£90 vs potentially as little as £60 for an XT cassette and SS expander.

Genuine question rather than rhetorical.

I’ve considered it, for me it was the convenience of a finished article, not the usual bodge jobs that 1x conversions seem to consist of….most of them either have big jumps between gears or people leave the standard 11-36 cassette in place and struggle up the climbs.

When my 2×10 wears out it’ll be a choice between the new XT 11-speed stuff of stay 10-speed but go with a Praxis cassette.

I have 32 x 11-36 at the moment, and am considering the options for when it’s time to replace, but I doubt that will include 11 speed.

TBH , I don’t think I would. Since I don’t use the expander on my setup that much it will last at least a couple of cassettes (I’m currently on my second cassette with mine) so it’s not just a one off price comparison.

If we assume that the Praxis will wear at the same rate as the XT and that my expander will last as long as two cassettes then the cost is £180 vs £100 (£40 + (2 x £30)). If the expander last for three cassettes then it’s £270 vs £130.

Edit: the jump due to the removal of the 16T can be a problem but it usually depends on the gradient I’m on. I can live with it.

I’m on my 32t cog a lot.

36t

Good point ‘re wear rates

I tried an expander and XT cassette (brand new) and I could never achieve smooth shifting cross the whole cassette. The Praxis cassette shifts perfectly and has stopped me spending hours trying to tune my gears!

I tried an expander and XT cassette (brand new) and I could never achieve smooth shifting cross the whole cassette. The Praxis cassette shifts perfectly and has stopped me spending hours trying to tune my gears!

This seems to be a common theme with home made 1x setups, having the Praxis and eliminating this would be reason enough IMO.

I think this is why Praxis said they didn’t do a 42.

It wasn’t just the expander causing problems. I could get a smooth shift onto it but then shifting onto the replacement sprocket lower down would then be out… tune that, then couldn’t smoothly shift onto expander… repeat until bought a Praxis!

With good parts (and swapping the 17T ring) it should function pretty much like OE Expander rings’ll vary, no doubt. I think they’re probably mostly trading on the idea that expanders are a bodge but frankly the older expander cassettes were flaky too- I’d rather have Shimano shifting across the rest of the block, a works or one up ring, and a radcage to make it work comfortably over 42.

Just resurrecting this thread as i’m thinking of buying an expander ring for the first time.

Bought a bike (commencal Meta AM) of a mate a few weeks ago and am struggling with the climbs a bit, i know it’s never going to be the best climber in the world but i’ve been used to a HT for the last year or so and my mate is a lot fitter than me!!

It’s got an XT cassette, so I can remove the 17t and an XT shadow + rear mech. I’m probably not going to buy the praxis cassette but is there any real difference between 40t rings i.e. superstar v Hope/Ethirteen/one up???

Some people say they have had greater life out of the more expensive ones. Personally I went for the superstar as it was the cheapest. The reason was that I wasn’t 100% sure on the ratio I wanted or even if 1x was right for me so I wasn’t wasting much if it was wrong and they are wear parts anyway. As it worked out its been perfect and is lasting well.

Cheers, might just go with SS and see how it goes first then. Although the one up has a 16t with it as well for £55.

I bought a Works Components 40t and Shimano 16t from Bird, all for £40 posted, they have some left…

http://shop.birdmtb.com/works-components-40t-genuine-xt-10-speed-16t-sprocket.html

I also have the SS one on the other bike, functionally there is no difference. The Works is finished better and it’s silver, which I prefer.

Cheers doom_mountain I might have to get one of those instead then.

Rumour has it, that sunrace will be offering a wide range cassette. Pricing at around $65 is mentioned.
There’s a thread on another mtb forum discussing it’s release.
No news of when it’s going to be available though.

I’ve the Hope 40TRex and it seems OK though I’ve nothing to compare it with as it’s been on the bike since I got it. Done about 4500Km on the bike so far but I don’t drop on to the extender that often, it’s a last resort thing really 😳 It’s outlasted one XT cassette so far and should last for the remainder of the current one at least. As a best guess I possibly use it 1% of the time.

It seems that the sunrace cassettes are now available in the US.

11-40
11-42

60USD dollars does seem very cheap. Wonder how well they’ll wear?

Just to resurrect this thread, seems sunrace cassettes are available in the UK now through ISON. i.e. your LBS can order one. £60 for the steel 42t though.

linky MS3 (all steel?)
Linky MX3 (alloy big cog?)

50g heavier than gx1 and m8000

obvs only 10 speed, but thats not too bad

Having got back into MTBing after a break of a few years, I have absolutely no idea what any of this means 🙁

I have an MS3 11-42t on the way, it’s about 50g heavier but it’s all steel no aluminium and I destroyed an expander in 1 month of crap weather riding.

i dare say your front ring was too big if you were on the expander that much

I think it was partly because I did quite a few peaks and lakes rides recently, uses the expander a lot.

because your front ring was too big 😉

Any update on how the SunRace is after some use?

I’ve been running a SunRace 11-40 with new chain, jockey wheels and chainring for a couple of months now, and its spot on even in the crappy winter mud. Had a oneup 40t for about a year with their replacement 16t and could never get a nice shift on to the 16t.

Someone mentioned about a SunRace cassette damaging a freehub body, but then so do the sprockets which aren’t spider mounted on Shimano or SRAM cassettes, not an issue that’s isolated to SunRace.
The SunRace cassettes do sound a little tinny when setting up on the bike stand… not that it can be heard when actually riding the bike.