SRAM EX1 first impressions review

[EddiePJ]

One of my pet hates about any SRAM rear derailleur, is the jockey wheels.
Every SRAM system that I have used, without exception, has given me grief with clogging. Be that mud, grass, bracken, twigs, snow, whatever. Riding locally, I usually have to stop at least once on every ride to clear them.
Something that I have never yet had to do with any Shimano rear derailleur.

Like you, I have also become very aware of the fact the cage on the EX1 is dreadfully weak. I'm certain that they make them from cheese.

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[Rick Bullotta]

To be fair, very few drivetrains or clipless pedals function well in the "dead zone" just below freezing, where snow and moisture ice up. Those days are perfect for a singlespeed with flat pedals. ;-)

 

[Trevormonty]

Before I switched chainguard locking ring on CX to basic locking nut, I had a couple of bad chain suck incidents where chain well and truely jammed up around chainring. Only solution in middle of nowhere was to stand on lower chain. The XT derailleur held up to this abuse very well.
Unfortunately chain suck is going to happen sooner or later with CX, I learnt to always make sure to leave clutch engaged after cleaning. Was made worse by Cube's silly plastic engine cover design, which gives chain something jam against.

I'm can't fault XT for its reliable service under worst abuse and conditions. Even in worst mud XT hasn't caused a problem.

In regards to SRAM the mail order shops like bike.discounts will not sell SRAM and Rockshock offshore. SRAM policy which I understand and don't disagree with, but means having to pay dearer local prices. For lot of parts there are good aftermarket alternatives but sometimes you have to buy original parts.

 

[Deere John]

Ordered spares for the EX1 derailleur. But I will not give this system a second chance. Had a look at Shimano 9s with a SunRace wide cassette (11-40T). It will work with my stock Shimano 10s derailleur but I need a 9s Sram-shifter for it, which can be found cheap! Just ordered those two things. Will be nice I think, some people say 9S is the most bullet-proof design and with Sram you can get a grip shifter also. Combined with a 10S Shimano derailleur with working clutch. When stock gives up I will buy a Saint with OneUp Radr cage upgrade from start. That seems to be a very nice option.

 

[Trevormonty]

Ordered spares for the EX1 derailleur. But I will not give this system a second chance. Had a look at Shimano 9s with a SunRace wide cassette (11-40T). It will work with my stock Shimano 10s derailleur but I need a 9s Sram-shifter for it, which can be found cheap! Just ordered those two things. Will be nice I think, some people say 9S is the most bullet-proof design and with Sram you can get a grip shifter also. Combined with a 10S Shimano derailleur with working clutch. When stock gives up I will buy a Saint with OneUp Radr cage upgrade from start. That seems to be a very nice option.

The 40t combined with 14t on CX should be enough for steepest hills. Having derailleur clutch is must with CX drive. Cassettes and chains for 9spd are cheap plus they give better mileage than 10 and 11spd. If you can make it work I'd say you are onto a winner.

Hang onto EX1, would be worth fitting for a Alps trip.

 

[anotherkiwi]

Cassettes and chains for 9spd are cheap plus they give better mileage than 10 and 11spd.

I am trying to see how I can fit my GSM to the trike and one of my ideas was the 10 speed wide ratio 11-46 Sunrace with the stock single 46 tooth chainwheel. I am stuck on the chain and cassette life bit. I need 2.6 chains at each change

 

[BazP]

The 40t combined with 14t on CX should be enough for steepest hills. Having derailleur clutch is must with CX drive. Cassettes and chains for 9spd are cheap plus they give better mileage than 10 and 11spd. If you can make it work I'd say you are onto a winner.

Hang onto EX1, would be worth fitting for a Alps trip.

Not trying to be funny but why do you say that about the clutch?
I have never engaged the clutch on my XT rear mech and done over 1000 miles without a problem.
The only time I have experienced chain suck was when fitting a new chain onto the old sprocket. Chains and sprockets wear together. This is with a CX motor.

 

[EddiePJ]

Trevor is right. With the Performance Line and CX, a clutch is an essential item to prevent chain suck. When using a Shimano set up, I'd not ride without first engaging it.

 

[Trevormonty]

The clutch is essential in muddy conditions also helps stop chain jumping off chainring. I leave it off for road riding as makes gear change slightly easier.

 

[BazP]

At the risk of labouring my point, having done red routes in Dalby Forrest and in Wales on my hardtail in all conditions without the the chain sucking or falling off, the clutch can hardly be called essential.

 

[Deere John]

Well. You must be lucky then. I had the worst problems before using clutch. Tried Eddie-bracket and stuff but clutch worked best.

Btw. Have serviced my EX1 derail now. Will use it until the new stuff comes.

 

[DIG]

Whats the issue with EX1????
My Bosch CX powered Mondraker ecrafty has never had a problem with the gears/EX1 mech since new and I have over 1500 miles on the clock. Last few rides in particular have been either snow/ice or mud bath but I have never had an issue, changes are always as sweet as.
Am I just lucky or are many people having an issue???

 

[Earthskyouch20]

Reading all this with interest. I have XT 2x10 on my bike and have found ( so far) that I rarely use the front mech at all ( purely trail riding, no road).
I was thinking of ditching it to cut down on clutter on the bars but with everyone buying special chainrings, cassettes and derailleur cages when they go 1 x however many am I missing something?
Also can I change from trigger to gripshift with the xt? I know I'm weird but I prefer it massively as I badly broke my right thumb a few years back.
Regarding the clutch I leave it on permanently only taking it off if I need to remove the wheel, hope that's right!

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Just one point to consider when using wide ratio gears: The motor can deal with it OK; however; like you would experience on an unpowered bike, the motor also has an optimum cadence. the wider you go on ratios, the less chance you have of keeping the motor running at high efficiency. It get's its highest torque when running inefficiently, so using its torque to compensate when the ratio isn't ideal would increase stress on everything as well as waste the battery.

I think I'm with Soundwave on this one. For a crank-drive bike, I think 12 speed would be better, though 8 speed would work pretty well with a hub-motor.

 

[soundwave]

mine is 11 spd 10-42 tho when it wears out will be going to 12spd eagle but plenty of life left in it yet

i also have 2 front sprockets 15t and 18t manual change.

 

[anotherkiwi]

I think I'm with Soundwave on this one. For a crank-drive bike, I think 12 speed would be better, though 8 speed would work pretty well with a hub-motor.

I have been looking into the transition to a 10 speed 11-46 but the big jumps are in the lower gears where I really feel, as you say, I need more gentle steps to stay in cadence. I find that I am using the 11 tooth very little on the trike because at cadence that is between 50 and 60 km/h and on any downhill it just zips off over 60 km/h on its own anyway. 48:13 is between 37 and 47 km/h and I can still manage to pull that ratio on the flat.

Running costs become substantial when you are using 2.6 x 10 speed and above chains each time you change the drive train

Which brings me back to a Rohloff: wide gear range and 14 real gears, easy changing down when stopped, kind to chain and sprockets, can handle up to 110 nm torque...

 

[Deere John]

Also can I change from trigger to gripshift with the xt? I know I'm weird but I prefer it massively as I badly broke my right thumb a few years back.

well, Shimano doesn't have gripshift. But some combinations work with Sram gripshift. I have actually, like I wrote somewhere. Bought Saint 10-speed derailleur and will try it with Sram 9-speed gripshift and Shimano 9 speed casette.

Regarding the clutch I leave it on permanently only taking it off if I need to remove the wheel, hope that's right!

Correctamundo!

 

[Deere John]

Reading all this with interest. I have XT 2x10 on my bike and have found ( so far) that I rarely use the front mech at all ( purely trail riding, no road).
I was thinking of ditching it to cut down on clutter on the bars but with everyone buying special chainrings, cassettes and derailleur cages when they go 1 x however many am I missing something?
Also can I change from trigger to gripshift with the xt? I know I'm weird but I prefer it massively as I badly broke my right thumb a few years back.
Regarding the clutch I leave it on permanently only taking it off if I need to remove the wheel, hope that's right!

Have now got all the stuff, finally!! Upgraded my old 10-speed XT shifter and 11-42T cassette to a Saint derailleur (10s) with a Sram grip shifter for 9-speed and a 11-40T 9-speed cassette. I have also installed a Garbaruk offset derailleur cage for using wide range cassettes. Works great, shifts really good and distinct. This could be the perfect combo!

 

[georgehenry]

I have been thinking about putting a sun race wide ratio 9 speed cassette on my bike.

My bike is a nine speed set up now but I have been using cheap shimano alvio 12/36 cassettes with a 42 tooth chain ring.

I do a lot of miles commuting to work and back and these cassettes cost less than £20 delivered, although the life span of them seems quite variable between a high of 2200 miles and a low of 750 but at the price they are I can live with that.

To be honest this gearing has worked really well for me but having a lower bottom gear might allow me to use a slightly larger chain ring and still have a low enough gear for the off road routes I use.

Already having a nine speed set up means changing only the cassette and chain ring hopefully although I would need to see if the rear mech worked with the wider gearing.

Your set up looks good.

 

[Deere John]

Already having a nine speed set up means changing only the cassette and chain ring hopefully although I would need to see if the rear mech worked with the wider gearing.

worth a try. I had 11-42T with an ok XT mech and that worked barely, this works much better though. You can always modify later.
Actually I also bought a Garbaruk 44T front chain ring, Narrow-Wide. Perfect.



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