Anyone have any experience to share on if the ratios and spacing on these make much difference or you find either preferable at all? (geek alert)

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1st
11-13-15-17-19-22-25-28-32-36-42-50 – SRAM
10-12-14-16-18-21-24-28-33-39-45-51 – Shimano

5th is the same on both. The lower gears on the Shimano are larger/easier, the higher ones smaller/harder, and the spacing at the lower-end is notably different.

The 5-6 gap is 1T larger on the Shimano, then the subsequent gaps are the same (teeth-wise) on both so each gear on the Shimano is 1T smaller/harder. That’s by 4% for 6th, rising to 10% for 12th.

SRAM has a big 8T (19%) 1-2 gap followed by smaller 6/4/4 gaps to get to 5th. Shimano has more even gaps of 6/6/6/5 but they are larger due to the absence of that big first gap – instead you get 18% gaps for both 3-4 and 4-5. The actual ratios below 5th are all easier on the Shimano though.

Not sure what to think as I haven’t ridden either yet and might not be able to try both. Seems the Shimano is better for hard climbs in 1st-3rd but you might not get as much use out of 11th and 12th depending on your usage/chainring/wheel size. If you rarely use 1st/2nd maybe SRAM is more suitable, and just occasionally be in a slightly-off gear (or stuck in 1st below that big gap) on those hard climbs.

I found this in a Shimano XT review from Pinkbike:

As explained to me by a secret development rider, Shimano’s 18-percent jump from the 33 to a 39 was chosen to keep the first nine steps as close as possible, while segregating the three largest cogs (clustered in even, six-tooth jumps), specifically as climbing gears. SRAM’s gearing, on the other hand, was intended for riders who prefer a more sequential gearing progression across the cassette. True or not, Eagle and XT cassettes have distinctly different personalities on trail.

Honestly it never even crosses my mind when I’m riding.

Doing lots of road miles on the gravel bike, with 1×11, yes it can mean there’s a big jump in cadence from one gear to the next.

On the MTB? not an issue. Get the 10-52 SRAM or the 10-51 Shimano.

I’ve got the 11-50 cassette and I haven’t yet felt that the gaps are too big. I also ride a road bike with quite a narrow ratio block (as we called them when I was racing many years ago) so I’m fairly sensitive to the feeling of “not quite the right gear”.

As above, don’t really notice. I moved from Eagle to Shimano, and in theory I should prefer 45-51 to 42-50, but I have never consciously registered the difference when climbing.

On smaller cassettes I’ve always preferred smaller jumps between the larger cogs – this is where you are working hardest/feeling worst – so more choice of gears is better.

Sram 12spd is 10-50, or 10-52

Or did you mean Sunrace?

10-12-14-16-18-21-24-28-32-36-42-50 – SRAM 10-50
10-12-14-16-18-21-24-28-32-36-42-52 – SRAM 10-52
10-12-14-16-18-21-24-28-33-39-45-51 – Shimano 10-51

Sram 12spd is 10-50, or 10-52

Except NX.

ah yes, sorry. I assumed the OP was comparing like with like, so all starting at 10t

reggiegasket
Member
Sram 12spd is 10-50, or 10-52

Cheaper SRAM (the ones that fit a standard freehub) are 11-50

This is based on the numbers that @reggiegasket posted above. Shimano looks a much smoother progression. (Christ, how sad/bored/geeky am I?)

Had 10-50 SRAM on the old bike 10-51 Shimano on the new bike.  Can’t say I really notice a massive difference apart from the shifting down at the low end. Shifting from 3 -> 2 -> 1 gears is much smoother on the shimano. Now that could be the different shifting ramps setup or it could be the more even split between ratio’s.  I was always careful going into the 50 on the SRAM as it was never a happy sounding shift, coming back down off of it you could almost hear the relief in the chian to have made it intact.! 🙂

No such issues with the Shimano, every shift is smooth and pretty much silent. LIke I said though, not really comparing like to like as the Shimano shifting ramps have always been better IMHO.

Swap between SRAM 10-50 and Shimano 10-51 and didn’t even realise there was much difference until i read this post!

Nice chart @honourablegeorge, would you mind adding the SRAM 11-50 to it please? Being pretty common on “low-end” bikes.

I have SRAM and last year I noticed the difference a lot more. Over winter I worked on my cadence range and now can sit comfortably between 70-100 RPM so I can easily modify my cadence to suit the gearing at that point. I change gears less looking for the ideal gear as I can adjust my leg speed to suit what I need to do.

These are the percentage jumps, from small to large sprocket.

as highlander says, the shifting on the Shimano at the low end (gears 3-2-1) is smoother baecause the percentage change is smaller than the Srams, as seen with the dashed line dropping off on the right side of the chart.

New chart below, I think Reggie’s one better illustrates how the shimano varies less though

With Sram 11-50 added. Very similar to Sram 10-50

@reggie Busy day at work for you too, eh?

Nice chart @honourablegeorge, would you mind adding the SRAM 11-50 to it please? Being pretty common on “low-end” bikes.

Posted 1 hour ago

Have a look at the first post

Ramsey Neil

Have a look at the first post

Have a look at who made the first post 🙂