Being put off by XX1

JCL – Member

To get that range with Shimano you need a front mech, shifter cable, and another chainring.

That’s the point isn’t it?

Yes- though you can get very close. The point was, you listed a bunch of 1x advantages as if they were SRAM advantages when they can also be done with Shimano

Close just isnt good enough

Except, it is for me- used both, 1×10 does the same job, more than well enough, and better in some ways. If the extra gear was a gamechanger I’d pay the price premium, but having done it both ways, I’m just not that bothered. If you need the extra gear, and that outweighs all the disadvantages, then get what works for you, but don’t think it’s the only good option, or the best option for everyone.

Having run a 40t conversion (with SRAM) and ridden a bike with 2xXT on it I really don’t get what all the fuss about shimano stuff is. The trigger shape is awkward and the performance is similar to my 18 month old X9. The range on my 1x conversion is good and just enough. The brief goes on 10-42 11sp has shown the range is huge.
The only thing you get from the new XTR 11sp that you don’t get with a 40t expander is an extra gear step. It doesn’t really seem like it’s worth it. The 2 things the SRAM has going for it is the 42 and the 10t which give it the huge range.

its not about the bike though eh, fitness plays a lot in cycling up steep hills

+1

I can’t get my head around the extortionate price for an extra gear, especially since I can manage everything on 1×10. I’m not even that fit.

mikewsmith – Member

The only thing you get from the new XTR 11sp that you don’t get with a 40t expander

TBF the only thing about new XTR that looks good to me, is the SRAM cassette compatability 😆 Remains to be seen what it feels like in use though, orrible feel-free broken-cable Shimano or lovely clanky SRAM-copy Shimano

(you said what’s the fuss about Shimano- basically, for me, it’s that the Saint shifter accurately copied my old X9’s brilliant feel, but is made better. I wouldn’t have that XTR 10sp crap on my bikes though)

I do sometimes forget you all still use those special buttons for gear changes, bless 😆

I haven’t but I ride with a guy with it on his Canyon and he doesn’t get up the steepest climbs that others with 2×10 manage.

I get up them, just not as quick as you Tom, but I have a cunning plan for that! 🙂

I can manage everything on 1×10. I’m not even that fit.

Do you live anywhere hilly though, as around us there are long hills and plenty of steep/granny sections.

Oh well, ordered an XTR M9000 mech and shifter – anyone interested in my XX1 Grip Shift and rear mech!?

njee – take it your keeping the xx1 cassette then? I know a guy whose done that and it works a treat!

I imagine that the xtr one will be less hassle to setup as the sram one (as all shimano mechs are a piece of piss really for me compared to sram gearing)

I still think the shifting on shimano is nicer, I always think sram feels a bit cheap in comparison, but that said now my gears are working correctly they do feel instant and precise

rooster42 – Member
I haven’t but I ride with a guy with it on his Canyon and he doesn’t get up the steepest climbs that others with 2×10 manage.
I get up them, just not as quick as you Tom, but I have a cunning plan for that!

Does it involve an old drill motor and some LiPo batteries?

njee – take it your keeping the xx1 cassette then? I know a guy whose done that and it works a treat!

Indeed I am, whilst like you I found replacing the cable did improve my XX1 no end, I just prefer the feel of Shimano, and I’m not as keen on the 11 speed Grip Shift as I was the older 9 speed stuff.

cool, I think its probably the way to go, and if I ever smash my rear mech I will go down that route too, but to expensive for me at the mo to swap

I do imagine that the shimano stuff will be 100 times easier for me personally to setup mind

the cable on xx1 has a mind of its own sometimes and is a real pain to get right

The routing through the mech is horrible!

Has anyone got the GS cage mechs in stock? I’m quite tempted to give it a go. SRAM shifters feel like cheap tat. Pus the clutch on Shimano mech’s seems a whole lot better 🙂

And yes, the cable routing on the XX1 mech is crap. Even worse when you don’t check how it threads through before you pull the old cable out 🙄

it is crap the routing, and so bloody sensitive, to absolutely every slight movement

plus the tension on the cable never makes sense, on shimano it used to be drop into smallest cog, and pull the cable taught

on the sram, its just about what ever it feels like on the day

in the end I took the lbs and got it done properly, which was night and day difference

but I do like the cage lock on the SRAM mechs, makes it very easy to take wheel out and clean the jockeys wheels etc

Oh well, ordered an XTR M9000 mech and shifter – anyone interested in my XX1 Grip Shift and rear mech!?

Swap it for a nice cuddle? It is used after all…

I’d like to give grip shift a go again for the XC bike but don’t want a SRAM mech on it!

I go quicker uphill and downhill on 3×9. It’s the future.

Swap it for a nice cuddle? It is used after all…

I’m sorely tempted…

Since fitting XO1 on both bikes I’ve maybe turned a few clicks of cable tension. It’s the easiest stuff I’ve ever used/set-up. God knows how some of you are having issues.

Perhaps we’re imagining it, and it actually works flawlessly, despite feeling like it isn’t?

Yep either imagined or some shite mechanics going on?

Can’t comment on the Gripshift though. That was crap 10 years ago.

Perhaps we’re imagining it, and it actually works flawlessly, despite feeling like it isn’t?

I think this is pretty close to the truth. I’ve done about 230 hours now on XX1, and I can’t stand the way it feels… until I’m in a race, when I forget all about it and just ride my bike.

I can’t stand the way it feels…

“Feels”

Ahh now I get it.

Personally if it’s silent, I get the gear I want and the chain doesn’t come off I have a good ‘feeling’.

With Shimano you can use thumbs and fingers to shift, I like this as when standing and changing gear I use different appendages to when sitting. I had a Sram X0 shifter on my DH bike and it was clunky junk compared to new Saint.

And you can shift more gears at once with Shimano.

Personally if it’s silent, I get the gear I want and the chain doesn’t come off I have a good ‘feeling’.

Well until I changed the cable mine was falling down on points 1 and 2 there… It was perfect when it was set up, so something happened in the intervening period, like it got used it shit conditions, and the cables got a bit manky. I’m ok with this. That doesn’t mean that you must have experienced the same thing. Perhaps I ride my bike more. Perhaps you maintain it better. There are a lot of variables here. But hey, easier for you to say it’s about shit mechanics. 🙄

no JCL not about mechanics as such, I can setup gears enough to make them shift into gear, but it just takes a real keen eye and patience when a new cable is introduced

as njee says somewhere it just went wrong, I assumed it was cassette wear but it wasn’t, it was the cable and outer for me

now when its setup from fresh by a lbs I will admit its like new, and barely needs touching, but its obviously getting to a stage where it doesn’t like the uk conditions

the mech on mine and my last bike had to be dismantled and all pivots cleaned and greased to get it to drop into 11th cog, again when its working correctly its brilliant and as clean and crisp shifting as anything, sadly mine hasn’t stayed that way for a long period of time on this bike (it did on my last one though)

everytime my xx1 stuff goes wrong ill just be go straight to shop as they know instantly how to get it setup perfectly (even they have said its by far the most sensitive gearing system to date, especially the cable tension and routing)

and I do love the xx1 stuff, but I just think shimano stuff is easier to mess with, admittedly having not fiddled with this new stuff I could be totally wrong!

Well I don’t know anyone who isn’t running it around here unless they’ve got a Shimano hookup.

Does any bike above a few grand come without it? Those product guys must think it feels good?

I think it feels fine, feels like SRAM. It’s very ‘snappy’ in a way Shimano isnt. It never leaves you guessing if you’ve changed gear or not. this is unrelated to the fact that mine wasnt shifting at all satisfactorily when I raced a few weeks ago and was sounding horrific. This was remedied with a new cable.

Personally I prefer the much ‘smoother’ action of Shimano, hence changing to XTR shifters.

If I have a wider range than 11-36 I’ll get soft! The fewer gears I have, the quicker I get to the top of hills – too few and the pain outweighs the pleasure though… So 1×10 with Saint shifter, Zee/SLX mech, KMC chain and XT cassette with N-W chain ring does the job for me – have it on both MTBs.

If I have a wider range than 11-36 I’ll get soft! The fewer gears I have, the quicker I get to the top of hills

lets not go down the efficiency of spinning route 😉

what we arguing about here?

xx1 is noisy – 100% – but then the chain never drops

xtr shifters “feel” a lot better, very smooth action compared to the “clunk” on SRAM

people who are put off by the “£300” cassettes need to shop around

people put off by “smashing” a mech, need to chalk it up to experience and order another one – lives to short to avoid something “just in case”

njee20 – Member

Personally I prefer the much ‘smoother’ action of Shimano, hence changing to XTR shifters.

DO let us know how it feels- I reckon 10 speed XTR is manky so hoping they’ve remembered to add some feel to the mix for 11.

what we arguing about here?

The crux of it was that JCL refuses to accept that X01 anything but perfect because journos like it. There was some debate about that!

DO let us know how it feels- I reckon 10 speed XTR is manky so hoping they’ve remembered to add some feel to the mix for 11.

I liked the 10 speed stuff, and it did stay shifting better for longer than my XX1 has. I have been using lightweight outer on the Superfly though, which is probably more prone to compression and crappy shifting.

lets not go down the efficiency of spinning route

I’ve never been efficient – but I’m a lot more powerful when I stand up and use my whole body! And my local hills are short enough and trail centres gentle enough for me to handle that approach. Probably wouldn’t work for big mountains but that’s not what I ride. 😛

I can manage everything on 1×10. I’m not even that fit.

Do you live anywhere hilly though, as around us there are long hills and plenty of steep/granny sections.

Bristol. Yes, we’ve got plenty of hills around here, south Wales and FOD etc. It’s been ridden in the Sierra Nevada to, up some nice 30% stuff.

Bristol. Yes, we’ve got plenty of hills around here, south Wales and FOD etc. It’s been ridden in the Sierra Nevada to, up some nice 30% stuff.

well we shall all come round and swoon and bow down to your massive legs and pedal mashing then 🙂 Other people may prefer more gears

well we shall all come round and swoon and bow down to your massive legs and pedal mashing then Other people may prefer more gears

If you wouldn’t mind, that would be lovely 🙂

FWIW I’m not mighty but I get on absolutely fine with 1×10 and a range expander. It can be a wee bit grindy, I won’t deny there’s times I’d have liked a 22T especially in a long race day, but I’ve never needed it. If I had an extra gear, I reckon I’d probably put it on the top not the bottom but the 32-11’s done me fine too (ironically, it’s got me out of the bad habit of mashing high gears on descents- did not expect that)

My hardtail’s just 11-36, I think I’d fail if I was to use that as more of an allrounder- I can power up stuff but it’d grind me down on those long, slightly-too-steep climbs. For 9/10ths of my riding I’d be fine, for that 1/10th I’d be throwing the bike into a tree and walking home 😆 I was kind of over it by the end of the glentress seven…

I’ve had 2×10 (not too keen on it) and currently have 1x and 3x bikes.

On a descent where you find yourself needing an easy gear for the next climb, there’s something nice about one or two trigger shifts to get you into the easiest of gears up front without having to shift the rear mech. This is never the case with the 1x bikes. Even riding undulating tracks where middle ring to big ring, middle and back again repeatedly, makes the gear shifts much easier than the multiple shifts you find yourself having to do on 1x set-ups. It’s something that I find far more useful than the narrow wide ring advantages on the other bikes for day to day mtbing.