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Yeah, shifted the shimano parts from a Norco Fluid that had a shimano drivetrain & praxis cranks. I kept the SRAM cranks & chainring I had (I wanted my 165 cranks) but used the shimano parts. Otherwise yeah I'd be fine with that setup. Honestly the main thing is I wanted to avoid paying for pricey GX cassettes but I love the XO chains.
Been using Advent on my two Transitions for years. 9 on the hardtail, 10 on the Smuggler, which originally came with GX 12 speed, so I lost the 4 low teeth but never looked back…
So much more affordable than replacing the GX, and works great.
What does the XTR do better for you than the XT?
I have an XTR and am getting a copy setup for my other bike. I heard XT and XTR were the same performance just that XTR is a few grams lighter or something 🤷♂️
somehow over the years through mates rates and beer economy my e-bikes whole drivetrain has ended up XTR, it's hard to explain but full XTR shifts like I imagine a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, where XT shifts like a DSG golf. Both excellent, but the XTR just has this wholesome bang into the next gear that gives me a mechanical hard on lol
Yes, it just feels smoother and more refined.
Did anyone here manage to wear out a t-type chain yet? I going into my 3rd season on the same XX chain and I cannot measure any stretch using the approved Park Tool CC-4. I have 150,000M+ vert, 2000+ KM and 400+ hours on it. The cassette looks new and so does the chain. I thought my previous XX1 chains were impressive but this is on a whole new level.
Another thing I noticed is that XXSL, XX, XO and GX chains are all hard chromed this time so technically they should all have the same durability. I remember eagle GX chain used to be black oxide coated and much faster wearing than XX1 and XO1 chrome plated options.
Yeah I’d love some data about how long each lasts, with older eagle the more you spent the more you got out of it, but with t-type I’m not sure
The XX has a slightly different coating than the others and lasts longer.
From Zero Friction I think the XX flat top chains last 8000+km before replacement. maybe just double check to see how long they lasted for him, and to note that's with deliberate contamination to increase wear.
Just checked, they last just under 7000km
https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/chaintesting/
As far as I remember XX has a hard chrome coating, but XO (and GX) doesn't while for Eagle X01 did and GX didn't.
How are you lubricating it? I ran X01 chains for about a year and ~80k vert before replacing them with the last one being left on the bike for 2 years (pretty worn cassette and chainring, ready to be replaced, the chain did ~160k vert), but being lubricated with wax (first Tru-Tension, then Squirt I think), it wasn't worn after 2 seasons. Lubrication really matters and wax improves things a lot apparently.
I looked at this too and the data by Zero Friction is still partial for these t-type chains. This is why the actual wear is not listed in the "Chain wear test results" graphs below. You can see this in the foot notes where wear life for flat top has not been able to be completed at the time of releasing this graph. Only XX1 and XO1 chain data is finalized and published.
I thought so too until I saw SRAM's website. All of them have Chrome hardened inner link finish and Nickel outer. There difference being solid pin on cheaper ones vs hollow pin for the XX and XXSL
https://www.sram.com/en/sram/models/cn-ttyp-xxsl-a1
https://www.sram.com/en/sram/models/cn-ttyp-xx-a1
https://www.sram.com/en/sram/models/cn-ttyp-x0-a1
https://www.sram.com/en/sram/models/cn-ttyp-gx-a1
My lubrication is similar to yours. I use Silca blend immersion wax on new stripped chain and then top it off with Silca super secret. Conditions are usually very dusty here in the mountains and in winter I ride in snow. After nerding out on drip waxes I finally settled on Silca SS as being the best reasonably priced option. Squirt gets black and makes things look dirty so I stopped using it. Momum MIC Wax was my second favorite.
Chalk another one up for 11 speed XT. Been running it since late 2019, and I just have no complaints. The only drivetrain that seems attractive to would be link glide, but those cassettes are pretty damn heavy, and I often find myself only needed to replace one drivetrain part at a time so no need to spend more than I need to.
I've been trying to figure what items to get for my next drivetrain, and as of now I got an XT 12 speed cassette + XT chain, and a Race Face (something) chainring up front. I see that the XTR cassette has 3 alu, 5 titanium and the last 4 cogs in steel. How durable are those titanium cogs compared to the steel cogs that XT, SLX and Deore use instead?
If those titanium cogs are worse I actually consider just going for the Deore cassette as the only downside is a few extra grams, but the overall durability will be better. Then pair that with an XTR chain and a wolf tooth oval chainring up front.
I feel it may be best to order the lower cogs that can be bought as spares and swap them once a season as they cost hardly anything, and should help a bit with longevity of the overall drivetrain.
It sure would be great to try a 9-52T cassette one day, but e*thirteen only want to make them in XD version as well as it cost too much for what it is. Personally a drivetrain is not that important to me, so as long as it works I'm fine with it. Today I run a 10-51T cassette with 32T chainring and it does the job.
Do you actually need the 32/9 ratio over the 32/10 you have now? I'm running a 30T and really rarely go into the 10T cog. Realistically it would make sense to go for a 28T chainring in the front over a 32T if I was to move away from the 30T.
Every time I use the top 51T I most often regret using it because it more often causes the rear to loose traction than not, so I really have no use for anything lighter than this.
I've advanced the saddle position 2 degrees forward(as well as slight forward tilt) with the Drop Best Offset saddle clamp that has done wonders for my slack rear end, and that has even made the 51T less usable.
All the climbs I do are tech, so picking a gear for crawling myself up there are better which means lower rpm is better.
This is why I have no desire for a lower chainring count than the stock 32T, and once I add that oval I will still pick the 32T option.
I believe what bike you have and what terrain you ride has a lot to do with what gear ratio will work best for you. 32T chain ring that is stock on my bike actually works well this bike, so my only want would be to have something longer for transport stages where a 9T on the rear would be pretty sweet.
That said I really won't pay for extra hub/freehub body (need XD driver for e*thirteen) + the price of their cassettes, so that 9T advantage will simply be put on the backburner for now.
I also see today that with the new Shimano stuff I have something new to consider. By studying just the physical difference(ignore the colors, look at the physical difference in the teeth) of the M9200 cassette vs the old M9100, I do wonder if this will both aid performance as well as longevity. As someone owning an M8100 cassette I've felt it is a bit cumbersome to define what is actual wear vs how the different teeth actually are designed to be like. More teeth with similar shape means it will be easier to evaluate wear.
Hm... My bike is published on my profile. Back in 27,5 inch Giant Reign days climbing was a pain being sat over the rear wheel and that has massively improved with my Previous Bird (a lot steeper seat tube). Specifically on very steep stuff (30+ % pitch). Otherwise everything here is fairly loose as it's limestone based so grip is not the best. This is a specific case where higher cadence as opposed to lower is better as the torque pulses from mashing the pedals are closer together and the spikes are lower (less fluctuation in overall torque output). Pedalling as smoothly and as quickly as possible is the best solution when you are traction limited I find.
A friend of mine has worn through 3 t type drivetrains this year......
But his name is Ben Hildred, so he's a bit of a special case.
It simply depends on the specific tech section ahead of you which solution will work the best. For me personally consistent torque works best most of the time. I find it easier to use one higher gear than one might think is right, and then just attack with a more steady rpm to limit slippage.
I at least find it harder to control the rpm with less resistance in the drivetrain, as well as with less resistance you are operating in a lower range of speed which means you often won't have the momentum needed to roll over things. So either I spin the rear wheel or the front wheel stops because not enough momentum, which is why I personally prefer torque and just simply attacking the climb with momentum.
Anyhow, everybody do things their own way, and there's the differences in geo in bikes and differences in terrain etc. As long as what you do works for you then you must be doing something right.
hahaha of course! A million feet of climbing in 100 days would do that.
Regarding the titanium cogs on the XTR cassette...
I have an XTR 12 speed setup. The top three titanium cogs creak against the spindle at the rivets. It is quite annoying and also dissapointing that a $500 cassette does this. The first one I had that did this was replaced under warranty. The replacement started creaking also. I now just put a drop of triflow on each of the 6 rivets every month or so when it starts creaking again. Otherwise it has lasted well but I don't ride that Spur anywhere near as much as my SB150. Besides the creaking the XTR stuff has been easy to deal with and shifts well.
Meanwhile, the SB150 has a bunch of ancient (by hard mile, daily driver standards) SRAM Eagle parts that just keep working problem free. New $110 GX rear mech and cable every other season or so and its flawless. XO chain, shifter, and cassette seem to last for a very very long time. Full power shifting works great.
Put together an overview article covering new Di2 Deore, XT and XTR groupsets that I figured I'd share here.
https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/wireless-shifting-masses-shimano-introduces-deore-and-xt-di2
So a kilo of unsprung weight with the XT groupset, oof.
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