Leonardi General Lee Shimano adaptor availability

I’ve been running my Sram General Lee adapter for nearly a month now. My set up is Sram PG1070 Cassette with General Lee adapter, Sram 10sp chain, 30t Wolf Tooth ‘XX1 style’ chain ring, medium cage XT Shadow Plus clutch mech and a Zee shifter. Considering the mech is out of its comfort zone it still shifts cleanly and reasonably crisply through 9 of the 10 cogs, but it can take a split second extra to ramp up onto the 40t. The whole set up works well though, giving me a decent spread of gears that suits 99% of my riding without having to go to the expense of XX1 or XX0. The other plus is that I like to carry a spare mech with me on holidays and weekends away, and with this set up I was able to buy a relatively cheap SLX clutch mech. I’m not running any kind of chain device, the chain remains tight and secure and hasn’t dropped once despite hammering down a few fast rocky descents, but I have just fitted a bash as the chain ring was looking a little bit too exposed and the Wolf Tooth ring wasn’t cheap!

I bought my General Lee adapter from BikeDiscount.de as they had a few Sram ones in stock last month, and they were the cheapest I could find at the time. I know they were planning to buy in Shimano adapters too once they had been released by Leonardi Factory.

andysmiff1 – Member

Plenty folk not finding that to be the case with XX1

For me the works ring has proved more effective than a top-only chainguide. even if it turns out not to be a 100% fix it’s still going to be better than the old options which folk found satisfactory

Northwind + 1

seriously i dont know what sort of riding the folks who are dropping chains are doing, or whether its just not been setup correctly in the first place (ie, chain length etc)

because ive absolutly hammered my xtr clutch mech and raceface Narrow/wide chain ring on absolutly everything the white and dark peak district has to throw at it and not once have i dropped the chain

did another almost 30 mile loop around jacobs/kinder/hayfield/rowarth etc on sunday again going full pelt some sections and no sign of dropping….now for me riding the peak pretty much constantly these tracks are as rough as they get around there/and around the country, so im really not sure where on earth else some folks are losing the chains

FWIW my RF n/w ring is now about 2 months old id say and its showing no sign of degrading/wearing and its used 3 times a week in the white/dark peak

and also i was running a e13 top guide before so ive used both, the RF ring works just as well as the top guide, only difference is its silent, with no extreme gear rubbing and no alignment issues etc…it just works!

i still cant believe shimano havent come up with something, seriously if a small company like this leonardi can produce something on a par/very near to XX1 then shimano surely have the facilities/staff/knowledge/money to be able to something the same and better even staying at 10 speed!

id consider a generallee adaptor if it wasnt silly money for 3 cogs, as id perhaps enjoy having that extra bit in the high gears for climbing

i run 11-36 out back at the min, with 32 up front

even if i got the adaptor id still stick with 32 up front and as the adaptor is 40-36-etc id still be able to mostly run it in 2nd gear and save the 40 for the absolute stonking climbs when im running on low…that said i get up it all now, its just a bit more painful!

so come on shimano please please bring out a 10 speed 10-40/42 cassette and trump sram!

Northwind – Member
andysmiff1 – Member
Plenty folk not finding that to be the case with XX1
For me the works ring has proved more effective than a top-only chainguide. even if it turns out not to be a 100% fix it’s still going to be better than the old options which folk found satisfactory

Oops – I only meant to ask where Rob had ordered his adaptor.

No experience yet on a thick-thin ring to comment on their performance……..

Just to update, having run mine for a couple of rides. I’m running an XT block converted with the shimano version General Lee to give me 11-42t. I’m running a 32t Raceface narrow/wide ring on the front and at the moment I’ve got a E-13 top guide on which doesn’t touch the chain so makes no noise and only weighs 60g, so I think it’ll maybe just stay.
I’m very pleased with the gear range I get, which is going to prove to be just enough at each end I think, it certainly had been so far. I weighed everything I took off and everything that I put on and in my case, going from 2×10 with a bash guard to 1×10 without has saved 548g, or 1.2 lb. The only drawback initially was that the shifting onto and off the General Lee adapter, and between the sprockets on the General Lee was not great. I had a careful look at the tooth profiles on the General Lee and compared to the now spare XT sprockets and could see that the XT had several slightly twisted teeth either side of the machined ramps (which the General Lee also has) to help the chain move sideways and than to encourage it to drop over to the other side of the sprocket. The teeth on the General Lee are all straight and were holding the chain too well. I had a careful look at the XT teeth and then replicated the shapes on the General Lee with the aid of a Dremel and some careful work. The result on last night’s trip was excellent shifting in both directions. I can give details and photos of what I did if anyone else has the same issue.
Very pleased with it now, overall an excellent setup.

What rear mech are you using with the general lee Robin? Interested to see that you got hold of the 42t version, the Shimano ones I’ve seen only go up to 40t.

I’m wondering whether my Zee rear mech with a stated capacity of 36t will cope with a 40t general lee sprocket. I know there will be sharp intakes of breat at such a prospect but with my current chain length it looks viable.

Thoughts anyone?

I’m running the middle of the XT mechs (GS rather than SGS) It seems to cope fine, there’s plenty of capacity and the b-tension easily adjusts to clear the 42t

Robin, I’ll be doing the 42t (when it arrives) on an XT cassette so any pics/tips on how you set yours up would be a great help!!!!

Either pics on this thread or my email address is in my profile…

robgclarkson – Member
Robin, I’ll be doing the 42t (when it arrives) on an XT cassette so any pics/tips on how you set yours up would be a great help!!!!
Either pics on this thread or my email address is in my profile…
POSTED 6 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

pics on the thread please! Very interested to see how it’s working/set up etc (and the Dremel work too……)

No problem, I’ll do that this evening.

i didnt notice until just now that the shimano version is actually a 42! so its a proper comparison at that end of the gearing for xx1

please shimano just make a nice 42-11 cassette for 10 speed! pleeeeeease!

Cheers Robin!

I’ve already ordered mine. Should be here early next week. I’ve ordered the 40t version. Didnt realise there was a 42t version. Bit gutted! I cant seem to find anywhere the 42t version. Any details of where you got it from Robin? I might resell mine and get the 42t version if it all works.

Johnny, have a word with this chap, it’s where I got my 42t one from;

http://bit.ly/1bvv9Qx

These seem to be in stock at bike-discount.de for 119€ for Shimano and Sram versions.

O.K, here’s a few pictures of the Shimano one:
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Here’s it installed:
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And here’s a few pictures of the tweaks I made to the tooth profiles with a dremel:
To help it drop to a smaller sprocket (look at the second sprocket):
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And on the back of the teeth (look at the largest this time):
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And to help it climb up:
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Yes, I know that my bike is dirty and my garden and basement are a mess…. 😀

Interesting modifications.

I’ve commented on this before, as my wife has one on her bike & with a mid cage mech it’s been a bit of a pig to index properly.

I can either have it shifting well on the up shifts, but lazy on the downs, or vice versa. Seems like others have commented on similar issues. Maybe some tooth modification is needed.

Installed mine today and the “lap of the estate test ride” seems to suggest it works like a bloody charm!

Long cage derailleur for me, the true test will be done this weekend in the lakes…

I can either have it shifting well on the up shifts, but lazy on the downs, or vice versa. Seems like others have commented on similar issues. Maybe some tooth modification is needed.

Exactly how mine was behaving. The mods have fixed it, the shifting is more than acceptable now.

robin- those modifications to the cassette, are you not basically just wearing the teeth out by dremel-ing them?? thats how my worn cassette starts to look after a couple of chains etc

genuine question, as im intrugied by this but im running a medium cage too and if it needs what looks like you’ve done to it then im gonna leave alone 🙁

I’ve only taken material off the sides of the teeth and a little off the tops. The very sharks fin shaped tooth was already like that and the material is off the trailing side.
I haven’t directly touched the loaded surfaces of the sprockets and only the second set of chamfers, the ones on the back to help it drop down, have taken anything off the width of the loaded face of the teeth.
The rest of the modifications are all on the trailing face so should make no difference to the wear. The teeth are much wider and taller than the standard steel ones anyway, which is probably part of why it hold the chain too well, and I’ve only taken perhaps 20% off the width of maybe 10-15% of the teeth. To be honest unless the chain was worn out the load will be carried further down the teeth than I’ve taken any significant material off.
It looks like it’s a little worn, but if you have a look at a brand new shimano sprocket, it had all the same shaping, albeit some of it is achieved by physically twisting the teeth which I wasn’t going to do with aluminium.
I’m not concerned about the effect that my mods will have on it’s lifespan, and basically it came down to it not working satisfactorily without the mods so it’s a no brainer for me.
It’d be great it they did it at the factory but looking at it and how it was machined, I can see why they didn’t, it’d need a good bit more fiddly work on a different machine and the cost would go way up.
It wouldn’t put me off buying another if I needed one, it still makes it possible to get a set-up that you have any other way – a super wide range 1x set-up with Shimano shifter and mech.

cool, glad ya happy with it, you seem confident in it and its life span and as i know nothing about the mechanics of stuff ill take your word for it!

its defo a great idea in principal and it is identical to xx1 really combined with a narrow wide chainring and clutch mech at a fraction of the price…..and especially as the shimano one is 42 just like xx1 is

shame shimano cant just come up with a cassette like that, its possible as your pictures show, so shimano should just get the machining tools out and go to work!

its a shame the leonardi one hasnt worked straight out of the box, its put me off i must say, strange the chap above suggests its worked perfectly out of the box though (although hes running a long cage)

i probably would have take a punt on one tbh, but now im a bit skeptical as my shifting at the min on 11-36 is spot on

It is weird that robgclarkson seems to be getting good shifting, whereas myself and butterbean are having the same issue where it’ll only shift well one way in stock form. As far as I am aware there is nothing different between the GS and SGS mechs that should affect shifting but you never know. I’ll have a close look at my wife’s SGS XT this evening to see.
As you say, it’s a shame that Shimano haven’t just done this themselves though, I’d buy one in a shot.

hopefully it will work out for you, you’ll have to report back with how it goes

yep i reckon if shimano made one, it would be circa £200 for a xtr one, £120 for an ‘xt’ type cassette, probably £90 ish for an slx etc

id pay £120 for a xt cassette with that spread 11-42, i cant believe the leonardi one is £130 for 3 cogs, but its the only thing out there so i guess they can charge what they like, a bit company like shimano could knock them out much cheaper for the full thing

just hoping they do one!

I’d love to see Shimano make one, but perhaps the reason they are not jumping on the band wagon is that if they were to produce an 11-42 cassette, would it not make the rest of their drivetrains obsolete to a certain extent?

Currently intrigued by combining a General Lee with this:
http://canfieldbrothers.com/components/9-tooth-rear-hub
I reckon with a little fiddling you can get a nice evenly spaced 9-42…

robarnold – Member
I’d love to see Shimano make one, but perhaps the reason they are not jumping on the band wagon is that if they were to produce an 11-42 cassette, would it not make the rest of their drivetrains obsolete to a certain extent?

nah i dont think so to be honest, 10 speed only came out a few years back, not like 9 speed that had been around for donkeys, genuinely dont think they need to make 10 speed stuff obsolete just yet, and i dont think they will

theres absolutly no need for shimano to do 11 speed if they can produce a 10 speed cassete thats 42/11, the fact sram have gone 11 speed was merely to get the high end 42 cog, if shimano could do 10speed version of 42 i think they would have monopoly as there are way cheaper narrow/wide rings than sram, you can use proper crank arms with proper ht2 bb’s and most people i see out are already running 10 speed shimano stuff

i think it would actually increase the market on shimano’s side, at least for the immediate future, as alot of people (myself included) simply cant afford a grand to go xx1…..new cassette like the leonardi one 42/11 and if you already 10 speed and use a narrow/wide ring you have an identical setup but just the cost of a cassette (and chainring if you dont have one)

hell if the cassette was even £200 for a 42/11 (shimano one) they would still sell shit loads as you would’nt have to change a thing if you are on 10 speed already

Shimano need to team up with Canfield to get a 9-42t cassette. Would be a great range and still substantially cheaper than the sram stuff.

It’s not quite that simple to be fair. SRAM initially looked to making it as a 10spd option but the jumps on the tooth size were too great to make it work properly for them. Also the mech takes a less than optimal path in order to work over such a wide range cassette.

It’s pretty extreme when you look at the range of movement required & clearly puts additional stress on it, which is why if you look at the 11 speed mechs they actually work in completely different way in the way they move across the block to help with the shifting & stress the mech is put under.

There is a market for these 1×11 groupsets, as you will see for 2014, a lot more bikes will be spec’d with them. Shimano are watching closely but they have their own development programme and plans.

butterbean – Member
It’s not quite that simple to be fair. SRAM initially looked to making it as a 10spd option but the jumps on the tooth size were too great to make it work properly for them. Also the mech takes a less than optimal path in order to work over such a wide range cassette.

It’s pretty extreme when you look at the range of movement required & clearly puts additional stress on it, which is why if you look at the 11 speed mechs they actually work in completely different way in the way they move across the block to help with the shifting & stress the mech is put under.

There is a market for these 1×11 groupsets, as you will see for 2014, a lot more bikes will be spec’d with them. Shimano are watching closely but they have their own development programme and plans.

i know its not just as simple as that in the real world, i know it takes testing/time blah blah, but generally the idea that a 10speed cassette can have a 42tooth has proved possible with the general lee, sure it may not be up to shimano standard shift wise, but at least its possible, and with shimano doing something similar it would work much better im sure

so not reall buying that myself tbh, if a small company like leonardi racing (or whatever they are called) can produce 3 cogs to fit on a standard 10 speed cassette, why on earth cant a global company like shimano with all of their resources produce one??

tbh they probably along with sram chose not to so yet again the mugs out there (like myself) will ditch their perfectly good groupsets to buy yet another ‘in’ thing

but im not having that its not possible, out of all the company cycling wise in the world shimano is the one that could do it, yet a little unknown company from italy has done so

there is a market for 1×11 simply because you cant get the range in 1×10 from either sram or shimano at present, so of course there is a market as there is nothing else out there, but im still sure it would have been possible to do something similar with a 10 speed cassette if they had really tried….

and with general lee one, its mixed reporting some say it works out the box, others dont….but again thats from a small comapany that doesnt have the means or money to do amazingly extensive research and testing….shimano does

im not to arsed tbh, im fine with a 11-36 and if shimano did make one id consider it defo, as i know it would work

but to sum up i dont think for one minute shimano will make a cassette, not a chance on this planet

if they can create a whole new groupset at £££ to sell to rival the sram xx0/1 setup then of course they are going to go whole hog and create a whole new system, not just a cassette

Of course, anything is possible – question is is there enough of a market to warrant the development.

For Shimano, being as big as they are, short answer is probably not. It’s not just a case of designing & making a new cassette as SRAM have shown. Less than optimal ratios, rear mech longevity, in fact a whole new mech needs to be designed to work properly with it, rather than a ‘that will do’ mentality. Then of course there is the issue with chainring size compatability. Standard 104BCD cranks can only really go down to a 32T ring (without funky offsets to clear the tabs), where SRAM offer XX1 right down to a 28T ring, so a new crankset is needed. You might say they don’t need to do all that, just give me the cassette, but big corporate companies don’t work like that. Quite simply, it’s groupsets.

The likelyhood is you will see an 11 speed drivetrain from Shimano, but not for 2014.

Excellent info and pics. Thanks Robin. Just one thing I can’t quite work out from your pics, are the mods you’ve made to every tooth or just to few local to the machined ramps?

Thanks in advance

I’ll have to take a closer look at the teeth on my Sram one as I’m not experiencing any real shifting problems. It hesitates slightly going into the 40t ring, but it’s just a split second, but the rest shift cleanly going up, and down.

It’s an awesome set up though. I’m really pleased with mine so far and I’m looking forward to seeing how long it lasts. I might replace the chain a little earlier than normal to reduce wear on the adapter.

Just back from a weekend in the lakes with my setup…

Absolutely faultless, had to do a little fine tuning on the trail with screw on the shifter on the fly, but its perfect now…

Yey, 1×10

Rob,

Are you running a medium cage (GS) or long (SGS) cage?

Been reading up and on MTBR forums someone suggested the 42t cassette runs best with an SGS cage. I’m currently running a GS cage

Thinking of ordering one from bike-discount this week, and would rather not order a new mech too if I don’t need it!!!!

I’ve got a long cage (SGS), I was told this was the only option for this cassette… Soz dude…