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.
June 1, 2022, 9:24 a.m. - Jake Smith
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.