revtothelimit - motorbike forum

What's your preference and why then ?

As you may have seen in the other thread we've been having a few Shimano issues with his rear mech. The clutch is stiff and even after stripping and rebuilding it all, i wouldn't go as far as to say i'm ecstatic with it. We've seen these issues on SRAM over the years as well, so it's not just a Shimano thing, but our bikes (like some others @MingtheMerciless ) get used it ALL conditions, often, over winter, mud, rain, slop, everything. So wear and tear is part of the game.

My debate for today is whether to fit the new SRAM GX 12 speed onto his bike or mine. I've always preferred SRAM over Shimano personally, just the way it clicks and responds is nicer. There's also the lock for the mech to remove the wheels etc..

But the Shimano on mine works lovely actually... so i don't necessarily NEED to whip it off...

First world problems of course

Dunno Chief, I'm still digesting the idea that bicycles have a clutch!

(+ I'm from an era when what I really, really wanted were Campagnolo gears and a Claud Butler (Holdsworth) frame. but I did have an MTB in the 80s and was astonished by a) the number of gears and b) the indexing system that made changing easy peasy, so I suppose I'm not a total fogey. No idea what make the gears were though).

Count Steer wrote: Wed Jan 28, 2026 7:59 am Dunno Chief, I'm still digesting the idea that bicycles have a clutch!

(+ I'm from an era when what I really, really wanted were Campagnolo gears and a Claud Butler (Holdsworth) frame. but I did have an MTB in the 80s and was astonished by a) the number of gears and b) the indexing system that made changing easy peasy, so I suppose I'm not a total fogey. No idea what make the gears were though).

Clutch in this term is different, the clutch mechanism is like a tensioner upon the arm where the jockey wheels go, which prevents the chain slapping/flapping when on rough ground. As MTBs went to 1 ring on the front (cranks) they first had issues with dropping the chains as there was no front mech to catch the chain when it bounced off. So they created both Narrow Wide chainrings which aid with retention, but also a clutch mech that helps there too. You have a flick switch so you can enable/disable it for working on the bike, but basically it stiffens the arm of the mech where the jockey wheels are. (it's adjustable too in terms of how much tension you add)

Ah, makes sense now.

So, if there's only one ring on the crank end...how many can you get on a cassette these days?! 5 used to be the norm, then 6.

Count Steer wrote: Wed Jan 28, 2026 8:08 am Ah, makes sense now.

So, if there's only one ring on the crank end...how many can you get on a cassette these days?! 5 used to be the norm, then 6.

12 is the Normal. They start at 11T and go to 52T but they have recently created a 13.

SRAM offered a bigger range in the rear cassettes - i think mine are 11-52, shimano big range cassettes were shocking quality.
But the bigger you go, the more clunky the shifting

Just had a look at some Shimano cassettes of 10 - they don't seem any wider than the old 6's. I guess better materials mean they can make each one thinner.

(Mine had 6....but 3 'ergonomic' ie not round, ones at the front. Probably wouldn't take the hammering that they get now and complexity adds points of failure).

The actual thickness of the hubs/cassettes have changed very very little. The 11/12 is 1.6mm thicker stack height than the old stuff.

Count Steer wrote: Wed Jan 28, 2026 8:25 am Just had a look at some Shimano cassettes of 10 - they don't seem any wider than the old 6's. I guess better materials mean they can make each one thinner.

(Mine had 6....but 3 'ergonomic' ie not round, ones at the front. Probably wouldn't take the hammering that they get now and complexity adds points of failure).

Biopace rings - a heap of shit !!

I prefer SRAM electric, conventional X01 AXS on the Curtis is five years old now, ridden solidly through 3 winters and still shifts well but it’s a new cassette, chain (I think it’s either it’s the 3rd of 4th one for the cassette) and chainring this year as the cassette started slipping in the smallest cog towards the end of last year when I was Mr Stampy. Only thing it’s needed is two B tension tweaks and some jockey wheels.

The Epocalypse is T Type X01 and whilst not as smooth, definitely agricultural, it does put up with shifting under load (mostly) and is a solid shift unless totally gummed up with mud.

Just looked on Strava and it’s 3964 miles on that cassette so I think I’ve had my moneys worth out of it!

MingtheMerciless wrote: Wed Jan 28, 2026 9:17 am Just looked on Strava and it’s 3964 miles on that cassette so I think I’ve had my moneys worth out of it!

Definitely!

I've got GX on the Bird, and had 12 and 11 speed GX on my 2 previous Whyte bikes. The hardtail has Shimano Cues, and the road bike/hybrid has Sora I think. The previous winter hardtail had Microshift.

I prefer the feel of the SRAM shifters and how it all shifts, but in all honesty the Cues stuff is absolutely fine, it does everything fine and spends most of it's time covered in mud and slop. The Microshift stuff started out brilliant, but after a year or two the shifting became really stiff - I think the derailleur was knackered as a new cable made no difference.

I SOOOOOO much prefer the GX shifting, so i've got a 2nd set arriving today to go on the boys bike. We'll both be on GX12 later today.

Arguably i'd like a nice bit of electronic on there, but that's out of scope currently.

Anything up to 10spd… Shimano

Anything 11 or 12spd… SRAM

Anything road bike… Campag

weeksy wrote: Wed Feb 04, 2026 9:25 am I SOOOOOO much prefer the GX shifting, so i've got a 2nd set arriving today to go on the boys bike. We'll both be on GX12 later today.

Arguably i'd like a nice bit of electronic on there, but that's out of scope currently.

Wish I’d seen this earlier… I’ve got a box full of spare SRAM Eagle 12spd stuff spare! About 3 mechs and 4 shifters…

mboy wrote: Sun Feb 08, 2026 2:00 pm

weeksy wrote: Wed Feb 04, 2026 9:25 am I SOOOOOO much prefer the GX shifting, so i've got a 2nd set arriving today to go on the boys bike. We'll both be on GX12 later today.

Arguably i'd like a nice bit of electronic on there, but that's out of scope currently.

Wish I’d seen this earlier… I’ve got a box full of spare SRAM Eagle 12spd stuff spare! About 3 mechs and 4 shifters…

If you wanna swap for 2 x XT mechs and 2 slx shifters, feel free

Was out on the GX shod Fuel today, it was ace