My new bike comes with GX Eagle but I prefer Shimano. Is anyone running Shimano Shifter & Rear Mech on a Sram cassette? This worked really well on my old bike (11 speed) but I know the spacings are a bit different on 12 speed. Going full Shimano would be possible but it starts getting expensive.

Looking at SLX shifter and mech.

Yes, XTR shifter and mech on an XX1 cassette.

You can mix & match shifters & mechs are the pull ratios are almost identical. I plan on using the SRAM shifter as I prefer it Shimano, but keeping the Shimano mech.

https://www.bikemag.com/gear/mountain-bikes/dream-builds/dream-builds-ryan-palmers-specialized-enduro-video/

SRAM’s groundbreaking AXS wireless derailleur shifts a lustful Shimano XTR drivetrain,

Not quite my price bracket but I suppose the spacings would be the same.

I have an XTR mech and shifter and a GX cassette. It doesn’t really work – the spacing is slightly out so you lose a fraction of a mm at either end of the cassette if you set up the gears perfectly in the middle of the block. Lots of ticking and dodgy shifts – it’s definitely not XTR quality. I’m getting a microspline cassette and Shimano cassette to make it work.

I’ve seen a few people say it works, and it does, but it’s a compromise and it’s annoying. I’d certainly be disappointed in it if it were full Shimano working like that and I’d paid a lot of money for it.

(If anyone wants a 300 mile old GX eagle cassette and chain let me know)

Following

Definitely thinking of replacing my GX shifter with XT. Missing the double shift and 2-way downshifting.

Current thinking is an unused GX cassette is worth about £100. New XT cassette is about the same. Just need to get a new driver (luckily DT so already available) for about £45.

I think I’ll go full Shimano.

I’ve seen a few people say it works, and it does, but it’s a compromise and it’s annoying. I’d certainly be disappointed in it if it were full Shimano working like that and I’d paid a lot of money for it.

Works perfectly here, admittedly it was a bitch to setup and get it perfect, but it shifts just as well as anything I’ve ridden.

I made a concerned effort to as Shimano cassettes arnt great to SRAM in my experience, and it would have been a dealbreaker for me (also have 3 wheel sets with XX1/XO1 cassettes on, and not swapping that lot out).

I have lower standards than Munrobiker – my XTR shifter works pretty well with an X01 mech and cassette. I indexed it from the bottom rather than the middle, and the only tick it has is on a sprocket near the bottom which ticked with a GX shifter as well.

I may have got lucky and there’s some other factor which needs to be just so – chain length perhaps. TBH my main motivation was to get two-way shifting, rather than XTR levels of smoothness.

I’m still going to convert to microspline at some point soon, though, probably after this winter has done its worst.

I’d be really interested to see one of these perfect setups – mine just will not do it. B tension is correct, chain is a good length and it just will not play the game at the extremes of the cassette. Someone else on here has mentioned it. I’d be willing to pay £45 extra to have the right set up.

I wouldn’t call it perfect – but it’s solid on the 10t and the 50t, just clicks on the 16t a bit.

Didn’t have to alter b-screw, the only difference from new was swapping out a 34t for a 32t chainring, so maybe chain a tiny bit slacker.

You can use a SRAM shifter with a Shimano mech, depends why you want to mix it up.

Not sure the shifter and mech are the issue I think its the new 12 speed chain and cassette / chainset that are the limiting factor – if you want the excellent shifting you need to stick on brand for all of them. Personally I think the current cost of the XT M8100 drivetrain groupset of about £370 including chainset on wiggle is very cheap, although it’s out of stock so not much actual use in real life until it’s back in stock! I fully intend to upgrade and I reckon I should be able to get at least half that back by selling an XTR rear mech, shifters, chain, SRAM cassette and XX1 chainset. Seems a relative bargain to me.

So the new bike is now;

GX Eagle cassette

SLX 12 speed shifter

SLX 12 speed rear mech.

I got Mark at Sterlands (https://sterlands.com) to set it up and it all works lovely. I may end up getting a Shimano cassette and driver but for now happy days..

Same here. Works a treat doesn’t it?

Mix and match here too: no issues. Still not used a Shimano 12s chain on SRAM cassettes though.

I’ve keep the sram chain as they are meant to last better than most.

Will be putting XT 12 shifter and mech with Eagle cassette and chain shortly so will report back but no reason to think it won’t work well as I have seen a similar set up on the trail and the guy said it was great.

Thinking of doing this using XT rear mech and shifter on NX cassette. Not sure to go with Sram or Shimano chain.

I can’t find the link now but there was something on Pinkbike where they tested loads of chains. Sram came out best of longevity.

I did something slightly different. SLX 12 speed shifter and mech. SunRace 12 speed 50-12 Cassette on a Shimano Freehub. Idea being I could run 12 speed without new wheels as I can’t get Microspline for my old American Classic wheels.

Was a bit difficult to set up, but since then it’s worked perfectly. The cassette is a big lardy but shifts well. Be interesting to try full Shimano 12 speed when I buy some new wheels…

I can’t find the link now but there was something on Pinkbike where they tested loads of chains. Sram came out best of longevity.

Finding the best bicycle chain: What over 3,000 hours of testing revealed

(CT owned by Pinkbike)

Alex. I did exactly that and spent weeks trying to get it to work with no luck. In the end I swapped it all out to 11 speed with sunrace 11_50 cassette and all good. When I had both cassettes on the bench next to each other the 12 speed one was about 3 mm wider than the 11. I dont know what that tells me. I will use the 12 speed kit sometime I am sure.

Interesting. We couldn’t get it to work until I watched a youtube vid on setting up the mech. Something about the angle of the mech, there’s a pointer if I remember. Once we did that it suddenly started working properly.

I’ll going back to 11-46 tho when I change wheels. I’d rather have closer ratios than the 50.

Running a GX eagle cassette, XTR mech and shifter. All shifts perfectly across entire range.
B-tension has to be set correctly according to the indicator on the back of the cage but that’s not specific to using a GX cassette. I’m also using a SRAM eagle chain which may be important. I have found that with both 11 and 12 speed that the SRAM chain shifts better than alternatives, I think it might be to do with being designed for 1x but that’s speculation. It certainly seems to cope with extreme chainlines better than the KMC/Shimano alternatives I’ve tried (those were 11 speed).
New bike (next month hopefully), is all 12spd XT so will see if it shifts noticibly better than current setup.

Sram nx cassette and chain, working with a slx shifter and mech. Set up was pretty run of the mill and works a treat.

I’ve got Shimano XT shifter + mech,GX cassette and KMC chain. It definitely works well enough but I can tell it’s not quite perfect. Have to throw the lever a little bit far to down-shift sometimes, especially under load. I haven’t fiddled with B tension so might see if I can further dial it in.

But I will probably switch to microspline and a Shimano cassette when it needs replacing.

First ride today on my new setup-AXS Eagle mech and shifter with XTR cassette and KMC chain. (With SRAM chainring on Praxis crank).
Whilst the shift speed of the AXS is ever so slightly slower than the XTR, it is smooth and quiet over the full range of the cassette. The 3 shift burst is as handy as it was when I had 11s XT Di2.
Shifting under load is as good as the full XTR setup I had previously was. I have switched to the KMC chain because the XTR kept catching on the teeth of the chainring. Will go back to Shimano once someone brings out a non boost chainring that’s SRAM direct mount and Shimano 12s compatible.
Only negative so far is that I noticed it wanting to drop off the 51t ring when backpedaling which the XTR didn’t do; assume it’s to do with the upper jockey wheel position in relation to the cassette.

For those interested, I finally got round to swapping back my XTR shifter to X01. Still running the XTR mech though.

I can report, it really didn’t need much setting up. Chucked a new cable in, checked the jockey wheel alignment to the cassette, clamped the cable and it shifted bang on from there.

Now the ideal setup, as a SRAM user since forever, I cannot stand Shimano shifters, but was suffering with it for the fact that the rear mech worked properly, and the clutch was great, Vs warrantying X01 mechs every 6 months.

Happy days 🙂

PS – anyone want an XTR 12spd shifter!?

I have an SLX rear mech XT shifter running on NX cassette and chain. All works perfectly. I did find that the chain length recommendation from Shimano is slightly too long so I took one link out.

re. KMC chain.

I recently set up a mixed 12spd drivetrain; XT mech and shifter, 1275 cassette and a KMC X12 chain but the shifting wasn’t quite there [all new and aligned properly]

So I recently swapped the X12 for a Sram X01 (on STW advice) and it’s much better. The obvious conclusions are that the Sramano setup is fine but the Sram cassettes are sensitive to which chain is used (and STW is worth listening to).

Having said all that I’m eyeing up the AXS setup for my other bike. Boom.

I’d seen that about the KMC, but not before I bought 2 of them when I first had issues with the Shimano chain and my chainring!
Luckily it seems to be absolutely fine on the Shimano cassette.

The other one is on my wife’s bike with GX Eagle and it definitely shifts but I couldn’t say if it’s Betty or worse than the Sram one was. The bike gets little use so it will probably last about 3 years..!