I have an gx eagle groupset and I was thinking that I will need to replace the cassette at some point but the price is about £140-150 for the cassette. Sod that I thought and started looking for alternatives. Can’t go down the range to NX because that doesn’t fit the sram xd driver. So what options are there out there for a 12 speed cassette that fits an XD driver? And are a saving on the GX cassette?

I don’t know of any available although looks like sunrace may have something at some point…

SunRace adds affordable, lightweight 10-52 cassettes, complete 1×12 groups

(not on the sunrace website so guessing not available yet?)

Cassette is 105 at chain reaction
Was cheaper at merlin 90 with a discount but they ran out

£138.80 at CRC

Ok must have put prices up in last couple of days – bought one two weeks ago from Merlin – seems like a good deal now

It will be cheaper for me to change my XD freehub for Shimano and buy a Sunrace NZ90 (lighter than NX) when I need to change my GX cassette…

Unless it’s worn out I wouldn’t worry to much all but the top cog is steel, they tend to last a long old time IME

It’s not worn out yet but I’m changing the chains when they get to 0.5% stretched in the hope that I get longer out of the cassette in the long run.

Done 1500 ish miles on 2 chains so far. About to change again so 750 miles per chain.

Still £100 at Merlin, good deal even without the 10% off

Don’t forget 3.5% or so thru topcashback too boot

It will be cheaper for me to change my XD freehub for Shimano and buy a Sunrace NZ90 (lighter than NX) when I need to change my GX cassette…

Cheaper to buy or cheaper to run?

on this is it wise to upgrade the GX chain to one of the fancier ones?

And what tool are people using to check 0.5% wear? how accurate is it?

@swoosh – I thought the Sram chains (and system) were meant to have a longer life? 1200kms is not very much, I’ll get double that out of a cheap KMC chain and will get two chains possibly three to a cassette (Shimano or Sunrace)

IME SRAM cassettes last multiple times that of others, so the initial outlay may be more, but the longevity more than outweighs the cost. GX cassettes can regularly be found for ~£100 anyway.

There isn’t anything cheaper for an XD driver freehub.

@whitestone I’m checking with a park tool chain checker and changing at 0.5% rather than 0.75%. possibly could get more out of each chain if I were to take it to 0.75% but I’d rather change the £20 chain more regularly and keep the cassette and the rest of the system working well.

Not sure if I’d get more mileage out of a pricier chain, like X01 or XX1?

What Hob Nob said…

I’ve been very impressed with the life span of both 11spd and 12spd SRAM xD Drive cassettes that I have run over the last few years, they outlast their Shimano equivalents by a huge margin as well as being considerably lighter!

They’re not cheap to buy for sure, but when you consider how long they last (my last 11spd X01 survived 5 chains, all changed at 0.75% wear, over 3000 off road miles in total) the amortised cost over their lifespan isn’t so ridiculous.

Oh and no point running more expensive chains, they don’t last any longer, they’re just a tiny bit lighter… GX Eagle chain is, as SRAM chains go, one of the best for cost/wear ratio anyway.

Yeah the XD cassettes are the best drivetrain thing Sram make.

I heard a podcast ages ago with one of Sram’s tech guys recommending spending more on chains to get better performance and drivetrain life.

I still stick to X1 or 105/SLX myself usually though.

I’ve just ordered an NX chain instead of the GX I’ve had in the past so I’ll report back on the longevity of the cheaper chains in a few months