[Closed] 10 Speed - who has it? What do you think?

Did he put the chain on the right way - they're directional now...

Can't say I've had any issues and I kinda like it. Reckon wear rate won't be any worse because I think the chain is under less stress with smoother front shifting to closer ratios.

Wouldn't have rushed out and bought it but I was given a set, it works, there are benefits to the riding experience but they're not ground breaking.

Directional chain! I have no idea! 🙄

I've got it on my bikes. It's saved about 1lb in weight which I consider to be not insignificant, especially on my race bike, without losing any important gears.

I've had a zero failure rate in roughly 2 months.

zero failure rate

🙂 you mean it hasn't broken?

SpokesCycles how did you save a pound in weight?

With some incredibly expensive components!

I took home an X7 2x10 set up last night but wont get round to fitting til weekend or further. I will be reporting over winter.

SpokesCycles - Member

I've had a zero failure rate in roughly 2 months.

How? 😳 😉

I've just gone 1x10 (slx) but haven't ridden it yet ... seems alright sat in the workshop 😉

I've got it on my bikes. It's saved about 1lb in weight

I find that hard to believe! What were you using before, Shimano's LTD edition gruppo made from lead?!

...Reckon wear rate won't be any worse because I think the chain is under less stress with smoother front shifting to closer ratios.

What is it that wears quicker? I can't see any reason for the chain wearing quicker. So is it the thinner cogs of the cassette that were?

I remember the old days when my fully rigid Trek had 3x7 STX-RC, those gears never ever went wrong (nor did the rest of the bike) despite some pretty serious abuse. Makes me wonder if less is sometimes more...

Sorry, totally off topic <puts rose tinted glasses back on and goes back to nostalgic daydreaming>

It's saved about 1lb in weight which I consider to be not insignificant,

Not changing to an identical 10 speed groupset you didn't, so that's not really fair.

I've had XX for a year now, nothing's broken, the big ring's worn out, the jockeys wore out and I've not changed the chain, so that and the cassette are now shagged! It's alright, nothing special, shifts very well, but so did the 9 speed stuff. The wider range cassette making a single/double more practical is a big bonus though IMO, and the main reason it's worthwhile.

What is it that wears quicker? I can't see any reason for the chain wearing quicker. So is it the thinner cogs of the cassette that were?

Chain and cassette cogs are thinner so arguably will wear quicker. But because the front chainset ratios are closer I reckon it will wear quite well due to less harsh/clumsy front shifting.

So far so good. I've got 3x10 and find the shifting super smooth and great for keeping a high cadence while shifting. No problems yet on the durability front, and done some big rides.

My enduro bike is kitted with the 10speed gearing.
Done lots of gloopy, hard miles these last few months, with no problems.

3 x 10 SLX here as well. Saved some weight over the mix and match of components that were on there before. It's never missed a shift, it's as precise as older XTR, very smooth and the bonus of the new chainring sizes is that you spend far more time in the middle ring as the ratios are better. Means less front shifting and it's designed to give the best pedalling response on full sus bikes (most of which are have the pivot point positioned to be optimum when the chain is on the middle ring).

Directional chain is a bit more faffy, it's more of a pain that the 10sp road chains aren't compatible and I *wish* they still did Dual Control shifters. Even now I still occasionally try shifting by flicking the brake lever before remembering that it's RapidFire+. 👿

will 10spd powerlinks fit these chains?

Is it only SRAM 10 speed chains that have a direction? ... I ask as my Shimano chain doesn't have any markings indicating direction and there was nothing in the packet to suggest it should be fitted a certain way round.

im pretty sure the xtr is directional.

Mines no xtr 😉

neither will mine! just a vague memory from all the press. anyone tried a powerlink?

Haven't tried a powerlink but I did notice CRC are doing Brand X 10 speed powerlink copies.

Running SRAM XX shifter, cranks and front mech with X0 10 speed rear mech and XT cassette. Awesome, seems to make total sense for both AM riding and enduro riding. Shifting is as crisp as anything and gear ratios seem to compliment my style of riding :). Only miss the 44 big ring on long fireroad and road descents - need to crank faster!

Definitely upgrading my hard tail to it when the 9-speed X9 wears out. I have had to change the chain after 6 months, but that was pretty heavy riding (3-5 rides a week 15 - 64 miles per ride), but as SRAM 10 speed chains utilise the powerlock links I can't swap over chains easily without splitting the chain each time.

Is it only SRAM 10 speed chains that have a direction?

I wasn't aware that SRAM 10spd chains were directional. The Shimano ones are, the writing on them goes to the outside.

Ta, means it's the right way round then.

Running XT 3x10, so far its done two horrendous Big Dog laps in horrific conditions and 2 D2D laps in what can only be described as Somme like conditions; both times it was very well behaved, sure the shifting slowed a little once the derailleur turned into a muddy metallic lump but other than that its been fine.

The cogs are very thin though so durability maybe an issue but so far so good.

Watching this thread with interest as I'm considering chnaging from 2x9 to 1x10 in teh near future on my trail bike.

The only advantage I can see at the moment seems to be teh ability to drop front mech and run single riung up front.

I would be running a chain device to which would negate loss of fornt mech.

Suppose the bars may look a bit less cluttered.

For me the main upside of 10 speed is the plethora of cheap 9 speed stuff out there being dumped by the big on-line players at the moment 🙂 Time to stock up! I'm running 2x9 double and bash and it suits me well.

'tis me that shortcut mentioned... The 10 speed Shimano chain was directional, and fitted correctly (at least before the first snap, second time round it was hurriedly slapped on in the dark!) - as mentioned above writing on the outside.

Had done about 100 miles before it snapped...

I fitted a SRAM 10spd chain this weekend, with a few extra power links purchased at the same time... Just in case! Let's see what happens in the dark on Tuesday!!

Heres hoping it was a bit of bad luck...

i've had 10 speed slx for a couple of months now but haven't been out of middle ring yet so i guess 20 of the gears are wasted 😥

peath: be interested in hearing how you get on withe the SRAM chain on Shimano 10 speed...

I remember this arguement with 8 speed, 9 speed, disc brakes, slide on cassettes etc

It'll never catch on. 😆

Just a quick update... SRAM 10spd chain on 10spd SLX still holding up after quite a few miles now... I guess it was either a dodgy Shimano chain or user error. Anyhooo everything seems to be running smoothly and I'll be sticking to SRAM chains - shifts well and hasn't caused any issues...

what about 1x10, single front middleburn in 36t
raceface deus crank arms, sram xo 9speed shifting

can you use xx casette and rear mech with xo shifters

No and yes

gone right off my 10 speed, i think the ratios are too close, i've started shifting 2 at a time which is much better, still haven't been out of middle ring so effectively i'm now only running a 1x5. fitting an 8 speed alfine this week, that might do the trick!

i still run 8spd 🙄

fwiw - I don't use 10spd offroad - but run 2 road bikes with 10spd, and found that the chain stretches much quicker than 9spd. I now have to replace 10spd chains ~every 6 to 9 months on road bikes where I used to get ~2 years for the same useage (SRAM Red and Force).

so don't think 10spd MTBing is for me, as my 9spd MTB chains only get 4 months use before they are >.75 stretched (gritstone grinding paste round here)

How can you have ratios that are "too close"? They're exactly the same as a 9spd 11-32 if you have the 11-36 cassette. If you have a 10spd 11-32 then surely you're just in the perfect gear all the time?

What a strange issue to have.

SpokesCycles - How can you have ratios that are "too close"? They're exactly the same as a 9spd 11-32 if you have the 11-36 cassette. If you have a 10spd 11-32 then surely you're just in the perfect gear all the time?

What a strange issue to have.

well, i'm running 11-34 and all i know is that when i hit a hill and need to grab a lower gear then in most cases one jump ain't enough. furthermore, as the shifter is designed to shift three cogs with one push it's a fair assumption that rather than being a strange issue this is in fact what shimano were expecting!

It's been possible to multi-shift up to 4 gears for quite some time with both Shimano and SRAM, at least with downshifting. Upshifting normally only 2. So, not really an issue, and certainly not some conspiratorial plot.

Longevity of kit will always be an issue as kit gets progressively lighter, but given that this kit is aimed at racers, longevity should not be of prime importance.

I have run XT 10 speed as a double since June and had no problems what so ever.
I have just replaced it with XTR 10 speed and it saved 1/2 pound over the XT.

I rode a Genius with 10 speed XT yesterday, my first foray into Shimano 10 speed.

Couldn't really decide... The shift is incredibly light, stunningly so, but I found myself shifting too many gears, or constantly shifting 'one and a half' gears so it got a bit crunchy. I didn't like the chainring sizes, found I was in the 42 for 95% of the ride, but creeping towards the top of the block, shifting into the middle and I was usually dropping down the block more. The shift on the front mech was excellent, but the thumb paddle was too far back I found (may be adjustable, didn't check as it was a demo bike).

I prefer the more clicky shift of SRAM, and would probably use a 39/26 double, or just a single ring.

1x10 on a 29er 32/11-36 xt and a wippermann chain with connex. just about right round here. the new xt shifter is mighty smooth.

Tried 3x10 XT on a demo bike and CRC'd a groupo for the new frame... 😳

XX here since April. Chain is way past the stretch limit and both rings are worn up front, cassette is probably well worn too but can't tell from looking but everything works still so its all going to the grave together. For what its worth I believe wear rate is higher as the chain is narrower and from my experience has stretched rather quickly plus the teeth are narrower which means there's less width across the contact with the chain rollers. I don't find myself riding in easier gears.

Rode new XTR last weekend though. Cranks are very nice and still look smart after 150 miles of heel rub, brakes are my new favourite, not massively powerful but beautiful action and feel. That was 3x10 but I didn't find myself pedalling any easier gears so wouldn't say there was any less force on it.

I understand the SRAM chain is the same as the road one whereas the shimano are mtb specific for higher loads. Got to say I like the idea of this and hopefully it means they won't stretch as quick but had a few issues with shimano chains recently including an Ultegra one which cracked in no less than 12 links. Got a Dura Ace replacement on warranty but not felt like using it yet. Might stick it on the XX to see how nailed the cassette is!

Fwiw I Changed my XX chain a couple of months ago, having done a full season, it was absolutely trashed, as was the big ring, but the cassette survived, I was impressed.

I'm running 8,9 and 10 speed (across 3 bikes) all mostly XT (but a few bits of XTR and SLX). I never found much difference between 8 and 9 speed, if anything I always found the quality of the 8 speed kit was better than 9 speed (more aluminium less plastic!).

However I'm finding 10 speed to be noticeably better than the other two. I think it suits my riding style more. I rarely stand on my peddles to push up a hill, much preferring to spin up the hills. So the extra gears really help with keeping a steady cadence.

Also I do find myself using the front ring more, as in the granny ring you can shift much further up the rear cassette without the kind of problems I had with 8/9 speed doing the same. So on the really steep stuff again it suits my riding style.

So for me personally a 3x10 set up is a good step forward. With a traditional 3x8 being my runner up.

For what it is worth we have 10 fingers so 10 gears kinda makes sense 🙂

Thanks njee - that makes me feel better!

Are the chainrings available seperately? - I've only seen them with the spider so far.

Ouch dasilva...worn out your XX in 6 months...that transmission must be more expensive to maintain than a car's 😯

The spider with rings is the best value stupidly, I think the big ring is £105, no idea on the inner. I was really surprised by the cassette, far outlasted XTR or anything else I've had.