Hi guys I want to uppgrade my current 1×8 and I’m using bafang with 48T chainring. The reason to upgrade is that I can’t find quality components for 8 speed system. I want to buy Saint shifter and RD, XT 11-36. Then I Saw the price isn’t much from 11 speed system and it’s more future proof.

I did my calculations and found out that it will cost me: 247€ for:
– saint shifter
-saint derailleur
-KMC x11e ept
-M771 11-36 -Jagwire elite sealed

314€ for:
-M9000 shifter
-M8000 derailleur
-XT 11-46
-Jagwire elite sealed
-KMC X11E ept

283€ For:
-M8000 shifter
-M8000 derailleur
-XT 11-46
-Jagwire elite sealed
-KMC X11E ept

And now I’m completely lost. The Saint shifter has 4 multi bearing construction and the M8000 has only 2, therefore I added M9000 to my consideration! 1×11 more range and appealing big cog 46, while the saint is cheaper and 1×10 has thicker chain which I guess more longevity to my e bike.

I need your suggestions guys!!

Saint is a gravity group. It’s intended for heavy duty downhill use on a regular basis. Hence the construction and bearings etc. It’s meant to take a pounding and laugh at rocks.

XTR is the opposite end of the race spectrum. It’s intended for fast, neat and light XC racing where everything is just so and money is no object if there is more performance to be had.

XT is somewhere in the middle – it’s intended to be everyday quality – regular use and maybe not with finesse but for someone prepared to spend just a bit more on quality.

SLX is usually nearly all of the performance of XT but with a cheaper finish and maybe a little more weight and durability.

To be honest, it depends what you do with your ebike. Unless you’re planning DH or serious enduro use then really what you want is probably SLX M7000 or maybe XT M8000 if you want the bling.

One concern : that 48t front ring you’ve got. That’s way high for any of the current 1×11 groups – I’d consider mailing Shimano’s distributor asking about compatibility with their 1×11 groups. 48×46 might even be big enough to start causing problems with chain length availability.

Hope that helps!

the rear derailleur doesnt really care what size the front ring is as it just has to take up the slack from the rear cassette in a 1x system.

I would be concerned about the fragility of 11 speed on a high torque E-bike.

For the money I would go with a good 1×10 system using an 11-36 cassette and a saint shifter (nicest out there) and an SLX 10 speed derailleur. For me that would be the best bang for the buck.

Shifter: £35
RD: £35
XT or SLX cassette £30
Chain £12

If you want some more range go for a sunrace 10 speed 11-42T cassette and an SLX 11 speed rear derailleur along with the 10 speed shifter.

If you really want 11 speed then SLX or XT. I have XTR shifters I am not sure it’s worth it at the current prices and I wouldnt touch the XTR rear derailleurs on an E-bike as its a lot of throw away if you end up wrecking one. Leave those for the XC racers.

Going back to the front ring – that is pretty damn big so not easy to get hold of.

Saint shifter is one of my favourite – tho the xt m8000 11speed is also quite nice (I like a chunky shift)

If you’re used to a 48t front then I’d ask how steep are the hills near you? What range are you running on your 8sp cassette?

@suwidah91

Just curious as to the 48t chainring. That’s proper roadie size.

Can you get that in a narrow/ wide configuration?

Cheers.

The Saint 10 speed shifter’s the best ever made imo, it’s basically a more positive feeling XTR, absolutely flawless.

You don’t need to match it to a saint rear, and maybe you shouldn’t, depending on your frame (in wide range mode the Saint mech is supposed to work on an 11-36, but that’s not 100%, if the bike has a lot of chaingrowth sometimes the mech can’t take up the slack (I have no idea which bike it is)

@vincienup
Thanks, I dont think that it will be a problem with the chain since lots of manufacturers produce chains with 136 link

@andyl
Nice suggestion for the sunrace 10, this got my attention. Is 11sp rd compatible with 10sp shifter?? Newbie here or from agestone :’)

@tmb467
I live in Sweden and it’s flat everywhere! Hehe. I run 11-32 on my cassette.

@greatbeardedone
Mmm I tried it but I don’t recommend it at all for the 48T the chainring was way away from the center of the bike resulting in too much chain friction when it is on the biggest cog + more often chain drops.

@north wind
I like the saint rd and it’s short cage. I was thinking about saint shifter zee derailleur, but zee rd have a problem with a pins coming loose from the hollowgram part. I want to go for the best components, because here in Sweden the nasty salty winter is not forgiving and the -20 °C/ -4°F is impossible to maintain the components more the once a week if you get lucky with some warm day above the freezing temperature, like removing the degreaser with water, good luck with that 😀 it will be frozen within seconds on the driveline.

https://m.imgur.com/T1PQEWq
https://m.imgur.com/7znwCuj

View post on imgur.com

If your riding is mostly flat and you’re going to run a big ring up front then I’d suggest sticking with 10 speed

11 speed “works” but can be fussy -whereas 10sp with 11-36 and a big ring with XT mech and saint shifter will last you a while.

You don’t need an expander ring so the base cassette will be fine – just stick a chain guide on (tho with a clutch you probly won’t need one)

Why not 1*9?

Save you having to replace the rear mech and parts are much cheaper.

I’m going to guess that your bikes a pedelec, so all you need is a gearing range that takes you up to 17 mph?

It looks like your front mech is acting as your ‘de facto’ chain device.

In the absence of a proper chain device, I think the accepted wisdom for 1* systems is that you have a narrow/ wide chainring for starters.

I’ve got a bike that I’m trying to convert to 1*

I got an inexpensive narrow/ wide chainring from superstar.

They don’t work with 8 speed systems.

I would have considered 1*10 or 1*11 to find a clutch mech to complete the ensemble.

But i noticed that a cheap chain device, in conjunction with my spare 9 speed shifters would keep the costs down without the chain un-shipping.

can’t find quality components for 8 speed system

SRAM EX1?

that 11-48 EX1 cassette looks interesting until… EX1 at Tredz

holy crap it’s expensive!

You wont be able to run 11 speed with your 48T ring, due to the way your 48T Ring sits on your motor, It throws the chain out of line to much you might even struggle with 10 speed on the standard 48T

You will be able to run 10 speed if you buy the leccy bling ring,as when mounted on your motor it sits further inboard giving you a better starting chain line.

I run
1 x 10 slx shifter
1 x 10 xt clutch mech
1 x 11 42 cassette sram

@greatbeardedone
Yes it’s maybe cheap chain guide solution but it works amazingly well but before the chain drops maybe once a day if it gets a bump. I’m fine with it. My motor is reprogrammed and work with throttle without PAS and I lowered its power from750W to 500W and still I can hit 60 km/h if I pedal hard which is more than I want

@otsdr
Holly crab I’m gonna sell a kidney and buy this

@Merchant-Banker
Exactly! Do you know if the 10’s biggest cog is at the same place as 8’s biggest cog or it’s just bushed towared the spokes like the 11 speed?

I dont think lekkie pling ring 46 will fit my frame

Ex1 cassette is made from a solid block of hardened tool steel… Blah blah blah, stripped a tooth off the top 3rd ride out and you can’t dump shift it so it wasn’t that…. Draper tool steel maybe Bahco it ain’t.

@suwidah91

Whew! 500w motor…guess that 48t chain wheel makes sense.

But it’s not road legal?

Just to clarify, at first I though I could use my 9 speed shifters with a 10 speed clutch rear mech. Subsequently I discovered that the actuation ratio on the clutch mechs means that they only work with 10/ 11/ 12 speed.

That’s why I’ll be digging out my 9 speed shifter and using a (very cheap) chain guide in lieu of a clutch mech.

suwidah91 – Member

@north wind
I like the saint rd and it’s short cage. I was thinking about saint shifter zee derailleur, but zee rd have a problem with a pins coming loose from the hollowgram part.

Yeah, Zee’s not that hot. THough not so much that fault, as just generally being a mismatch of parts, it has some strong bits and some slx bits so if it gets bumped the weaker parts tend to die easily. XT is good though.

The Saint’s a great part, it just has that limitation with wide range cassettes and chain growth because of the little cage.

greatbeardedone – Member

@suwidah91

Just to clarify, at first I though I could use my 9 speed shifters with a 10 speed clutch rear mech. Subsequently I discovered that the actuation ratio on the clutch mechs means that they only work with 10/ 11/ 12 speed.

Or you can easily mod a 10 speed shimano mech to run on a 9 speed SRAM shifter

I was playing on my brothers e bike at the weekend, tbh, I didn’t use any more than 4 or 5 gears. didn’t feel the need to at all. Though I guess if you want to horse it everywhere at 40 mph, aye fair enough. I was happy with a top speed of 30ish, trundling along about 15/18 mph.

greatbeardedone – Member

But it’s not road legal?

I did about 20 miles on the road with the 1000W bafang HD, tbh nobody even gave me a second glance. You can get away with it no bother.

was interesting enough actually, I’m just testing out the range on the thing to give my brother some confindence, took it up through castlemilk on to the commonweath course and then cycled up to the entrance to whitless wind farm past eaglesham. All on assist 9, using no throttle.

Ran out of battery more or less around mile 19, just on the last wee uphill into carmunock, thankfully down hill from there and just enough battery to let me trundle home, total mileage was 21 miles with battery total dead. Wouldn’t like to get get stuck with no battery far from anywhere, really resistant to peddle with no power, doable, but an effort.

Next test I’ll do is all on the flat on assist 9 and see how far that gets me.

After that, I’ll do the same 2 tests on assist 5 and see if there’s a massive difference. and possibly on lower as well after that.

was an 11ah battery @ 48volts. on fairly soft xking 2.2s

Yes it’s legal if you have driving license and helmet if the motor is more than 250W or the bike kan assist more than 25km/h + Sweden police gives zero shit or maybe take a selfie

https://m.imgur.com/pJ0DS13
On flat full throttle
Damn I want 52 chainring

buy a motorbike

suwidah91 – Member
Yes it’s legal if you have driving license and helmet if the motor is more than 250W.

bike needs to be registered and insured also if i remember right.

No I don’t wont to miss with a bike limit lol. But the e bike is so much fun I’m more fit than ever, for me it is always fun to push at higher speed than pushing hard low speed. And yes I’m too lazy to register and insure my e bike. Maybe when I get my new battery because for now my battery has been stolen 😀

Who needs road laws?

Thanks all
I went with 1×11 xt with xtr shifter and lekkie pling ring 52 to get a an optimal chain line.

And thus half the problems with e-bikes (or certain users) are deftly illustrated…

Well done OP.

Have you thought of going down the alfine route – its what I have on my e bike and it works really well. No messing with chainline, no dropped chains, 8 gears with plenty of spread

No, actually it will slow down taking the rear wheel off the bike for repair or service.

its an annual thing tho 😉 to take the rear wheel off