Linkglide Question?

[Amber Valley Guy]

Can anyone help, I was about to order the 11sp Shimano Linkglide XT groupset, as I've been waiting for my chain to stretch for the last few months so that I can bin the SRAM SX/NX mix on my Cannondale. As it's already on lower spec SRAM 12 speed I don't need to change the hub driver as it's already HG.
My stumbling block is this, my chainring on the Cannondale is a SRAM 12 speed (on an Shimano EP8, pictured below) and will the 11 speed Shimano chain engage OK with the 12 speed SRAM chainring that's on the bike? Looks like another special tool is required if I need to change it plus then of course the cost of buying another chainring, which is a pity as it's hardly worn. Has anyone else done this, I've searched this and other forums and only one answer was found, that internally 11sp and 12sp are dimensionally the same, but no answer to if it actually works. Does anyone know for sure that it does? Cheers.

 

[Beaker2135]

The chain should be fine. It’s more likely the freehub body that will be the problem
The Linkglide is HG and your SRAM will be microspline

 

[BuckSaw]

The chain should be fine. It’s more likely the freehub body that will be the problem
The Linkglide is HG and your SRAM will be microspline

If the cassette is SX or NX the freehub body will be HG. Only 12 speed Shimano uses Microspline. You may be thinking about XD, which is used on GX/XO/XX cassettes.

 

[Amber Valley Guy]

If the cassette is SX or NX the freehub body will be HG. Only 12 speed Shimano uses Microspline. You may be thinking about XD, which is used on GX/XO/XX cassettes.

Yeh, I put in my original post it's a HG driver as it's low end SX/NX SRAM.

 

[Amber Valley Guy]

After thinking about it, I might just upgrade the shifter and derailleur to GX for less than half the price of Linkglide, my thinking being the SX or NX cassettes are cheap (around £50) half the price of a LG cassette (around a £100) and are steel anyway, and no faffing about.