Ebike groupset

So yesterday i killed another nx derailleur on the back of my ebike, second one this year.

So what do people recommend for a ebike groupset? I was thinking of putting a deore/slx derailleur with a xt shifter. All my other bikes have xt but was thinking a ebike will still put some more strain on the derailleur so no need to go to expensive.

It’s obviously the most expensive of solutions, but the SRAM Transmission is incredibly good – shifting while under full load powering up a steep climb is not just possible, it’s perfectly smooth.

I wouldn’t let the NX experience put you off SRAM, their lower end stuff isn’t great, but GX and up are poles apart.

For less money and Ebike durability, Linkglide is supposedly the one – seems hard to actually get hold of it though

was thinking a ebike will still put some more strain on the derailleur

Why would it?

there’s a nice, and cheap, brand new XT di2 one on the classifieds… !  smiley

From experience Linkglide/Cues

Just the amount of torque going through it

Just the amount of torque going through it

The torque doesn’t go through the derailleur, it goes through the top part of the chain that is under tension. The derailleur just guides the part of the chain that isn’t under tension (that’s why it has a spring to tension the lower part of the chain and stop it sagging.)

although on an eeb, due to power overrun, if not set up absolutely perfectly and cleanly with no detritus or clag on the chain and cogs, it is quite easy to mangle shit just changing gear. On a bike, you would ease of the pedals when you feel resistance, but on the eeb… POWEEERRRR! CRUUNNCCHHH!

Add into this my eeb is mullet so mech closer to the ground and sticks.

I think for this, and general longevity, the fewer shifting ramps in link glide, and easier ability to shift under power of both link glide and AXS T would probably be a good thing.

Maybe even AXS T will reduce stick related damages.

Mines been XT for the last couple of years. I find the rear mech to be far more susceptible to bending than drivetrains of the past. Not that it has a thing to do with ebikes, just shimano 12sp in general I think.

I snapped another XT in half a few weeks back and I’m currently using the original SLX albeit with a new cage and pulleys after I bent that one on a rock.

Next time, it’ll be a Deore 5100 I think. Mainly because it’ll be cheaper to replace when it bends or snaps! It’s marginally heavier and has neaeinbushes instead of bearings but I think the shifter is the most important part for how it all feels.

For me, I reckon XT shifter, XTR chain, Deore mech and whatever cassette fits your budget.

If I was starting from scratch, I’d look at Link Glide but it’s a big outlay to get everything at once so I’ll stick with my regular 12sp for now

Dump 12 speed. Go Cues/XT LinkGlide (or even 10/11 speed old Shimano or high end SRAM).

I found 1×9 Alvio (38 with 11-36 cassette iirc) absolutely fine last week on the Ridgeback hybrid e-bike, on the tarmac hills around Longleat CP. Admittedly, something like the 11-16ish sprockets didn’t get much use, I was often in the four easiest sprockets, with and without eco assistance.

For comparison at home, the non e-bikes hybrid has 3×9 (26/36/48 and 12-36) and road bike has 2×11 (34/50 and 11-34).

Out of curiousity, I was looking at the Modus Grand Tour and Centros on the Raleigh sale site earlier (~£1700/2000 respectively), both have options for an 8-speed Nexus hub gear instead of rear mech for an additional 1Kg. It’s 12-15 years ago now, but I don’t recall shifting issues while putting power down on my old Saracen Pylon8 Alfine hybrid, but a review I read reckoned the Raleigh e-bike didn’t shift well at all under power.

Just got my new bike with XT linkglide (on purpose). Seems to shift OK, but not quite as nice as XT 12 speed on my normal bike. Quite a big jump in teeth for the last few sprockets on the cassette. Obviously, no word on wear yet.

If I was starting from scratch, I’d look at Link Glide but it’s a big outlay to get everything at once so I’ll stick with my regular 12sp for now

I recently put on a full Linkglide XT groupset 11spd (and Burgtec chainring) for less than the price of replacing just my XO cassette.

Runs nice, only thing different compared to the previous SRAM 12spd XO is it doesn’t go up/down thru quite as many gears as the XO did with just a swipe of the shifter – but for an ebike I see that as a ‘positive’.

I switched from normal 11 speed Shimano to LinkGlide – XT 11 speed but I’ve not got the cheaper lighter 10 speed cassette since I wore the bigger one out. It’s good, much better at coping with ebike torque!

not quite as nice as XT 12 speed on my normal bike

Different bike. Different job.

Linkglide cues mix

apart from the robustness and longer wear (to be proven) the main reason is the way it shifts on an ebike, with the bike applying power there’s no soft shift with hg so you get massive clunks. The linkglide preps the shift and then completes it without any horrendous clunks, bit slower to shift up down but a fantastic accompaniment to the ebike motor.

several places doing great deals

I got sick of exploding GX mechs, so when upgrading the wheels, I went MS on the rear hub and an SLX 10-51 12sp cassette, SLX mech and XT shifters. Much prefer Shimano shifters to SRAM

Was a bit finicky to set up, but it seems my hanger was out of alignment – works fine now straight.

It seems to eat the 10t a bit, but spare cogs don’t cost much. Got a KMC chain on now, but will probably switch back to SLX as it’s not quite as crisp

+1 for Linkglide, which will be what replaces the 11-speed SRAM set-up on my Levo once it’s dead.

As an aside, it seems a shame that the whole Linkglide thing gets so little attention from the bike media and so little promotion by Shimano. I get that it’s not bright. shiny and sexy and that it’s weightier than comparable mtb Hyperglide or whatever kit, but for e-bikes in particular, it seems like a no-brainer.

Edit: can’t find an actual review on this site for example, though that may be down to the search engine balking at finding things at all.

Perhaps it would get greater traction if it were specced on more e-mtbs by brands?

“As an aside, it seems a shame that the whole Linkglide thing gets so little attention from the bike media and so little promotion by Shimano.”

Absolutely!

When SRAM launched “Transmission” one of the big pros they claim about it, which testers repeatedly reference, is that it’s designed to shift much better under load, and it achieves that by shifting more slowly. This is EXACTLY what LinkGlide does, without the cost of an electronic shifter & mech.

And it’s not like it’s finicky about set-up or maintenance like 12 or even normal 11 speed – once you install it it’s quick to dial in and can be pretty much ignored thereafter.

The best upgrade you can do is to stick a decent chain on the bike.

X01 is my go to chain as it lasts a few thousand miles without destroying the cassette.

Whereas I could only get about 300 miles on cheap chains with the sort of mtbing I do.

Currently using the X01 on an SLX 12s cassette, but also used a steel deore cassette without any issues.

Apparently XTR chains are also top notch.