Can it be done, should it be done?

Im told SRAM stuff lasts forever and is super light.

It will work, but unless it’s very cheap this isn’t the cassette you’re looking for.

The GX is lighter than XT and all steel but these days is usually £85-90 and needs the XD freehub. I’m fine with that and it’s my cassette of choice but the freehub is obviously a problem for many.

The NX is heavier than almost everything at 538g, doesn’t have the advantages of gear range but does fit a Shimano freehub.  Its only real purpose is giving manufacturers strong armed into all-SRAM builds a cassette to fit at the lowest 1×11 price point I think.  It’ll probably still outlast the Shimano or Sunrace cassettes though.

Ah, thanks for the info – I don’t mind changing driver, I just assumed all GX was 12 speed, but now I’ve said it GX Eagle is fairly new.

I ditched my NX 11-42 cassette for an xt 11-46, lighter, bigger range,

Id not go the other way unless on a winter/hack bike tbh

GX was one of the new range levels SRAM launched with 11sp.  It’s kinda SLX and XT, because SRAM don’t really have SLX covered anymore since moving away from the old X9>X7>X5 etc range.  X01 and XX are pretty much the XTR Trail/Race equivalents.  NX is a funny one, it’s more or less Deore but possibly with more commitment than Shimano are showing Deore these days.  The 11spd GX iteration was spoiled only by a nasty shifter pod that felt and looked cheap.  Unless ready to drop a few hundred quid to save a few grams the ‘GX’ (XG-1150) was the star cassette in the SRAM 11spd range.  Still lighter than XT, fully steel with pinned cogs to save money machining and shifted as well as X01.  There was another GX cassette (XG-1170?) available OE stateside with Alu on the bigger cogs and less weight but we shouldn’t ever have seen it here.

The Eagle GX stuff is still good but i’ve been holding out hoping for an all steel XD mount cassette  there too, for the life.  It looks now like I’m going to be disappointed, I’d hoped it might happen this year.  The GX Eagle cassettes probably won’t be anything like as bulletproof as the GX 11spd units.

Back O/T, any of the available 11spd mech/shifter combinations will works with any of the original 11spd mtb cassettes.  Once you start throwing 50T monsters in there it gets a bit messy and SRAM is out and it starts really mattering which Shimano mech you have whether it works well or not.  ST did a feature on this around Christmas-is I think?  As above, as it’s still £50-55 I’d be surprised if many chose to fit an NX cassette themselves.  I’d buy XT instead too…

As above, as it’s still £50-55 I’d be surprised if many chose to fit an NX cassette themselves.  I’d buy XT instead too…

I think sunrace is the better option there too now,

 Once you start throwing 50T monsters in there it gets a bit messy and SRAM is out

Not totally out , I believe that you can run 11 speed casettes and shifters with an eagle rear mech which obviously can take a 50T casette  .