So looking at anew bike. It comes with either the NX kit or XT with SLX cassette.
Could i upgrade the shimano at a later date to 12sp or will it require a differnt freehub. is the NX the same as the other eagle freehubs?
Shimano 12sp is a different freehub (only XTR released and rumoured different standards) also next out will be XT probably in 2019, so SLX a while off
NX is 11-50 so uses the current shimano standard freehub.
Nx eagle uses a standard Shimano style freehub rather than the xd ones from GX and above.
Shimano 12 speed is having yet another freehub standard again.
So whichever you go for has the old style freehub and neither GX eagle and above cassettes will fit and the new Shimano 12 speed won’t fit either.
so which is best. the nx is caring a 100 quid increase over the slx kit.
Depends what range the Shimano cassette has. Assuming it’s either 11-42 or 11-46 than the NX has a lower gear for climbing. If you need hat hen go Nx, if you don’t then XT kit is probably better quality than NX - pre NX eagle anyway. The XT is broadly equivalent to Sram GX.
Both probably a similar level but the range on the eagle is much bigger so more versatile as a 1x option.
Would be a good starter into eagle too (GX options are still a good price)
Both have their pros and cons imo.
Shimano, cheaper, slightly lighter and a much more durable mech (sram 12 speed ones are huge and don't take a hit well at all).
SRAM, extra range, tighter jumps in gear ratios at the low end, shifts better imo.(GX eagle, prefer the SRAM feel though that's very personal). Also finding my gx eagle drivechain is wearing superbly well compared to my old Shimano set up.