Am currently and have been running xt 9 spd 11-32 cassette with kmc x9sl gold chain for the last 8-10 months and I think the quality of shifting is very good combined with my xtr rear mech and cranks and xt shifters.
I am however on my 5th chain and 4th cassette in that time, now I am riding about 150-200 miles per week on and off road and I wouldnt say im a heavy rider and I clean the drivetrain and re lube after almost every ride.
its getting to be expensive, even at the best price for the chain I can find currently of £30 and £29 for cassette - combine that with the xtr chainrings that im on my 3rd one in 12 months and they are £60 a pop - thats about £500 per year on wearable drivetrain parts - ouch!
any suggestions on a longer lasting chain/cassette option?
oh and it tends to be sprockets 12,14,16 that are wearing more and causing the skipping under load. is it worth getting an xtr cassette and replacing just those sprockets when they wear? or just stick with the cheaper xt and replace the whole cassette?
or is the chain doing well to last me about 800 ish miles and a cassette about the same?
or is the chain doing well to last me about 800 ish miles and a cassette about the same?
Change the chain more frequently? Do you have a chain checker? If you replace before it's too worn you will make the cassette last longer. Also miles mean nothing on a mountain bike, it can be clean, wet & clean, dry and clean, wet and gritty, dry and gritty. 1 mile in peak district grinding gloop can be worth 10-20 in the clean & dry.
Leave the same chain on and you'll probably get double the life from the cassette. If they wear in sync (I.e you don't put a new chain on a written cassette) it can get very worn before giving issues.
While changing chain when worn should get you a cassette lasting for 2-3 chains I think that this:
[i]oh and it tends to be sprockets 12,14,16 that are wearing more and causing the skipping under load.[/i]
Seems to imply that you are using too small a chainring at the front (ie change up more), as on an MTB I'd expect more wear at the top of the cassette - obviously if you live in the Fens or somewhere then maybe not...
For the record I still run 9-speed and find that an XT cassette gets me about 1000 miles if I run 3 chains through it.
What spooky said.
I did the Park Tools technique with their checker and changing chains regularly, and I'm convinced they get a cut on chains sold 😉
Turns out I'm replacing cassettes at the same frequency as just running a single chain and cassette to destruction. This whole "it makes your cassette last longer" is a myth in my book. It just makes you buy more chains. At least in my experience anyway.
The downside to just keeping the chain on is if for some reason you destroy the chain enough that you need a new chain, then you will definitely need a new cassette as they won't sync together otherwise.
Kmc chains however rarely snap. Even if they do, just carry Missing Link with you. The chain will still run just as long with them.
Oh, there is another factor to consider though and that's the chainrings. I did find my narrow wide was dropping chain occasionally after some time of a very worn chain. New chain and it stopped dropping. Cassette needing changing of course. This might make it a bit more frequent change and maybe then changing chain early in this case would help. It's not making the cassette last longer. The cassette is still good on that old chain, it's just the chainring isn't so happy with the worn chain.
Cassettes, personally I prefer SRAM for quieter shifting. XT I'm forced to use on one bike due to stupid hub design, and I find it clanky when shifting.
Seems to imply that you are using too small a chainring at the front (ie change up more), as on an MTB I'd expect more wear at the top of the cassette - obviously if you live in the Fens or somewhere then maybe not...For the record I still run 9-speed and find that an XT cassette gets me about 1000 miles if I run 3 chains through it.
I run 24/32/42 up front and am never in the granny and always in the middle and outer! I dont spin up the hills!! i power up them!
so you say you get about a 1000 miles from an xt cassette, well I do approx that every 5-8 weeks so by those calculations I am getting the same level of wear as you. so not entirely helpful but thank you for your unhelpful comments anyway.
Sram pg990 9spd cassette, pc991 chain on a 1x9 with Hope 34t ring - run until they shagged, usually yearly with a minimum of 5000 miles.
Never degrease the transmission, just clean with stiff brush to remove the clag and wipe with a rag dosed with Finish Line wet/dry ceramic lube depending on weather
Am currently and have been running xt 9 spd 11-32 cassette with kmc x9sl gold chain for the last 8-10 months...........I am however on my 5th chain and 4th cassette in that time,
5 chains to 4 cassettes, sounds like you need to change your chain more often, should be more like 12 chains to 4 cassettes?
Try a rohloff if you want a really long lasting chain. Be warned though, I always found them a gear harder to turn than an equivalent sram chain. Probably just my own headology though.