42t up front. Obviously it depends massively on where you live, but here, riding what I ride... I absolutely could not push a 46t, and I'd say I'm reasonably strong.
What's your current gearing?
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DadStillRides
1 year, 10 months ago
46-30 with 11-34 is what my grx set came as.
42 sounds pretty reasonable, but yeah, for my mostly flatter terrain I'd probably find 44t to be the sweet spot. Was curious what exact ring you were running (like brand, narrow/wide or not, any weird offset considerations). I just haven't yet researched what plays nice with that crankset
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Cooper Quinn
1 year, 10 months ago
Oh gotcha. Its a Garbaruk as well. They make both round and ovals for a variety of road/gravel and mtb cranksets. Mine is round.
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Keit
1 year, 7 months ago
So I went from full 11 Speed XTR (only the cassette is :(:(:(:(: ) to Garbaruk. Up front WolfTooth Stainless. XTR Shifter and Mech.
Garbaruk cassette is the 11-46 HG and added the 11 GoatLink. Out in the wild in some areas it is way better than the XTR. No flex for starts. Every once in a while I hear a slight ping from the cassette in the rough. Under load out on the road and trail pure silence.
On the workstand, as per previous comments, one half of the cassette is always slightly off. Only under load is this thing silent and super shifty. Uphill it outshifts the XTR with its floppy carbon "gummi" spider.
On my other more down than up bike I run almost an identical setup except for ring and cassette. Ring is a steel 34t and the cassette is the Sram XG1199. Previous to this set up my og Saint 10 speed on a DuraAce cassette was the best ever shifting I had. The Sram cassette, the XTR mech and shifter plus the Goatlink is without a doubt the most instant cassette shifting I have ever experienced. (Been riding bicycles in dirt for 41 years now).
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Cormac Power
1 year, 1 month ago
So as to have the option of running much wider tyres, I switched from my Di2 x2 gravel bike to a x1 only frame. To still a similar range, I am running a Garbaruk 10-50T cassette and 44T chainring with a Di2 mech with the cage upgrade. For the most part shifting is very good. Even under load I can easily drop from 3rd to 2nd to 1st. Where I have an issue is the 10T sprocket. With any real force (maybe as much as 200w), the chain jumps when either foot is around the 2-3 o'clock position. Also shifting is sluggish from 14T up to 10T and back again. I can tune the mech to improve the 14T to 10T shift but nothing so far can keep the chain in place on 10T. Making this adjustment compromises shifting on the rest of the cassette.
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