I ended up going with a 12-42T 8spd Microshift Alcolyte casssette. Since the typical 8spd cassette is a pinned system, I had pulled together a spreadsheet and had identified alternative cassettes that I could gut to get a near ~20% jump between all gears but have decided not to nerd out too much and have kept with the stock MS cassette for the time being. This was mated to a Shimano RD-M8000 GS (mid-cage) mech as the B-adjustment can handle the 42 tooth max cog. I'm using an old Sram 9spd X9 shifter until I find an X0 that pops up for cheap somewhere.
My goal has been to pull together a system that is just robust and is a workhorse. The pricing is expensive and the weight of these new 11/12 speed systems is very high unless investing in the top tier groups. The large aluminum top cogs and long cages are also prone to quick wear and degradation in my experience. Less gears which are steel and smaller derailleurs so far are getting it done for me at least.
I'd love to try to weasel on a Saint mech I have in my parts bin to get a more compact derailleur on my bike, but I don't believe it would have the capacity. I'm aware you've done a number of custom drivetrains. Have you found any widgets for Saint/Zee's to increase their capacity? Also considering trying to parse down the number of gears further over the winter season to assess if the parallelogram of the current mech can handle this. I think the limiting factor is that I'm not ready to bail on a 42 tooth top gear since it's already pushing it with the 29 wheels and 1500g tires and I don't want to reduce my front chainring below a 30t since I also ride use the same bike for DH.
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:47 a.m. - Inclag
I ended up going with a 12-42T 8spd Microshift Alcolyte casssette. Since the typical 8spd cassette is a pinned system, I had pulled together a spreadsheet and had identified alternative cassettes that I could gut to get a near ~20% jump between all gears but have decided not to nerd out too much and have kept with the stock MS cassette for the time being. This was mated to a Shimano RD-M8000 GS (mid-cage) mech as the B-adjustment can handle the 42 tooth max cog. I'm using an old Sram 9spd X9 shifter until I find an X0 that pops up for cheap somewhere. My goal has been to pull together a system that is just robust and is a workhorse. The pricing is expensive and the weight of these new 11/12 speed systems is very high unless investing in the top tier groups. The large aluminum top cogs and long cages are also prone to quick wear and degradation in my experience. Less gears which are steel and smaller derailleurs so far are getting it done for me at least. I'd love to try to weasel on a Saint mech I have in my parts bin to get a more compact derailleur on my bike, but I don't believe it would have the capacity. I'm aware you've done a number of custom drivetrains. Have you found any widgets for Saint/Zee's to increase their capacity? Also considering trying to parse down the number of gears further over the winter season to assess if the parallelogram of the current mech can handle this. I think the limiting factor is that I'm not ready to bail on a 42 tooth top gear since it's already pushing it with the 29 wheels and 1500g tires and I don't want to reduce my front chainring below a 30t since I also ride use the same bike for DH.