I’m trying to put together a bike on the cheap after having mine stolen last week. The last bits I need are the mech, shifter and cassette. I don’t want to faff around with goat link or swapping mech cages etc, and want a minimum 42t cassette, ideally 46t, so that means 11 speed rather than 10.

The rear hub is an old Pro 2, so that rules out a GX Eagle groupset (which was a bit over budget anyway). An XT M8000 shifter and mech, Sunrace MX8 11-46 and KMC chain comes to £160 (with a CRC £10 offer). It seems SRAM GX gets good reports, but it’s a good £40 more expensive and no significant weight saving. The engineer in me wants an 11-46 rather than say 10-42 cassette – 10t just seems too small!

Has anyone spotted any good offers on recently, or suggestions on a better set of parts for similar/less money?

Cheers!

Why can’t you run gx Eagle if you can run gx 11 speed? Both need an SD driver if that’s the limiting factor of your old hubs?

11-46 and 10-42 are nearly an identical range – with the 10-42 you can run a smaller front chainring to get the same lowest gear as the 46 – but that depends on your crank compatibility.Both my bikes have a 10-42 cassette and then one has a 30t chainring and the other has a 32.

GX 11 speed is really good in my experience, other than they hockey wheel bearings which are crap. I have replaced both my GX jockeys with NX 11 speed ones which have bushes rather than bearings.

GX 11 speeds cassettes well outlast XT ones as they are all steel and they might be lighter.

Shimano might be your best option if you can’t run an XD driver – is there any reason why you’d take XT over SLX – I’d assume they can both run the 11-46 cassette?

Also, a lot of people run an 11-46 Sunrace cassette instead of the shimano ones as the jumps between teeth size are meant to be better at the lower end.

Yeah I was planning to use a Sunrace cassette – I don’t have the XD driver freehub. Also already have the crankset sorted which will work better with 11-46. And chose XT over SLX as it was only slightly more expensive and previously I’ve found XT to be better quality and perhaps a little lighter.

It’s a no brainer then – go for XT

Not a fan off 11-speed XT personally, or 11-speed GX for that matter! 11-speed to me seems like they both fell asleep when designing it and then rushed it through. 12-speed from both brands is far better; shifting quality is better, cassettes are wider range and durability seems better too. Sunrace now do 12-speed HG-compatible 12-speed cassettes so I would seriously take a look at going 12-speed, I’ve been GX Eagle for a year and X01 Eagle for over 3 and they’re both been brilliant. New 12-speed SLX and XT feels like a return to form from Shimano as well from a quick play in the workshop too,

You could save a few quid by using an slx mech with XT shifter but I’d definitely go with the sunrace 11-46 cassette and kmc chain.

Not a fan off 11-speed XT personally, or 11-speed GX for that matter! 11-speed to me seems like they both fell asleep when designing it and then rushed it through. 12-speed from both brands is far better; shifting quality is better, cassettes are wider range and durability seems better too.

With sram I thought the general
Consensus was that 11 speed is both slicker and more durable than the 12 speed Eagle drivetrains.

Also, the sram 11 speed is generally much better than shimano 11 speed.

Whenever I’ve used my mates SLX setup I’ve hated the actual shifter and the shape of the levers.

I do have shimano road 11 speed on my roadbike and I don’t really like it but can’t justify changing it – I’d prefer to try di2 or sram doubletap if funds weren’t so high. I find it quite vague and I hate the way they swing in and do nothing when you try to shift into a lower gear if you do so much as just brush the upshift paddle. The lbs say I must like ‘angry’ gearshifts to like sram.

If you want to go cheap, Deore M6000 has a 11-42 10-speed cassette. Mech+cassette+chain is about 80 euros from Germany.

11 Speed SRAM is definitely ‘sweeter’ than 12 speed SRAM, no experience of 12speed Shimano.

I really liked 11Speed full SRAM GX, however I’ve now settled on (last gen) XTR shifter and Mech (picked up very cheaply), but using that lovely Sram GX 10-42 cassette.

I would try go for an XD driver and use the 10t cassette, as above it means you can use a smaller chainring which is nice.

I’m sure the GX 10-42 casette would match up equally well with XT or SLX even to suit budget.

Also note I’d rather have an XTR shifter and SLX mech than vice versa… shifter makes the bigger difference to ‘feel’, and dont really wear out, but mechs get bent/smashed off rocks etc.

Sunrace MS8 11-46 cassette, cheap, no alloy cog to prematurely wear out.

XT rear mech, currently have 6000km on mine with just a change of jockey wheels.

SLX shifter; had an XT one for c.4800km but it kept losing a tiny screw from the bottom that rendered the clamp loose and wobbly. The SLX I-spec clamp is more robust.

Happier with this set-up than the 11-42 XT cassette based one it replaced.

If you want to go cheap, Deore M6000 has a 11-42 10-speed cassette. Mech+cassette+chain is about 80 euros from Germany.

This is what I’m using, with a Saint shifter. It’s bombproof, and I’d get the same again.

Been running a full XT M8000 drivetrain now for 2 years and its been faultless. I’ve only needed to tweak the cable tension now and then and straighten a bent mech hanger.

Shifting is smooth but take a bit of time to get the clutch set for the type of riding you do because too much tension makes the lever action quite stiff.

I can climb 99% of stuff with the 32t front and 46t rear cog. I don’t miss the mega low granny of my old 3 x 9 setup. If anything, switching to 1 x 11 has improved my fitness measurably.

11-speed to me seems like they both fell asleep when designing it and then rushed it through.

I can’t see how you’d think that. To me, it’s flawless – instant shifting at any point with a solid click in either direction. Can’t ask any more than that, plus it’s cheap and backwardly compatible.

Just never got on with any of the 11-speed setups I’ve tried or worked on. They just seem really fussy and the shift quality never felt brilliant on any bike I rode with 11-speed fitted. I actually was close to removing the 11-speed XT setup I had and going back to the 10-speed Saint/XT kit I “upgraded” from. Had no issues with GX or X01 Eagle as I said before and it seems to be solid, I always felt 11-speed SRAM just felt cheap and plasticky, never got on with it. Yes it ushered in the death of the front mech for which most of us are forever grateful, but I’m quite happy we’ve gone to 12-speed pretty much across the board for MTBs

11 Speed SRAM is definitely ‘sweeter’ than 12 speed SRAM, no experience of 12speed Shimano.

11 speed SRAM (X01) has been faultless for me over the last few years. Only had very limited experience of 12 Speed so far, but seems much the same. Not even sure I would be able to tell which was which in a blind test.

Mix and match. I use XT and XTR cassettes between a few bikes, but SRAM GX mechs and one bike on an X01 mech. X1/X01 shifters. KMC chains. All 11sp.

All works great for me. 11sp with 11-40/42 is my sweet spot. No need for 12.

Cassettes last ages. I don’t let chain checkers tell me when to bin perfectly good cassettes and chains though.

Cassettes last ages. I don’t let chain checkers tell me when to bin perfectly good cassettes and chains though.

Cassettes last for a lot more ages if you change the chain when it’s measurably worn to avoid wearing the cassette to a point it won’t work with new chains. You do know you don’t have to chuck out the cassette when you change chains, right?

I went through the same exercise as the OP and drew the very same conclusion for a new cheap self build. I have had my full M8000 groupset for 3 years and it’s pretty good apart from the cheese cassette upgraded to GX but the Sunrace will be fine. Should be able to get the £10 off three times if you play your cards right.

Thanks for the thoughts above guys. I’ve actually gone for the lowest cost option in the end, which I’d originally disocunted – 10s SLX shifter I had lying around, s/h but new-ish 11-46 Sunrace cassette, KMC X10, new SLX 11 speed mech which I’ve read should work fine with 10 speed, and can handle the big cassette ring better than a 10s mech and goatlink. Not the fanciest setup, but it’s only set me back about £75 🙂

Off the back of this thread, just went with the MS-8 11-46t cassette and KMC X11 chain from CRC for £69 less £10 code and the NX shifter & mech from Planet X for £47 + £4 shipping. So £110 all in. I’ll see how long the jockey wheels last I suppose 🙂

11 or 12 speed NX? 11 speed NX jockeys last ages as they’ve got bushings.

Ah, misread your original post Joe! Bonus then, 11sp NX with the bushes. Happy days