Thinking about getting one of these for my new bike that has a 2×10 drivetrain, I’ve noticed that as the large front chainring is bigger than the middle chainring on my 3x setups I’m struggling a bit and have to drop down to the granny ring more on the steeper climbs, the rear casette is a 36 tooth, so if I change it to one of the Sunrace cassettes will it work ok without having to do anything with the rear mech – additional link or longer screw, think it’s a slx mech. Would the 40 tooth work better, thinking this might just be about enough so I don’t have to change to the granny ring?

Are you wanting to go 1×10 or stick with the front mech?

If you’re sticking with the front mech then don’t bother with the sunrace cassette.

If you are considering 1×10 then you need to ditch the front mech and swap out your two front rings for a narrow wide one (cheap enough from superstar, uber etc). May as well treat yourself to a new chain too at this point 😀

The sunrace cassette will work fine with your mech. I run the 42t one using a normal SLX one. All I needed to do was wind the B screw all the way in. I vary between a 30t and 32t up front depending where Im going.

The sunrace cassette will work fine with your mech.

Not necessarily, mine wouldn’t even look at it until I also fitted a Rad Cage. It varies by frame design though, some will go straight on as you say

My Sunrace 11-42 works fine with a medium length clutch Deore.

Mmm, so might be ok with my mech, not sure if it’s long or medium cage but guessing as it came as a 2x setup it’ll be medium. Not looking to go 1x, I need the granny for the long steep climbs I have locally and I need that 36 tooth front (think it’s 36 or 38 can’t check as I’m at work) as I often find on the flat and downhill bits I could do with another gear – on my 3x setups I use all the front chainrings on a typical 20 to 30 mile ride.

Think I might get one and have a play around to see if it’ll work. Thanks all.

+1 I’ve fitted two now (11-40 and a 11-42, on a 1×10 setup with a 32t ring) and both needed a Radr cage to work effectively. Different frames have different mech hanger positions, so there’s no single rule here.

You can often just get away with screwing the b-screw in all the way but then the top jockey sits a long way off the smaller sprockets, so shifting can suffer. the Radr cage solves this (just a shame it’s so expensive…)

Why do you have an aversion to dropping to the smaller chainring when going uphill?

Thats what its there for!

You like your top gear, but are you saying the low gear is too high?

Not necessarily, mine wouldn’t even look at it until I also fitted a Rad Cage. It varies by frame design though, some will go straight on as you say

You can pick up the inner and outer mech plates for SLX or XT quite cheaply (SJS cycles or your LBS who stocks shimano). I wonder if they are compatible with 10 speed mechs and a cheaper option? Something like £6.99 for inner and £11-15 for the outer.

They move the upper jockey wheel back to help with the larger sprocket.

Sounds like you’re sticking to a 2x setup so there’s really no need to get a bigger cassette. Your reason for wanting to do so sounds like it’s because you don’t want to change down from the large chainring in some situations, but if you don’t do that you’ll be doing a pretty hefty cross-chain with a 36 or 38 front and 40 or 42 at the back large-large: not a good chainline and would use a lot of chain! Change gear at the front mech or go 1x with new cassette. Changing gear at the front when you need to, will be cheaper than buying a cassette and/or longer cage.

M786 10 speed:

M8000 11 speed:

you’ll be doing a pretty hefty cross-chain with a 36 or 38 front and 40 or 42 at the back large-large: not a good chainline and would use a lot of chain!

Not sure that makes sense.

a 10 speed triple is 11-36 and 24-32-42 (XT treking chainset even wide range) which is a totcal capacity of 25 + 18 = 43.

11-42 on a double up front is say 11-42 and 26-38 which is 25 + 12 = 37T.So still less chain that a triple set up.

As for chainline a 10 speed cassette is a 10 speed cassette. Same chainline in the 36T on an 11-36 cassette as an 11-42 10 speed cassette.

The bigger diameter makes no difference assuming the chain leaves the cassette at 12 o’clock on the return to the cranks. Yes a 2x set up has a worse chainline for big ring to big cassette than a triple on middle ring to big cassette but only very slightly and probably no worse than a 1×11 set up as the largest sprocket on the cassette is hung off the inside of the cassette closer to the spokes.

wzzzz – Member
M786 10 speed:

M8000 11 speed:

Photos are on the SJS cycles website which might make comparison easier.

No idea if the thread size and spring locations are the same. Possibly.

Fair enough…but it’s still not ideal to be using large-large on a 2x, which is what he is referring to. My point was that it would be easier to just change gear.

Why do you have an aversion to dropping to the smaller chainring when going uphill?

It’s not that, it’s just there’s a few short sharp hills on my rides where the middle ring on the 3x and the large at the back is just right, but I find with the 2x it’s just not quite there and then if I drop to the granny at that point it’s too spinny. Just need to think about the shifting differently on the 2x, after a while if I ever get fitter I’ll probably just get used to it 😉

My 11- 42 Sunrace works faultlessly with a Shimano XT Shadow rear mech. I wouldn’t consider going back to a 2 x front mech, ever!

My HD3 doesn’t even need the screw in all the way. Abviously depends on the bike

I’ve got 1 x 10 with a Sunrace 11-42 on my Shan and a medium cage XT mech – I have to have the B screw wound right in to get it to shift onto the largest sprocket. As mentioned above, this makes the top jockey a long way from the small sprockets. Seems to work ok, but not the best solutiion

I use a Shimano XT M781 Shadow 10 Speed mech with an 11-42 Sunrace cassette on my fat bike and it’s fine. Adjust the B-screw until you can shift on and off the largest sprocket OK. Not using a goat link or similar.

Have a Sunrace 10-42 on a Pinnacle Ramin 4 using an SLX Med cage which only needed the B screw all the way in. I removed the plastic washer to get it to the length I needed.

I couldn’t ever be bothered having a front mech again.
That’s my only single front chainring setup with a 30T and it gets up anything.
My other 1×10 is on a 32T chainring and 11-38T cassette and to be fair that’s as good a climber as I’ve ever needed. My 1x11s are on 32:10-42.
On all the bikes grip tends to be the limiting factor in climbing.

It’s not that, it’s just there’s a few short sharp hills on my rides where the middle ring on the 3x and the large at the back is just right, but I find with the 2x it’s just not quite there and then if I drop to the granny at that point it’s too spinny. Just need to think about the shifting differently on the 2x, after a while if I ever get fitter I’ll probably just get used to it

Its just a compromise of multiple chainrings, click down at the back a few times at the same time as dropping the front….

Its partly why so many go 1x

I went 1×11 but if you like range you need an 11-46 or 10-42 really, 11-42 doesn’t cut it for me on a 1x.

I’ve got an Mx3 cassette and run it with a goat link copy (Tenner vs 20) it works OK but removing the rear wheel is slightly more difficult.

I ran a triple with bash and moving to a 1×10 it’s not as good. I did it for mud clearance only.

the middle ring on the 3x and the large at the back is just right, but I find with the 2x it’s just not quite there and then if I drop to the granny at that point it’s too spinny.

I know what you mean – With a 2X, you need to change the front ring more than you would with a triple. The answer is to hit both shifters when you change the front ring so that you change up on the back and down on the front at the same time (or vice versa). I usually find that a double shift on the rear matched to a change on the front feels about right. This gets to be second nature after you’ve done it a few times. (If you can’t work two thumbs at the same time, maybe 1X is for you 😉 😀 )

(I have 2X on my fat bike and road/gravel bike and a triple on my hardtail. I shift as described above all the time on the fat bike and the road bike. The hardtail is almost always in the middle ring, and I wonder about going 1X when the triple wears out, but then I’m grateful for the granny ring every now and again, so wouldn’t want to ditch it. I also struggle with the logic of moving the 42 sprocket from the cranks in the middle of the bike out to the back wheel, but YMMV. I really would like a triple for the road/gravel bike though, just to get lower gears for long climbs on long rides.)

Mine is fine with an XT mech and the plastic tab / washer removed. I do have a Shimano Direct Mount hanger and the knuckle part of the derailleur removed though and the derailleur sits a bit further back than most normal set-ups.

Plastic tab?

Works fine on my Banshee Spitfire with an SLX medium cage mech but doesn’t work at all on my Bird Zero AM with the exact same cassette, mech, hub, shifter etc! I presume it’s down to the precise orientation and position of the mech when mounted on the specific frame’s hanger.

Plastic tab?

The B Tension bolt screws through this tab / washer thing and then into the derailleur. It’s only porpoise seems to be to act as a thread locker.

Andybrad have you a link for the goat link copy?

http://gearmechhanger.com/epages/950001649.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/950001649/Products/S10

gone up in price