Just taken off my X01 cassette. What a stunning piece of engineering it is. It’s a real item of beauty.

C

Just fitted an X1 and I must admit, it’s rather lovely. It’s also nice to have it not fall apart when you take it off.

Mine really really is lovely. No slop in it at all with the xd freehub. Mounted on an Enve 29 lightweight wheel its the best rear end I’ve had

Bit of tangent but related, how the flip do you get it off again, chain whip and spline tool till blue in the face and it would not shift, I’m assuming I’m doing something daft?

No, that’s exactly how it comes off. Basically it’s just like a normal Shimano cassette in that regard. Just that the lock ring is built it.

Must be on very tight/ not greased when assembled?

Just a chain whip & normal Hyperglyde tool. To be fair mine was pretty tight.

Reading on the www, to put it back on you need to grease and 40Nm on a torque wrench

its the best rear end I’ve had

Didn’t Carol Smiley win this one year?

I agree that they are a great piece of engineering but the extra cost vs a xt 11-42 is too much. My bike came with an XO1 cassette which now needs replacing. I can buy a new freehub body and the cassette for less than an X01 cassette and when i need to change it again i will save nearly £100.

Absolutely.

Might be a lovely bit of engineering but by it’s very nature is always going to be a costly process/ part to make.

I use a GX cassette. Ok, it’s heavier/not as pretty but it seems robust and isn’t much dearer than the XT equivalent. I reckon for people replacing their cassette on an XD drive it’s the cassette to go for now, unless money really isn’t an issue.

It is for me!

Or keep your freehub, buy a GX cassette for only slightly more than XT, and enjoy the wider range and lower weight (394g for GX versus 445g for XT)

https://www.bike-components.de/en/SRAM/XG-1150-Kassette-PC-X1-Kette-11-fach-Verschleissset-p47071/

Shimano have really come up a bit short with their 11s cassettes, IMO.

Aye, XG was the gamechanger for me. Mind you I’m still building mine with XT shifting.

(oh OK, I didn’t actually buy an XG. It just made 11 speed affordable enough for me to check it out, then I bought an almost-new 1180 off ebay from someone who was converting to 2×11. But knowing I can get another cassette for £75 made the difference)

Thinking about GX for my own bike now…. what hub for a GX on a QR rear end?

Running the gx, still looks good much nicer bit of kit than the shimano one and should probably solve the hope free hub chew

IMHO it’s worth it purely for the 10 as opposed to 11 top gear. Makes a massive difference to peddly sections

I think I might use the 10T to drop the front gear a bit 😳