SRAM GX or Shimano XT?

[MTB-More]

Lots of people reporting bad shifting and gear grinding with GX Eagle cassettes - do a quick search on the forums here and you will find them. Seems like the problem is the cassette more so than the shifter or mech.

 

None of those same problems I have heard of with XO or XX1. I have been riding XO (11spd) for 2 years now without any issues so Sram as a brand has won me over. The issues seem to be isolated to GX Eagle specifically.

 

Was going to say exactly this. XO1 11-Speed 11-42t for quite some time now on my 1x. Came from a XT M8000 setup and its a lot better than the XT (Personal opinion). Shifting is crisp and for the past year I havent touched my deraleur to set any thresholds. I tend to find that I had to adjust the XT a lot (Personal experience for my riding style)

 

Personally I wont mind having a XT again but if i have a choice it would be SRAM all the way through the bank (I am not sold on the 12-speed yet. My 11-speed is more than capable)

[BenReaper]

Was going to say exactly this. XO1 11-Speed 11-42t for quite some time now on my 1x. Came from a XT M8000 setup and its a lot better than the XT (Personal opinion). Shifting is crisp and for the past year I havent touched my deraleur to set any thresholds. I tend to find that I had to adjust the XT a lot (Personal experience for my riding style)

 

Personally I wont mind having a XT again but if i have a choice it would be SRAM all the way through the bank (I am not sold on the 12-speed yet. My 11-speed is more than capable)

IMHO SRAM has had the market on 1× drivetrain for many years, only downside to this is that SRAM is much more expensive than Shimano, if you compare apples with apples.

If I were to go 1× I'd prefer SRAM, but if the choice was between GX and XT I'd choose XT everytime (with a Sunrace 11-50 cassette).

[dirtypot]

I had XTR and switched to an 11sp XX1 setup with a Sunrace 11-46 cassette.  For me it's the best of everything.  Great shifting, plenty of gear range, cheap to maintain and I didn't need to get an XD driver.  I definitely prefer it over the Shimano.  The Shimano is in no way bad, but it just feels a bit 'floppy' compared to the directness of the SRAM.

 

I love the 12sp XO and XX1 stuff but I don't rate the GX particularly highly.  It's not got the same crispness and is a lot more finicky in it's setup.

[madmarc]

As a SRAM purist (On MTB) i went from XO 2 X 10 to GX Eagle 1 X 12, not gonna slate Shitmano because i don't use it and i'm not a fisherman. There does however seem to be some shifting issues with the GX 12 speed cassette when i read these and other forums like MTBR etc. I never experienced these problems and mine changes like a swiss watch. But i spent many hours dialing in the setup to make sure it was perfect. Maybe there are some cassettes with a manufacturing problem and if you have issues, its time to remove the cassette and check it out.

 

My vote is SRAM GX Eagle all the way

[WernerLouwBosman]

Any comment on the SLX M7000 1x11?

 

Looking at changing my wife's XO 2x10 setup.

For R3600 you can buy the upgrade kit (11-46) plus a SLX 32T crankset.

That sounds hard to beat...

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Any comment on the SLX M7000 1x11?

 

Looking at changing my wife's XO 2x10 setup.

For R3600 you can buy the upgrade kit (11-46) plus a SLX 32T crankset.

That sounds hard to beat...

That cassette is a POS though. SUCH a huge jump between the top 2 gears. 

[Allrounder]

I am also a sram guy. 

 

But I went from a 3x8 altus groupo to Sram xo. so my judgement might be a bit off.  

 

But how far from the top of the range is XT and how far from the top is GX?

 

Its like buying a polo, do you take the basie 1.6 model, or the kitted out 1.4 model?

[Quagga]

I was on GX 1 x 11 with Sunrace 11-46

 

now on GX Eagle with Sunrace 11-50

 

 

Had a 32 up front with 11 speed and now on 34

 

 

For me the 2nd biggest gear is where I ride most with the 46 and now the 50 the bail-out

 

 

so on the 11 speed I had 32 x 40 so 8T different and bailout was 32 x 46 so 14T

 

on 12 speed 34 x 42 is also 8T but bailout :-) is 34 x 50 so 16T 

 

 

So going 12 speed and NOT using the SRAM XD cassette I have essentially and extra and bigger bailout gear 

 

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

I am also a sram guy. 

 

But I went from a 3x8 altus groupo to Sram xo. so my judgement might be a bit off.  

 

But how far from the top of the range is XT and how far from the top is GX?

 

Its like buying a polo, do you take the basie 1.6 model, or the kitted out 1.4 model?

It's a bit strange, but the heirarchies are slightly different. XX1 is top SRAM, but "above" XTR. 

 

XTR fits somewhere between XX1 & X01. So GX is more or less on the same level as XT. 

 

Your car analogy is slightly out, though. It's like buying a 220i or an a3 1.8tfsi. 

[Allrounder]

It's a bit strange, but the heirarchies are slightly different. XX1 is top SRAM, but "above" XTR. 

 

XTR fits somewhere between XX1 & X01. So GX is more or less on the same level as XT. 

 

 

Thanks Cappy. 

[WernerLouwBosman]

That cassette is a POS though. SUCH a huge jump between the top 2 gears.

Ride it until it's kapoet and replace with sunrace 11-46?

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Ride it until it's kapoet and replace with sunrace 11-46?

yep

[Rock Guy]

Lots of people reporting bad shifting and gear grinding with GX Eagle cassettes - do a quick search on the forums here and you will find them. Seems like the problem is the cassette more so than the shifter or mech.

 

None of those same problems I have heard of with XO or XX1. I have been riding XO (11spd) for 2 years now without any issues so Sram as a brand has won me over. The issues seem to be isolated to GX Eagle specifically.

I've been running XO1 11speed with a GX cassette and can't really fault it, apart from the high cost to replace the cassette once its worn.

 

After 3 years of ploughing through rock gardens on Contermans and Jonkers and racking up nearly 10,000km I have to say that at this point in time pretty much the whole drivetrain is showing signs of wear and needs to be replaced.

 

So yes, SRAM has definitely won me over in terms of its ability to take a beating, but every time I need to buy a cassette or chainring I have to eat two minute noodles for a month. I can't handle bad shifting, so maybe then GX Eagle isn't for me, but I cant fork out 15-20k on XO or  XX Eagle either.

 

First world problems...

Edited July 31, 2018 by Rock Guy

[Grease_Monkey]

I've been running XO1 11speed with a GX cassette and can't really fault it, apart from the high cost to replace the cassette once its worn.

 

After 3 years of ploughing through rock gardens on Contermans and Jonkers and racking up nearly 10,000km I have to say that at this point in time pretty much the whole drivetrain is showing signs of wear and needs to be replaced.

 

So yes, SRAM has definitely won me over in terms of its ability to take a beating, but every time I need to buy a cassette or chainring I have to eat two minute noodles for a month. I can't handle bad shifting, so maybe then GX Eagle isn't for me, but I cant fork out 15-20k on XO or XX Eagle either.

 

First world problems...

You can always do GX Eagle shifter and mech with XO cassette if you have an XD driver or Sunrace cassette if you have a Shimano freehub (probably cheaper to buy a Sunrace cassette and Shimano freehub than just an XO cassette).

 

Alternatively you can use the e13 conversion kit. It's a 12spd cassette and chains with bits and pieces to convert your 11spd XO shifter and mech into 12spd. I went that route last week - really happy I did! Huge range, and excellent shifting.

[Skott5]

11 or 12 speed?

 

12 Speed

[Rock Guy]

You can always do GX Eagle shifter and mech with XO cassette if you have an XD driver or Sunrace cassette if you have a Shimano freehub (probably cheaper to buy a Sunrace cassette and Shimano freehub than just an XO cassette).

 

Alternatively you can use the e13 conversion kit. It's a 12spd cassette and chains with bits and pieces to convert your 11spd XO shifter and mech into 12spd. I went that route last week - really happy I did! Huge range, and excellent shifting.

It's definitely an option to go the GX Eagle + Sunrace cassette route. Sounds like the GX cassette is the source of the shifting issues. I wonder if the Sunrace cassette would be better though?

 

Don't think I'll do the e13 conversion. My current 11speed derailleur has seen better days and probably wont won't survive my next attempt to do some landscaping with my face.