Groupset 11-46 vs 10-50

[C Louise]

Advise please.

Bought my 11 yr old son a 2nd hand Carbon bike for XCO, XCC and School Leagues.

It has a XT 11-46 casette with 34T Chainring. (11 speed drivetrain)

Do we keep the setup as is, or upgrade to 12 speed, 10-50

Pros, Cons, Benefits of both please.

Thanks

 

Edited Tuesday at 08:06 AM by C Louise

[s14phoenix]

11sp with 11-46t should be sufficient however if he is strong enough to climb all the hills in 34/46t is the real question. The 34t may need to be a 32t or 30t but the 11t is probably more than enough speed for that kind of racing. The initial cost of 12s vs the benefits you are going to get are probably going to be insignificant as long as the 11sp setup is in good condition and has no inherit problems or worn out to the point where you are going to replace the components anyway.

 

Edited Tuesday at 08:12 AM by s14phoenix

[Kuys]

I would stick with the 11spd 11-46. 11spd Shimano is bomb proof and cheaper to replace. 

I would however get a 32t chain ring and see which works best. 

and as pointed out make sure it is setup properly, chain not worn etc. 

Keep in mind to change from 11-46 to 10-50 you will have to replace rear hub freewheel body which add significant cost. So even if the 11-46 is worn, I would stick with it and replace whats necessary. 

11spd Pro's 
Cheaper than 12spd
Not as finicky to set-up and maintain

Con's
less gear range

12sp
Pro's
More gearing range

Con;s
More expensive
Finicky to set-up and maintain
Required special freewheel body
 

Edited Tuesday at 08:24 AM by Kuys

[babse]

Agreed with the above... at 11 y/o no need to go 12spd. 11spd works and is bomb proof. Look at possibly getting a 32T front ring. 

[C Louise]

Thank you gents.

Casette and chain, both new with less than 200km on it.

I do have a 32T chainring.

Will 32T mean less top speed, but easier climbing for him?

Edited Tuesday at 08:46 AM by C Louise

[s14phoenix]

3 minutes ago, C Louise said:

Thank you gents.

Casette and chain, both new with less than 200km on it.

I do have a 32T chainring.

Will 32T mean less top speed, but easier climbing for him?

Yes - but the top speed loss will be minimal. The added climbing ability on the steeps will make a bigger difference in his results. Very few kids spin out an 32/11 and generally it sees very little use.

[dave303e]

I would use current setup till it is worn out. It is perfectly functional.

Then when it needs to be replaced look at either a wide range 11 speed cassette like an 11-50 or 12 speed upgrade with a 10-50 cassette.

A wide range 11 speed cassette will give you 90% of the 12 speed performance but a fraction of the cost. Remember to go to a 10-50 you need a different freehub body, derailleur etc. But with Shimano odds are you can get an 11-50 to work on same freehub and derailleur.

My old mtb I went to 1x11 and managed to get an 11-50 to work easily. The sunrace cassettes are well priced so it was a natural upgrade to the bike. Financially it did not make sense to go upgrade a 12 speed setup. That bike runs on the trainer and being good old shimano I just run an 11 speed road cassette on the xt derailleur and it is 100%.

My new bike is 1x12 with a 10-52, when buying new it was financially more feasible. Performance gains in how wide the gear ratio is not as big as expected.

What I will say is that if you do go with a new derailleur, get an electric one so you can track shifting. Because you are a parent and can't expect a youngster to figure out gear ratios so an electric shifter gives you information to guide them.

Below is a graph of time spent in each gear on normal gravel loop I ride before work. I can see that I am using only the top end gears so I need to go up a chainring size on front chain ring for my normal training riding

Below is a well balanced setup where the front chain ring was the perfect size and you can see gear usage is balanced


And then below is where I should have put a smaller front chain ring on because I spent too much time in Granny gear(34km 2500m climb.)

 

The point is you can find the correct front chain rings for leg strength and terrain.

[ajnkzn]

2 hours ago, C Louise said:

Advise please.

Bought my 11 yr old son a 2nd hand Carbon bike for XCO, XCC and School Leagues.

It has a XT 11-46 casette with 34T Chainring. (11 speed drivetrain)

Do we keep the setup as is, or upgrade to 12 speed, 10-50

Pros, Cons, Benefits of both please.

Thanks

 

For this use case 11 speed is perfect as he shouldn’t run out of gears at the top end (fast) and the races are quite short. 
 

As mentioned way cheaper to maintain / replace, lighter etc too. 

[RobertWhitehead]

Why not just get a 11/50 eleven speed cassette

 

[Kuys]

I see you do seem to get a 11-51 11spd Deore cassette. Anyway let him ride what he has, and try with 32t, if he still need lower then try the Deore 11-51

[C Louise]

38 minutes ago, RobertWhitehead said:

Why not just get a 11/50 eleven speed cassette

 

Thanks. Was considering it.

Not sure if his current derailleur will work with a 11/50

[RobertWhitehead]

100% sure it will work

[ct_rider]

I can recall the 11-46 tooth casettes. The jump between last two cogs was too much, and reduced the cassette to a 11-42. Also would recommend a 32 front chain ring.

[openmind]

I built a 1x11 Shimano equipped hard tail for my son at that age. Also 11/46. I fitted a 30t chainring and it was perfect - he hardly used the 11t cog anyway and in 30-46 could get up steep hills without getting off - super important for confidence and keeping spirits up. Use the 1x12 money you save and get him some decent shoes and kit. Oh, and use some of it too to service the suspension - and then set it up properly for his weight. 

Edited Tuesday at 07:07 PM by openmind