Forum menu
I just learned that the SLX drivetrain that’s arriving on NBD won’t have an ispec shifter. Obviously having an extra band mount in the handlebars is unacceptable.
I could fix it with a £16 adapter but it made me think I do have an XO1 shifter and mech in the shed. I could use those with a matchmaker mount and sell the SLX versions for a few quid. They’re going on hope levers so adapters are required either way, it’s just a question of which to buy.
Will I notice any difference in shifting performance using a sram mech and shifter on a Shimano cassette and chain? Will it actually be better because of the fancier sram shifter? Will I die?
Obviously having an extra band mount in the handlebars is unacceptable.
I always have separate mounts, the ability to move the brake and shifter independently of each other is over-looked IMO. It's not like there's no room for separate mounts on modern wider handlebars and "eurgh-two mounts, how gauche" is not something that I hear that often in car parks.
Im joking about it being unacceptable of course, you do you.
I’ve always been happy with my control positions with a single mount. I can’t imagine anyone else would ever notice and I don’t care either - it makes me happy to tidy things up as much as I can. (See also my thread about handlebar graphics).
The wider internet says mixing and matching Shimano/SRAM 12 speed is fine, which is a surprise to me - but you might as well try. I'd probably leave off selling the SLX shifter until you've established the SRAM one works though.
FWIW my pathological dislike of SRAM would make me favour Shimano SLX over X01, but you do you 😉
I've been running a SLX shifter with an X01 mech, and it's been fine - so I imagine it'll be okay the other way around too.
Now I’m worrying what people in the car park will say if they notice my mixed drivetrain!
Yeah I’ve seen folks say I worked out fine, I guess I’m looking for some recent confirmation from the wise heads of STW.
Why the sram dislike out of interest? Is it big company related or do you feel like shimano stuff performs better? It’ll be my first time on shimano 12 speed so I’m interested to hear how they compare.
Why the sram dislike out of interest? Is it big company related or do you feel like shimano stuff performs better? It’ll be my first time on shimano 12 speed so I’m interested to hear how they compare.
It's not an ideological thing, it's a bit of customer loyalty and a bit of preference. In fairly recent history I've had XO1 and GX 11speed on bikes (before I swapped it out), and I just prefer Shimano MTB drivetrains. I've not tried 12 speed of either flavour though.
Why the sram dislike out of interest? Is it big company related or do you feel like shimano stuff performs better? It’ll be my first time on shimano 12 speed so I’m interested to hear how they compare.
Prefer Shimano as I simply don't like how SRAM shifters feel. But then I've got expensive tastes and won't ride less than an XT shifter (XTR in an ideal world). Happy with a Deore mech though. Currently preferring SRAM XD cassettes : XG1150 in 11-sp and XG1275 in 12-sp. Mostly steel construction - the last 11-sp SLX cassette I tried wore extremely quickly so I jumped to SRAM for those.
Oh, and band-on shifters every time for me.
I'm hoping they're cross compatible too. New bike has Sram shifter mounted on Sram brake lever and X01 derraileur. I have long thumbs and cannot use shifter that are mounted to the brake lever, or dropper remotes for that matter. I also prefer the ergonomics and shift of a shimano shifter. If it works there will be a new X01 shifter in the classifieds soon.
If it doesn't work does anyone know if you can buy Sram shifter clamo bands separately? Putting up with Sram shifter ergonomics and no deep push/drop 2 gears at once will be ££££ preferable to changing cassette, derraileur and freehub body on a Hydra hub.
and I just prefer Shimano MTB drivetrains. I’ve not tried 12 speed of either flavour though
In 20 years of mountain biking I'd pretty much only ever used Shimano, and when I bought my Enduro that came with full XO1 12 speed I had a complete Shimano drivetrain ready in the shopping basket of a well known on-line store, so sure was I that it would be the first thing I changed. Honestly now after 5 years or so of using SRAM 12 speed, you'd need to pay me to go back to Shimano. I don't think Shimano has a product that matches SRAM at GX or above
I find that SLX is a great match for GX.
I like to mix and match to get the best of both worlds however. SRAM cassettes and chains have worked well with otherwise Shimano trannies for me.
The fact that a lot of people are the opposite and hate I-spec I'd get an XT ev from Merlin at £31.50 and sell the SLX band on.
I've got a bike supposedly arriving very soon that has a GX drivetrain, and I'm a Shimano enjoyer, so we could do some kind of swapsies. How long are the cranks?