Research help required on drivetrains

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Comments

  • twonks
    twonks Posts: 352
    Hi Paul,

    You've commented on many of my gear threads, but here is the end result.

    HT now has 8sp XT from many years ago.

    Crankset is Aerozine Carbon XL12 running on a XTR HTii btm bracket.

    Front mech is XT 8sp, rear is XTR Shadow.

    8sp XT Cassette.

    Still works amazingly well even with the bodged selection of components.

    The shifters are the original 8sp XT pods and whilst cosmetically worn, they still work well. Must be at least 10 years+ old.

    On the FS I now have 2 x 10 which is another level of usability.

    Front is XTR M970 cranks with 38 and 26t Blackspire rings.
    XT 9 speed front mech
    XT 10 sp shifters
    XT 10 sp rear mech
    XT 11-36 10sp cassette
    Hope st/st btm bkt

    Compared to the 8sp setup the shifts are a bit snapier and exact but that's not to say 8sp doesn't work as it does and has in all weathers.

    The problem I have at the moment is with the front mech alignment and positioning on the 10sp set up. To be fair my front mech has seen better days and will be replaced next pay day - so I can't complain to much about it.

    The 38t big ring fouled on my swingarm mounting (SC Superlight) when installed initially so had to put another 2mm spacer on the drive side to bring it clear.

    All in all the 2 x 10 is expensive as an upgrade, fiddly to set up and doesn't look as good when installed as a bit of a home brew type affair.

    However, I like the slightly different looks and especially like the gear spread the big ring gives with a 11-36 cassette.

    Ultimately it doesn't offer too much in the way of sense unless you have money to burn (I had a nice bonus), because 3 x 8, or 3 x 9 didn't suddenly stop working over night.

    Sure the chainlines are a bit iffy with 3 rings up front, but is it really that much of a problem and do you see 100's of bikes failing as a result?
  • nickel
    nickel Posts: 476
    Just upgraded my hardrock from 3x7 to 3x9, with 42, 32, 22 and 11-32. I need the big ring because i ride a lot on the road at uni so a high top gear is important, however as of this summer my mtb will be offroad only so I plan to go down to a double with a bash, maybe 36-26 with a 11-34 cassette. Crankset is the standard suntour one that came with my bike, not great but I'll probably replace it with an deore or slx double this summer. I'm using sram x9 grip shifts which I love, really like being able to dump the cassette in one twist when going fast downhill, also their simplicity and ease of use will be really handy this winter when I'm wearing really thick gloves.

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