Same. GX on the hardtail x01 on the fully. I don't have enough miles on either to get a sense of the cassette lifespan but I do tend to wonder if the whole "expensive wear item" card gets a little overplayed.
My main observation is you really want to get hold of the plastic SRAM tool for setting up B tension. The right B tension makes or breaks the whole setup.
Posted by: Kenny
Same. GX on the hardtail x01 on the fully. I don't have enough miles on either to get a sense of the cassette lifespan but I do tend to wonder if the whole "expensive wear item" card gets a little overplayed.
My main observation is you really want to get hold of the plastic SRAM tool for setting up B tension. The right B tension makes or breaks the whole setup.
Wait what? You need a special tool to set the B-tension on an SRAM RD?
Edit: Ah I found it. A plastic 'guide' to tell you where the ideal adjustment should be.
Seems like I am giving the GX Eagle a bad reputation. I don´t want to be harsh and I believe the thinking behind it is great. And also that SRAM tried to bring the concept to a much lower price point. And when it works, it is a totally acceptable drivetrain, maybe even a good one...
I do feel, that it isn´t very durable though and it needs to be adjusted not 99% but 100.00% to work. And then to be kept at these 100.00%.
That might be a fun hobby if you care for Bonsai trees, but doesn´t really work for me on a mountainbike.
I´ve put in a lot more miles since my last "rant".
And unfortunately I can´t report too much good stuff.
My rear derailleur is in for warranty, the clutch stopped working and my expensive 12spd carbon sled felt and rattled like a 1998 freeride bike. The bike is 6 weeks old. Hooray for non-adjustable clutches =)
Also the chain is toast. It is really loud and developed a lot of play in all directions. Because it had a missing ring on a pin (not the Powerlock) from the factory my LBS warrantied it also.
What´s great: The x-sync chainring works as advertised.
But: It´s now the only remaining sram part (with crankset and bottom bracket) on my bike. I bought a XT11spd derailleur, 11-42 cassette and ONEUP 50t Shark and cage and an 11spd SLX-Ispec-B shifter (SLX has lighter trigger action and allows for more clutch tension without too much required force for shifting).
I bolted this hacked 11spd 11-50t to the exact same RD hanger the GX Eagle never worked 100% on (from new). And it shifts absolutely perfect and at the same time setup was an absolute breeze. If I want to in/decrease tension of the clutch, I´ll just do so with an allen key. The hanger doesn´t need to be 100%, cable tension is not as critical. Admittedly B-Tension adjustment is also pretty critical.
The same goes for a SRAM 11spd setup. Apart from the clutch going bogus on three derailleurs I never had trouble. And they are LIGHT! I repaired the clutches on SRAM derailleurs before, but they changed to TYPE3 on Eagle and the old hacks don´t work anymore. Warranty...
Regarding chain wear - I measured some NEW GX Eagle chains and they seem to be a bit undersized when new with a Rohloff calibre or other 11spd chain measuring device. So if you check for wear, you´ll think they haven´t gotten longer at all, but they actually did. That´s not a problem, but might be interesting to know and keep an eye on.
If your GX Eagle works and came on your new bike, enjoy it. And I really mean that.
If you´ve got Shimano 11spd stuff on your bike already I don´t see any reason to not go for the ONEUP 50t. I really love it.
(man - re-reading my message - I sound like a cranky, negative prick. It´s just a drivetrain - first world problem =)
Posted by: JBV
why not interested in Sram drivetrain? i have xt 11-42 plus 47 oneup on the 29er. it's excellent, but a PITA and $$ to upgrade a cassette. the small wheeler uses a Shimano xtr 10 speed shifter with 11-42 Sunrace cassette. sometimes i'd prefer more range but rarely and the xtr shifter is awesome.
On my wife’s bike we’re running a 10-Spd XTR shifter, 11-Spd XT rear derailleur (no faffing about shifting bigger cogs), and a Sunrace 11-46t 10-Spd cassette with a 28t Wolf Tooth narrow wide oval ring (64BCD w/ 104BCD Blackspire Granny God).
I opened the clutch and detuned it probably 25% which makes for much nicer shifting and still has notably more resistance than SRAM.
It shifts as well as any Eagle drivetrain I’ve ridden with the added benefits of Shadow and tuneable clutch resistance.
I had nothing but problems with GX. There's so much play in the main derailleur bolt that when you combine it with a narrow-wide 50t it gets snagged constantly. SRAM warrantied mine immediately and replaced the main derailleur bolt with the XX1 version that is much better.
It continued to be really inconsistent, especially in mud, where the derailleur was prone to throwing the chain off jockey wheels.
That, combined with the fact that setting up the B-tension is a two person job as you need both the wee guide tool and the suspension sagged, was enough for me to ditch it.
I'm now running a shimano set up with the SunRace 11-50t and it's been great. There's the slightest hesitation moving to a harder gear from the 42, but it's improved a lot with some riding (KMC chain).
I run the sunrace 11-46 with xt m8000 rear derailleur and xtr m9000 shifter, with an absolute black 28t oval ring.
Super happy with the performance, it has been very reliable, and it hasn't left me wanting for anything more. Great value too, for the cassette/shifter/rear derailleur I'm in about $200. Only thing I miss is the smoother feel of my old m985 10spd shifter.
Just wait until shimano finally releases their 12 speed option in 2022.
Posted by: JBV
isn't that xtr shifter alone about 200 bones? xtr is at least double xt prices last i looked.
$75USD for xtr vs $42USD for xt. The shifter is worth the price increase in my opinion, the RD is not really worth the up charge from xt.
Posted by: rnayel
Just wait until shimano finally releases their 12 speed option in 2022.
It's coming this month. May 2018.
Posted by: shoreboy
Posted by: rnayel
Just wait until shimano finally releases their 12 speed option in 2022.
It's coming this month. May 2018.
And maybe with Boost 148.99mm and a new freehub standard :)
Posted by: Znarf
Posted by: shoreboy
Posted by: rnayel
Just wait until shimano finally releases their 12 speed option in 2022.
It's coming this month. May 2018.
And maybe with Boost 148.99mm and a new freehub standard :)
It really annoys me that I can't upvote posts anymore. This would be worth an upvote. Have an upvote Znarf
Just got Eagle GX on my '18 Altitude and I like it, but admittedly not blown away by it only because the shifting isn't is light as my former '12 10-spd XO because of the added clutch. What I did notice is while it's a 50T pie plate for 1st gear, it's also a 34T up front. This made me wonder if they could do a 46T and a 30T up front instead. Maybe it's a engineering design issue of optimizing ring size for tooth wear, blah, blah. Who knows. Also wonder what a heavier cassette does to the sprung weight of the rear end in terms of suspension performance. Other than that it's all good so far.
Posted by: shoreboy
Posted by: JBV
isn't that xtr shifter alone about 200 bones? xtr is at least double xt prices last i looked.
$75USD for xtr vs $42USD for xt. The shifter is worth the price increase in my opinion, the RD is not really worth the up charge from xt.
The shifter is one spot where the XTR choice is, in my view, a "good value". Performance is markably better, even when paired with "low-end" derailleurs, it's not vulnerable to random destruction a la a rear derailleur, and IME they last longer. I have a 10 speed that has been ridden hard since 2011 that's still providing XTR-level performance.
Posted by: Captain-Snappy
Just got Eagle GX on my '18 Altitude and I like it, but admittedly not blown away by it only because the shifting isn't is light as my former '12 10-spd XO because of the added clutch. What I did notice is while it's a 50T pie plate for 1st gear, it's also a 34T up front. This made me wonder if they could do a 46T and a 30T up front instead. Maybe it's a engineering design issue of optimizing ring size for tooth wear, blah, blah. Who knows. Also wonder what a heavier cassette does to the sprung weight of the rear end in terms of suspension performance. Other than that it's all good so far.
No idea why bike companies spec bikes with 34T front rings. Sure, there are people out there that are strong enough riders to actually need them, but Id guess 80% of buyers would find a smaller ring more friendly.
Posted by: shoreboy
Posted by: Captain-Snappy
Just got Eagle GX on my '18 Altitude and I like it, but admittedly not blown away by it only because the shifting isn't is light as my former '12 10-spd XO because of the added clutch. What I did notice is while it's a 50T pie plate for 1st gear, it's also a 34T up front. This made me wonder if they could do a 46T and a 30T up front instead. Maybe it's a engineering design issue of optimizing ring size for tooth wear, blah, blah. Who knows. Also wonder what a heavier cassette does to the sprung weight of the rear end in terms of suspension performance. Other than that it's all good so far.
No idea why bike companies spec bikes with 34T front rings. Sure, there are people out there that are strong enough riders to actually need them, but Id guess 80% of buyers would find a smaller ring more friendly.
The idea is that with a 34-50 you have a nice low climbing gear and 34-9 is a high gear for cruising on the street.
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