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I have a Whyte 2016 T129S, which is lovely. It has a 2x10 SRAM GX drivetrain, which is wearing out, so I want to upgrade to 1x12 GX Eagle. Is there anything I should look out for, or is it all straightforward? Rear axle is 142 Maxle. I need to replace the direct mount front mech with some chain device - which is best? The Reverb lever is attached to the left Matchmaker mount, which I would lose, obviously. Should I get the upgraded Reverb lever (the long one), or can you get the mount part separately? Sorry for sounding a bit naive, but drivetrains confuse me... Thanks!
Shouldn’t need a chain device, The narrow/wide ring won’t drop the chain if installed right. I converted an older frame & there wasn’t enough clearance against the chain stay for the normal 32T ring so had to go with 30T instead. You’ll need a new free hub if your GX currently uses standard Shimano style one.
You're going to need a new freehub so that is a big consideration. On the positive side though you'll find the reverb lever is the matchmaker mount, so that will stay as is, just remove the bit that joins the reverb lever to the shifter (its a bolt on part) and you'll be left with a usable reverb remote with integrated clamp.
As above, sourcing an XD freehub is your only real issue here and that depends on the existing wheels. Worst case is if the manufacturer of your existing rear hub doesn’t offer an XD freehub option in which case you’re at least looking at a replacement hub and wheel rebuilt or replacement wheel.
Thanks all - that's very helpful. I'll get on with it.
...or just use a shimano / sunrace cassette (with 11t small sprocket rather than 10t of SRAM) and use your existing wheels...
^ this will work, but leads to a compromise in your drive train with the top gear essentially missing. If you have space you can fix that with a bigger front ring, but then your bottom gear is too tall and before you know what’s happening you have a bigger cassette too.
That difference between 11T and 10T doesn’t sound like much but it’s huge.
That difference between 11T and 10T doesn’t sound like much but it’s huge.
Yep it's the difference between a 30t and 33t chain ring (if they did them in NW 😉 )
That's a really good suggestion, which could save me a lot of hassle. I need the top gear more than the bottom gear, so 11t does not bother me at all. This is the one we're talking about, right?
Yes that's the one, fits a shimano freehub. Yes you lose the 10t but it could be a lot cheaper for you. Note separate thread with a link to the sunrace 12speed at £63
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/sunrace-12-speed-groupset/