The Eagle NX shifting is just ok but the main reason to change to 11 speed was to get a better range of gears. I ride in coastal Florida so the trails are flat, a 50 T gear (and really anything larger than 30) does not get much use. The biggest (only) hill around here is the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway and I can climb that in a 36 T without power. I would be much happier with a tighter range to allow me to keep a good cadence so here goes...
The original NX Eagle cassette is built so it can't be modified to drop the larger two gears and add some intermediate ones in their place. All the other SRAM 12 speed MTB cassettes are similar range, 50 T. The 12 speed road cassettes are all XD or XDR so I would need new wheels (or hub). The other option is to go to 11 speed and get a close-ratio MTB cassette so I got a 11-32. This is about the same range as on my 2x9 analog bike so it should work well for how I ride.
I got a 1x11 NX shifter figuring the derailleur might space the shifts properly with it. No, more on that later. The 1x11 does not mount with the Matchmaker like the NX Eagle but I had room on the bars. Feeding the cable through the bike went ok.
Changing the cassette is easy enough with the right tools but *hey*, the 11 speed is too tall, the lock ring does not engage the threads! A closer look shows the hub on the Eagle is recessed from the large sprocket, maybe 3 mm. The 11 speed is flush. The easiest solution seemed to be to take 2-3 mm off the inner side of the1x11 hub. I have some small machine tools, did a rough cut on the mill and finished it on a lathe.
* (The figure of 2 mm was confirmed in an article on the Eagle cassette). After 2 mm I did a trial fit on the wheel, all looked good! The lock ring tightened per spec (41 n*m) so I installed the wheel. After securing the shifter cable it was time to test the shifting. Hmm, not awful but not consistent. My guess (which was correct) is the derailleur is not moving the correct distance, still trying to shift a 1x12 spacing.
I could install the 1x12 spacers in the 1x11 cassette but the clustered cogs would mean more machining.
Or get a 1x11 NX derailleur to match my NX 1x11 shifter, and that is what I did. In the end I probably would have been better off going with a full Shimano shifter/derailleur/cassette. At least the gear range is greatly improved and I will probably use most of them now instead of maybe 4 or 5.
So now my SL looks and shifts similar to my Jamis Dragon (12-27) sort of like a MTB with a road cassette.
cassette),
The original NX Eagle cassette is built so it can't be modified to drop the larger two gears and add some intermediate ones in their place. All the other SRAM 12 speed MTB cassettes are similar range, 50 T. The 12 speed road cassettes are all XD or XDR so I would need new wheels (or hub). The other option is to go to 11 speed and get a close-ratio MTB cassette so I got a 11-32. This is about the same range as on my 2x9 analog bike so it should work well for how I ride.
I got a 1x11 NX shifter figuring the derailleur might space the shifts properly with it. No, more on that later. The 1x11 does not mount with the Matchmaker like the NX Eagle but I had room on the bars. Feeding the cable through the bike went ok.
Changing the cassette is easy enough with the right tools but *hey*, the 11 speed is too tall, the lock ring does not engage the threads! A closer look shows the hub on the Eagle is recessed from the large sprocket, maybe 3 mm. The 11 speed is flush. The easiest solution seemed to be to take 2-3 mm off the inner side of the1x11 hub. I have some small machine tools, did a rough cut on the mill and finished it on a lathe.
* (The figure of 2 mm was confirmed in an article on the Eagle cassette). After 2 mm I did a trial fit on the wheel, all looked good! The lock ring tightened per spec (41 n*m) so I installed the wheel. After securing the shifter cable it was time to test the shifting. Hmm, not awful but not consistent. My guess (which was correct) is the derailleur is not moving the correct distance, still trying to shift a 1x12 spacing.
I could install the 1x12 spacers in the 1x11 cassette but the clustered cogs would mean more machining.
Or get a 1x11 NX derailleur to match my NX 1x11 shifter, and that is what I did. In the end I probably would have been better off going with a full Shimano shifter/derailleur/cassette. At least the gear range is greatly improved and I will probably use most of them now instead of maybe 4 or 5.So now my SL looks and shifts similar to my Jamis Dragon (12-27) sort of like a MTB with a road cassette.
