Shimano do 9spd XT derailuer with option of long cage and shadow clutch ( useful for MTBing). May work with 11-40t. Worth it alone for quality shifting.
SRAM EX1 first impressions review
- Thread starter Deere John
- Start date
I am using the stock Alivio 8 speed derailleur and an 8 speed 11-40. It took an awful long time to set up (lack of experience) but now it work just fine. A single chainwheel will be much easier to set up than a triple.
Half-year follow up:
I said I should change the EX1 to something else. Well, that something took forever to get and meanwhile I have kind of getting to like the EX1 more and more, especially the cassette. So... I keep the EX1 a little longer...
The big cogs are really nice to have. I actually use 48T sometimes. It's a great climb gear when using lower assist. And IF you run out of battery juice it's very nice to have I use lower assist more now than before actually.
And 8 gears is enough I believe, as I wrote before.
I had problems with the derailleur bending in the start of the winter. Changed the outer plate to a new one. And it has actually lasted good since of some reason. So my trust in this system that should have been so sturdy is beginning to get good too.
Can't think of anything more good/bad to add. I like it very much.
Wonder about the cassette though, why did they have to make it in one piece of metal? They market it as a very good thing. Can't understand why. It gets very pricey. But maybe it is good for durability?
The forces when using 48T on high assist must be very high. I noticed on my Hope stainless steel free hub that it was rough markings there because of this. Need to order a new free hub to have in stock when doing service next time.
Ride on
I said I should change the EX1 to something else. Well, that something took forever to get and meanwhile I have kind of getting to like the EX1 more and more, especially the cassette. So... I keep the EX1 a little longer...
The big cogs are really nice to have. I actually use 48T sometimes. It's a great climb gear when using lower assist. And IF you run out of battery juice it's very nice to have
I use lower assist more now than before actually.And 8 gears is enough I believe, as I wrote before.
I had problems with the derailleur bending in the start of the winter. Changed the outer plate to a new one. And it has actually lasted good since of some reason. So my trust in this system that should have been so sturdy is beginning to get good too.
Can't think of anything more good/bad to add. I like it very much.
Wonder about the cassette though, why did they have to make it in one piece of metal? They market it as a very good thing. Can't understand why. It gets very pricey. But maybe it is good for durability?
The forces when using 48T on high assist must be very high. I noticed on my Hope stainless steel free hub that it was rough markings there because of this. Need to order a new free hub to have in stock when doing service next time.
Ride on
interesting read I upgraded to the EX1 as I tore through 2 cassettes and several chains on my Bergomont E-bike (3000 miles). EX1 ?.. cassette has lasted 350 miles !.. I clean and oil the chain after each ride and yes its been a filthy winter, but 350 miles for a £400 cassette is really poor in my eyes. I'm now stuck wondering what to do, should I go for another EX1 cassette and risk the same happening again ?.. I'm sure I've just been very unlucky here and had a duff cassette. For what its worth, upto the cassette failing it was pretty faultless, shifting was a joy and hardly any noise from the chain, improved battery life etc..
...that was really bad. My cassette has been rolling 1471km = 914mi and still looks good. Have not changed chain either. But will do soon.
Not kidding, just one of the rings has sharktoothed and thats it, cassette rendered unusable
The chain has apparently stretched a lot as well.. 350 Miles and I thought the EX1 was supposed to be designed for the extra strain delivered by the motor. I've not dongled the motor either so this is genuine use
Replace bosch chainring(€8) with chain and do it at 0.75 stretch mark. The EX1 chains (€15) are cheap the cassette (€ 285) is not. Changing at 0.5 mark could be worth while given chain and chainring are only 10% of cassette.
If cassette isn't one piece might be able to buy parts of cassette.
My XT 11spd parts may not last quite as long as EX1 but per mileage running costs are lot lower. Plus I like smaller jumps between ratios. Chainring €8, chain €25, idlers €10, cassette €42.
If cassette isn't one piece might be able to buy parts of cassette.
My XT 11spd parts may not last quite as long as EX1 but per mileage running costs are lot lower. Plus I like smaller jumps between ratios. Chainring €8, chain €25, idlers €10, cassette €42.
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who wants 12 gears on an ebike!?you can buy the eagle gx 12spd group set for 250 quid
Nobody, but we want or need the gear range...who wants 12 gears on an ebike!?
. I love my Sunrace 8 speed 11-40 but it needs 2 chainwheels to stay ride-able when un-powered and in extreme conditions*. The closest you can get for ordinary money is a Sunrace 11 speed 11-50 which costs 50% of the EX1 cassette (including shifter, derailleur and chain!).*Look up NA-4453 Navarra Spain in Google maps to see the kind of extreme I am talking about, the kind of road even @EddiePJ would enjoy riding on
That very much reminded me of some of the climbs in Switzerland. A lovely narrow road, with amazingly stunning woodland to either side.*Look up NA-4453 Navarra Spain in Google maps to see the kind of extreme I am talking about, the kind of road even @EddiePJ would enjoy riding on
And yep, I also prefer more gears, with less of a step between changes.
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12 spd would be even dearer than EX1 to maintain. Rohloff would be lot cheaper option in long run you really need 500% gear range, unfortunately not ideally for FS.
The more I throw these ideas around in my head the more a Rohloff makes the most sense - cost/performance and ratio wise. Second on the list is the pinion but that requires a special trike boom so is a more costly option. The least expensive option is my current one - 8 speed wide range and two chainwheels. The issue is getting a front derailleur to work with a BBS0x/GSM chainline. For rear hub motors things are so much simpler (I can see d8veh nodding his head... ) - wide range 11-40 8 speed cassette and Patterson Metropolis drive.
But it is the kind of road you know you are going to have to try... It has been wet and I put the passenger side wheels on the soft shoulder, soft... The chassis touched the edge of the tar sealing
) - wide range 11-40 8 speed cassette and Patterson Metropolis drive.I drove that road last week and was asking myself "how many Wh to do this?" the whole time. Gradients up to and probably over 30% in places
But it is the kind of road you know you are going to have to try... It has been wet and I put the passenger side wheels on the soft shoulder, soft... The chassis touched the edge of the tar sealing For £130 I can buy 4 Sunrace XT 11spd 11-46t cassettes. The EX1 chains are slight cheaper than XT KMC 11e €20 vs €25.
With XT you have option of Di2 shifting which may help live of chain as it can be set to single gear shifts plus no shifter cables to replace. Probably better option if intergrated with motor, not sure how easy it is to do as retro fit.
I've decided to stick with it and go for another EX1 cassette but this time also invested in a park chain wear tool too. I'm sure I've been very unlucky to wear out the original cassette in such a short distance, but it does look like it was the chain that was at fault as it measured over .75 (so the SRAM ex1 chain didn't last long hey !.. less than 350 miles)
I also need to rethink the way I ride my ebike, I tend to use the different modes rather than the gears when the riding gets tough which may account for the rate of wear in the chain.. expensive hobby these e-bikes !
I also need to rethink the way I ride my ebike, I tend to use the different modes rather than the gears when the riding gets tough which may account for the rate of wear in the chain.. expensive hobby these e-bikes !
Get tool that measures 0.5 and 0.75, cheaper ones only do 0.75 and 1.0.
Given chain + chainring are about 10% of new cassette, I'd try changing closer to 0.5 mark than 0.75. Would be interesting to see how much longer cassette lasts.
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