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Which drivetrain?
- Thread starter Sind
- Start date
You'll get a bunch of opinions. All I'll say is I've run all three & been happy with al of them. By far the best thing to get the best from on any drive train is to dial it in & keep it clean & lubed and check your chain stretch regularly. Do that & you'll chug along nicely on base Deore or SX ime.
But if you held a gun to my head, I'd go XT & Linkglide.
But if you held a gun to my head, I'd go XT & Linkglide.
Plummet
Flash Git
I just ripped off gx 12 speed ans replaced it with 11sp xt linkglide.
Gx lasted mw 1600km in the winter mud.
the full linkglide set up cost the same at a gx cassette and chain.
Linkglide shifts better and doesn't turn to shit in the mud.
I've got about 15 hours on the l8nk glide thus far.
Gx lasted mw 1600km in the winter mud.
the full linkglide set up cost the same at a gx cassette and chain.
Linkglide shifts better and doesn't turn to shit in the mud.
I've got about 15 hours on the l8nk glide thus far.
I have SLX on my Levo, now done over 3000km`s. Replaced chain every 1000km`s. Only problems so far crashing one derailleur and one hanger. If I had to replace whole drivetrain, I would go to XT linkglide because of price and would be able to change gear under load.
Padge
Member
Go with linkglide.
Had XT and Giant Reign and Trance. Chains just didn't last.
No amount of cleaning and lubing will overcome the chain stretching and then wearing your cassette.
Chains for linkglide are so much cheaper too justifying regular replacement.
Gear change is better over the life of the chain.
Had XT and Giant Reign and Trance. Chains just didn't last.
No amount of cleaning and lubing will overcome the chain stretching and then wearing your cassette.
Chains for linkglide are so much cheaper too justifying regular replacement.
Gear change is better over the life of the chain.
- Thread starter
- #10
I was not expecting that much interest/support for Linkglide! Thanks all.
Just to throw a spanner in the works, I'm also considering SRAM GX Transmission as it seems durable and robust. It does come at a cost though and a different proposition.
Just to throw a spanner in the works, I'm also considering SRAM GX Transmission as it seems durable and robust. It does come at a cost though and a different proposition.
ebsocalmtb
Active member
I run gx axs on my rise. I have run slx in the past. Wear rate for both of those was the same in my experience. FWIW, my experience is that the cassettes typically wear out the 10-18t cogs well before the 20-52t cogs... so IMO, there is no reason to avoid a higher end cassette other then budget and the questionable decision to roast a 400 dollar cassette on an ebike.
That being said... I have experience with all of the choices you have outlined.
-XT/SLX Hyperglide - These are solid choices and to me are more or less the same for performance. I find hyperglide shifting under load to be slightly better then gx eagle mechanical, about on par with a well setup gx axs setup, if not maybe a smidge better. This is likely the goldilocks setup in terms of cost/performance/weight.
-GX Eagle - I prefer sram drivetrains to shimano, so this is my preference over SLX/XT but that's very subjective. I have experienced slightly better life/wear out of the GX eagle setups over XT/SLX because the sram chains are of better quality (x01 specifically). I am quite attentive about chain replacements and I find that I just simply get longer life out of the GX cassette as a result. That being said, I do find that the x01 cassettes do last just about 2x as long as a GX cassette (even on an ebike) and it does usually make them worth the money. I run x01 on my bike, and gx on my wife's bike.
-GX Transmission - I have this on my enduro bike. I personally would be cautious about what bikes/frames/hub combo's I would utilize gx transmission on. IME, frames and hubs that have tolerance issues can have persistent issues with transmission and because of that I would hesitate putting this on a flexy or mediocre tolerance frame. It works flawlessly on my gen 6 santa cruz nomad and on my friends heckler SL. There are however other bikes within our riding crew that have less then optimum frame qa/qc and tolerance and questionable hubs that have issues. shifting under load aspect of transmission is truly impressive and a game changer to how you shift and ride the bike... but I've been riding bikes a long time, and mechanical empathy for the drivetrain is written into my thumb so this feature is a luxury and not a revelation.
-XT Linkglide - Truly impressive for the price and so far, is showing signs of ultimate durability with the limited mileage my buddy has on his setup (600 miles or so). Shifting under load is about 80% as good as hyperglide (which is quite good btw) and works just as well, but is just a bit more clunky. This is likely the smart choice for ebike drivetrains for all of us... that being said, I'll stick with GX Eagle because it's lighter and is shared between (nearly) all of the bikes in my stable and I just like it... but I should likely just run linkglide on my ebike and be done with it. I'm not however, a smart man.
That being said... I have experience with all of the choices you have outlined.
-XT/SLX Hyperglide - These are solid choices and to me are more or less the same for performance. I find hyperglide shifting under load to be slightly better then gx eagle mechanical, about on par with a well setup gx axs setup, if not maybe a smidge better. This is likely the goldilocks setup in terms of cost/performance/weight.
-GX Eagle - I prefer sram drivetrains to shimano, so this is my preference over SLX/XT but that's very subjective. I have experienced slightly better life/wear out of the GX eagle setups over XT/SLX because the sram chains are of better quality (x01 specifically). I am quite attentive about chain replacements and I find that I just simply get longer life out of the GX cassette as a result. That being said, I do find that the x01 cassettes do last just about 2x as long as a GX cassette (even on an ebike) and it does usually make them worth the money. I run x01 on my bike, and gx on my wife's bike.
-GX Transmission - I have this on my enduro bike. I personally would be cautious about what bikes/frames/hub combo's I would utilize gx transmission on. IME, frames and hubs that have tolerance issues can have persistent issues with transmission and because of that I would hesitate putting this on a flexy or mediocre tolerance frame. It works flawlessly on my gen 6 santa cruz nomad and on my friends heckler SL. There are however other bikes within our riding crew that have less then optimum frame qa/qc and tolerance and questionable hubs that have issues. shifting under load aspect of transmission is truly impressive and a game changer to how you shift and ride the bike... but I've been riding bikes a long time, and mechanical empathy for the drivetrain is written into my thumb so this feature is a luxury and not a revelation.
-XT Linkglide - Truly impressive for the price and so far, is showing signs of ultimate durability with the limited mileage my buddy has on his setup (600 miles or so). Shifting under load is about 80% as good as hyperglide (which is quite good btw) and works just as well, but is just a bit more clunky. This is likely the smart choice for ebike drivetrains for all of us... that being said, I'll stick with GX Eagle because it's lighter and is shared between (nearly) all of the bikes in my stable and I just like it... but I should likely just run linkglide on my ebike and be done with it. I'm not however, a smart man.
Last edited:
High Rock Ruti
Active member
High Rock Ruti
Installed linkglide on 2021 Levo pro, we'll see? The claims of durability, low price, along with replaceable derailleur parts. About $400 installed.
Warm Regards Ruti
willyjaybob
New Member
You can't really go wrong with any of these, although feel on the trail in my experience is different.
Shimano's tolerances seems to run a bit more loose than SRAM. My SRAM drive is awesome and I love it, but it usually takes more tuning to get it just right vs Shimano. Also, Shimano's click, to me, has a less 'positive' feel vs the 'CLICK' of the SRAM. All niggles, though. I have Shimano on one bike and SRAM on the other. If forced to choose, I like the feel of SRAM a bit better, but Shimano has never let me down. So...SRAM if handy and/or you have shop nearby and Shimano if you want to set it and forget it. IMO.
BostonDye
New Member
Linkglide all day. Longer lasting, more robust, easy adjustment and affordable. I run the deore 10 speed with 43t cassette and short cage mech. Btw. All Shimano “QUES” are “linkglide” and cross compatible
EnduroIntern
Member
Had a similar choice. Went with linkglide (xt di2). Very impressed so far. Going to spec Linkglide whenever I can going forward
High Rock Ruti
Active member
High Rock Ruti
Di 2 is the best electric derailleur I've ever used, 2017 over 3K miles never needs adjustment, both my AXS's fall out of adjustment every 50 miles or so, micro adjust is easy enough but unstable.
Warm Regards Ruti
2WheelsNot4
E*POWAH Master
Deore or SLX
Its cheap and hardwearing.
OK, not AXS as some seem to prefer, but bash an AXS rear mech and its a big outlay to replace.
Drivetrains are(in my humble opinion) are a consumable part of the system. Cheap without going too cheap will save outlay and maintenance costs.
Its cheap and hardwearing.
OK, not AXS as some seem to prefer, but bash an AXS rear mech and its a big outlay to replace.
Drivetrains are(in my humble opinion) are a consumable part of the system. Cheap without going too cheap will save outlay and maintenance costs.
I have done 1900km's on my first Sram drivetrain ever, GX Eagle 12 speed. Pro's: XD driver, so easy to swap cassette when changing wheels. Lockout on derailleur, also so easy to change wheels. Robust, can take beating. GX chain lasted 1600km's. Con's :Expensive parts, one of the smallest coqs (which I use most for grinding back home from trails on turbo)is worn so that I cannot use it anymore 
.
Shimano SLX 3800km's before I sold the bike. Pro's: Cheaper than Sram, cassette worked perfectly whole time. Con's: had to change chains every 1000km's, but this has something to do with shit muc off lubes because last chain I had wasn's worn even to 0.5% mark after 1200km's when I changed to Peaty's all weather lube. Destroyed two mech's and couple of hanger's.
XT 11-speed Linkglide on my commuter. Pro's: You can change gear when ever, cheap. Con's: Chain lasted 1600km's but had destroyed most used second smallest coq. I was suppose to by 10-speed but it wasn't availbale at the time. Bought it to my wife's bike later, much better than 11-speed.
If I had a bike only for trail riding with one set of wheels, I would go to 10-speed Linkglide anytime. It's cheap with short cage and you can change gear at any situation.
But on current bike I stick with GX. After this chain is worn out, I change cassette and front chainring and XX chain which is suppose to be much better than GX and see how it goes.
.Shimano SLX 3800km's before I sold the bike. Pro's: Cheaper than Sram, cassette worked perfectly whole time. Con's: had to change chains every 1000km's, but this has something to do with shit muc off lubes because last chain I had wasn's worn even to 0.5% mark after 1200km's when I changed to Peaty's all weather lube. Destroyed two mech's and couple of hanger's.
XT 11-speed Linkglide on my commuter. Pro's: You can change gear when ever, cheap. Con's: Chain lasted 1600km's but had destroyed most used second smallest coq. I was suppose to by 10-speed but it wasn't availbale at the time. Bought it to my wife's bike later, much better than 11-speed.
If I had a bike only for trail riding with one set of wheels, I would go to 10-speed Linkglide anytime. It's cheap with short cage and you can change gear at any situation.
But on current bike I stick with GX. After this chain is worn out, I change cassette and front chainring and XX chain which is suppose to be much better than GX and see how it goes.
CarolinaCrawler
Active member
With 5 people in the house that ride ebikes currently, I like to keep them all the same so I can have spares that work across all bikes.
Saying that, its really hard not to run 12 speed hyperglide just because of the price you can get them from Aliexpress. Who can beat a complete SLX drivetrain for under $100? Yes hyperglide isn't as strong as the linkglide, but I haven't really had any issues with them. I also treat mine pretty rough shifting under load and carrying on. Logistically it's just hard to beat.
Saying that, its really hard not to run 12 speed hyperglide just because of the price you can get them from Aliexpress. Who can beat a complete SLX drivetrain for under $100? Yes hyperglide isn't as strong as the linkglide, but I haven't really had any issues with them. I also treat mine pretty rough shifting under load and carrying on. Logistically it's just hard to beat.
Jan Prasil
New Member
What motor system do you plan to have on your e-bike? With Shimano I would go to XT Linkglide, simply for the ease of integration (and for EP801 having option for freeshift and autoshift).
With Bosch I would go for SRAM GX ASX as you can get dummy battery for your derailleur connected to Bosch power port.
With Bosch I would go for SRAM GX ASX as you can get dummy battery for your derailleur connected to Bosch power port.
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