[Closed] XD vs Micro Spline

For me Shimano is far better than SRAM.

Biggest problem at the moment will be finding either instock so what you happen to find instock may dictate your choice.

What gear range and speed are you looking for? Any interest in 3rd party cassettes?

What about the rest of the kit you want to use?

What does your cassette of choice require? Pick that one. Don’t base your cassette choice on the freehub.

I suppose it all depends on what cassette you have, unless you are buying new.

As stated above you probably wont get a Shimano cassette anywhere and if you do its XT or nothing in my opinion if Shimano is your choice.

SRAM XD will only fit GX cassettes and above and if you are doing that you may as well go for XO1 and get your monies worth

I’d find yourself the cassette you want and buy you freehub / hub based on what needs to fit.

I made my choice based on sram cassettes being ridonkulous prices and went microspline, mind you XT cassettes are now £155 at CRC, pretty sure I paid nowhere near that for mine, I might treat myself to one of those fancy Garibaldi ones next or whatever they're called for £250, still way cheaper than top end sram.

Put a Garbaruk on my gravel bike, really impressed with the shifting so far, albeit early days.

GX and XT both cost about the same, both weigh about the same, have near enough the same range despite one upmanship and work with the other groupset.

Flip a coin?

Unless you've got a massive budget and the weight saving of the halo tier groupsets matters.

Fit a DT and you can change freehubs, i do it on mine, have Microspline to use with an SLX cassette and HG to use the cheaper SRAM HG cassettes, also have the XD freehub but not replaced the last GX cassette. Garbaruk do their cassettes in all 3 variants as well, so no matter what you choose, there's a 12 speed option readily available.

This is for a new build. I don't yet have a drivetrain, so am free to make the decision. FWIW - I don't think I need the 50t+ options as I've never really struggled on 32:42 1*11 drivetrains, so could be quite happy with the XTR 10-45. Weight is definitely a consideration. I'd like sub 400g.

I guess the MS vs XD is more a question of 12sp drivetrains. has anyone tried both Shimano and SRAM and has an opinion on which is better?

I wasn't even aware of Garbaruk, so that's a nice to know and may enable some CK hubs...

If you don’t need / want a big range then I’d go 11 speed and save the weight and complication of the long mech needed for the big range.

I’d go for the 10-42 sram gx cassette that’s all steel - it’s fairly light too. I think there are 2 versions at gx - one is slightly lighter than the other. It works out a slightly bigger range than the equivalent 11-46 Shimano 11 speed cassette whilst being lighter and lasting longer.

You’ll need XD for that option.

I’ve always been a Shimano guy, but went gx 12sp
When Shimano caught up I went back to them as I could get a full Shimano set up for less than a sram cassette…

I also have two wheel sets that I swap between.

I prefer XD on balance the one piece cassette whilst not perfect (the torque required for install is daft imo, but presumably required to make it work) is better than the lining up of multiple separate sections that only go on in one orientation.
If you don’t swap between wheels and only change when worn out this may not bother you.

Also I think sram is less noisy in muddy connies

GX and XT both cost about the same, both weigh about the same

But you can run all steel Deore (£100 rrp) or SLX on the Shimano free hub whereas the GX is the cheapest cassette you can run on XD?

Fit a DT and you can change freehubs

Easy enough to do on Hope hubs and others as well but not a cheap option.

@joebristol Agreed - If you want 11 speed, then yes, the GX 10-42 cassette is the best option by miles in terms of range, weight, cost, durability. I've gone through 3 since my first 11 speed bike (2016 maybe?) and much prefer it to the Shimano 11 speed options.

For the new bike I'm building now, I've gone 12 speed - and I've chosen to go with the XT 'Rhythm Step' Cassette as like @Daffy I dont need the huuuuuge range of the enormous Eagle or 51t Shimano Casettes. Going XT meant I had to have the cost of a new freehub but I did get the Casette new for less than £100 (check Ebay, the Rhythm Step Cassettes are less sought after than the normal version).

When theres a broken cassette with teeth missing on a forum 8 times out of ten it's a Sram one, also shimanos hg+ let's you shift under load better and shift down the block with less clunking.
I sometimes think I should have gone with 10-45 cassette with the shorter cage mech as I barely use the 51t, you'd think they'd be easier to get hold with most people opting for fuller range.

This is for a new build. I don’t yet have a drivetrain, so am free to make the decision. FWIW – I don’t think I need the 50t+ options as I’ve never really struggled on 32:42 1*11 drivetrains, so could be quite happy with the XTR 10-45. Weight is definitely a consideration. I’d like sub 400g.

I'd go for Shimano 11sp mech and shifter with a SRAM cassette.

This is almost what I use - my MTBs have XT with a Sunrace XD cassette for the 10-46 range (458g).

This setup shifts nicely enough and has been pretty durable. I'm sure XTR with a fancy SRAM cassette would be nicer still.

You are sticking with Shimano cranks, yeah?

Hg freehub and microshift advent x.

12speed is stupid and is way too much faff in the mud.

I've run GX Eagle, X01, the new GX Eagle with the 52t cog and SLX. The SLX is significantly better at shifting than the SRAM stuff and that would sway me more than freehub fitment.

I’ve got Xt 12 speed and Gx 12 speed. Both have been through lots of mud - both shift similarly for me.

The Shimano 12 speed cassette has a better jump at the lower end though - 46t to 51t. The Sram on jumps from 42-50 or 42-52.

The Shimano chains aren’t very good in mud though - they hold to much mud and grit in them due to the bigger side plates. I’ve got an XX1 chain running on the xt now (really good) and a KMX ti-ni X12 on the GX. I think the XX1 is a touch quieter but both are doing the job nicely.

The Shimano 12 speed chain I started with on xt was horrible as soon as it encountered muddy wet conditions - just never sounded nice and skipped about a bit.

11Speed GX Cassette with XTR Shifter and Mech is what I've used for years @chakaping, works brill.

I switched from XD to MS a few years ago because I like Shimano stuff.

Unfortunately getting hold of Shimano cassettes at the moment is really hard and, I'm told, only going to get worse as no new ones are coming through.

If it that's important, go for one you can swap freebodies on.

My other two MTBs are running XX1 cassettes and XTR mechs and shifters, but XX1 11sp cassettes and XTR 11sp stuff is really hard to get hold of at the moment except for at silly prices.

The Shimano 12 speed chain I started with on xt was horrible as soon as it encountered muddy wet conditions – just never sounded nice and skipped about a bit.

That's interesting - my first 12 speed kit came on an e bike in May and it's just had it's first few rides in real mud. Exactly the same experience - sounds shit and like it's going to skip. (in the dry it's been really solid)

@b33k34

If it continues like that and has a Shimano 12 speed chain on it I’d change it out for Sram. Not a cheap Sram one though as the links have been known to crack particularly on the NX ones but some gx too. So go x01 or XX1 - the later comes in pretty colours but is white spendy.

That said, the KMC one is fine and also better than the Shimano one and that was at least £20 cheaper than the XX1 chain.

I prefer XD on balance the one piece cassette whilst not perfect (the torque required for install is daft imo, but presumably required to make it work)

The torque for Shimano and Sram is the same 😉 Well, to be pedantic 30-50Nm Vs 40Nm. You certainly don't want to over-torque a Sram cassette or you'll never get it off again.

The Shimano 12 speed chain I started with on xt was horrible as soon as it encountered muddy wet conditions – just never sounded nice and skipped about a bit.

That’s interesting – my first 12 speed kit came on an e bike in May and it’s just had it’s first few rides in real mud. Exactly the same experience – sounds shit and like it’s going to skip. (in the dry it’s been really solid)

I have found the same and it’s the one thing that I don’t like on 12x. My theory is that it’s due to the tight fit of a 12 speed chain on the wider links?

I think that SRAM works better in mud and I have run both Shimano and SRAM in XX1 11 & 12 speed and XTR 11 and XT 12 speed. Both Microspline and XD hubs are fit for purpose as far as I am concerned and I have no preference - I’d use whichever my cassette needed. I also have not had huge issues with cassette wear that some people report with SRAM - it’s all bean much of a muchness.

Biggest difference is Shimano shifters use thumb or thumb finger and Sram just thumb. Apart from that differences are marginal.
ere, this thread’s a month old, he musta choosed by now

11 speed sounds like a good shout if you're happy not having quite the latest groupset.

Can't argue with the personal experiences on here, but here's mine.

Referring to your original post, there's nothing between the two free hub standards (as long as you remember to put plenty of anti-seize on the threads of an XD driver when you screw on the cassette – when they get stuck, they REALLY get stuck).

I prefer Shimano cassettes even though they're heavier. Price for price, I find the shifting slicker and more reliable, even in dirty conditions. Shimano 12-speed chains seem to need a bit more cleaning and lubing to stay quiet though. And I find the front chainrings a bit noisy, particularly till they're a little worn in. XT shifters are nice though, particularly compared to GX – but that's really subjective.

I did choose. I went with Microspline and full XTR (cassette, shifter, RD, Chain) but with XX1 cranks on a DMR ring (lighter and cheaper) . The microspline conversion for the King hub + the 10-45XTR cassette summed to less in total than just the XX1 cassette. I don’t need 50 or 52t so it was an easy choice to make.

That’s interesting – my first 12 speed kit came on an e bike in May and it’s just had it’s first few rides in real mud. Exactly the same experience – sounds shit and like it’s going to skip. (in the dry it’s been really solid)

I'm going 10sp on my ebike (microshift advent x) as 12speed has been terrible for me. I'm never 100% confident its in the right gear.

In the dry any drivetrain is largely OK so that doesnt count. the test is when its really cruddy and 12speed (especially the sram mech i used to have) has been really cruddy when its been gopping out.

So, for me, i prefer a regular HG freehub!

That’s interesting – my first 12 speed kit came on an e bike in May and it’s just had it’s first few rides in real mud. Exactly the same experience – sounds shit and like it’s going to skip. (in the dry it’s been really solid)

Got my attention here. I've spent 15 months on shimano 12 speed and am amazed that there aren't more people complaining about the noise. Mine is fine in the dry but i have to slow down to walking pace or go around any muddy puddles on route as otherwise it makes the most awful grinding just about to fall apart racket for the rest of the day.

12sp Shimano Hyperglide+

Reason for noise in dirty conditions is that their 12sp chain is significantly narrower than SRAM/kmc chains, and also the plates are shaped to mesh with the teeth more fully.