New Drivetrain

[LBJ09]

Is this the right place for this?

I've spoken about this before, a long time ago, but never got around to making the order. I'm going to change my drivetrain now though, and need a little advice.

I'm going to switch up to a 1x10 set up. As far as cassettes, what is the differences between the options on teeth? Should I go for 11-36 as I am moving to the single chainring at the front?

Should I change out the BB? I had it on my original shopping list last year but cant remember if it was giving too much bother. Would it be safe to say that it would be a good idea to change it as it hasn't been done before. On that, I was looking at the Zee cranks and BB set. Am I looking for one of either 68/73mm or 83mm or is it a case that if they match each other, it's all good?

What chainguide would people recommend?

List:
XT M771 10spd Cassette w/ HG95 10spd Chain
Zee M640 Hollowtech II Cranks, Chainring and BB
Zee M640 Shadow+ 10spd Rear Derailleur
Zee M640 10spd Shifter

Missing anything? I should have new cable inners and outers still lying about.

[neil_]

Should I go for 11-36 as I am moving to the single chainring at the front?

Yes! And think carefully about your chainring size too.

I'm not really up to date on shimano drivetrains but I imagine there's a better price/performance deal than Zee? It is supposed to be a downhill groupset..

Regardless, I'd highly recommend a thick-thin chainring and a clutch derailleur. I've got a 1x10 setup with sram x9 stuff and a wolftooth components chainring, it's literally never dropped the chain apart from one time when my freewheel stopped working.

[LBJ09]

I remember you saying that and meant to mention it in my post. The Zee crankset is 90 euro on bike components, which I thought was pretty good value - the changing is quite small though. The Zee derailleur is a clutch one and has held up well against the Saint in review testing.

Just checked, the Zee chainring has 36 teeth as well.

[Psycholist]

Don't bother with this unless you have a thick-thin chainring. Even with a chainguide on a 9x1 (No clutch derailleur) I was running the chain wouldn't stay consistently on - interestingly though 3x7, 3x8, 3x9 and 3x10 drivetrains also don't drop the chain as often because you don't end up pedalling in bad chainlines as much. The other thing the thick-thin style ring will do for you is stop the sides being chewed off the chainring teeth (Well half of them anyway) from running in crossover gears. For a shadow+ derailleur AFAIK the Zee may well be the best priced option, though check Deore as well. If you push it up to XT the jockey wheels will last significantly longer too...

If you want to really do the 1 x 10 right I'd look into the add on 40 tooth chainrings you can get for 10 speed cassettes. You ditch one of the other sprockets - they recommend the 17T to get an 11-40 drivetrain: http://www.wolftoothcycling.com/pages/giant-cog
Then run a 36T chainring up front and you've got a very usable range indeed. Though having used some of the old 8 speed SRAM cassettes with uneven spacing between gears on the top galf of the cassette vs. the bottom half, missing a cog in the middle of the gear range can be a pain too...

Having tried 1x9 and gone back to 3x10 though, I'd still recommend a proper big ring for any bike that may see use on the road - or even on the Ballyhoura fireroads...

[Joejoebeans]

I was having a look at some 40t cassette rings on CRC and bike components. Cheapest one is just under €70. Will have to shop around for something cheaper.

Alternatively, there are narrow wide chainrings going for €50 in 30/32/34/36t so if you're willing to lose the higher range then it could be an option. Reckon I might end up putting a 32t or a 34t chainring on the Yeti. I'll need to work out what range the cassette has first. I'll be keeping the 36t option for when I'm France

Am I looking for one of either 68/73mm or 83mm

Almost definitely 68/73mm as 83mm is mostly DH bikes AFAIK. But you should check the dimensions of your BB. Should be able to find some info on the cotic website

[neil_]

This is what I would get if I liked Shimano:

SLX casette €34
SLX chain €18
XT derailleur €69 (do shimano not make short cage derailleurs?)
XT shifter €41
Race Face Chainring €52
_______
€214

And just use your current cranks + bb. Maybe change the bb bearings if they're coming to the end of their useful lifetimes.

[Psycholist]

The Zee is a medium cage derailleur only AFAIK, XT is available in medium and long cage, just not side by side in most shops. It'll be labelled as a SGS (Long cage - for 3x10 drivetrains) or GS (Medium cage 2x10 or 1x10). There is a short cage Saint available coded as SS (For 1x10 only, possibly not even compatible with 11-36 cassettes as it may be optimised for close ratio cassettes for DH racing), but for derailleurs Saint probably isn't worth the expense.

[nathybren]

The Zee is a medium cage derailleur only AFAIK, XT is available in medium and long cage, just not side by side in most shops. It'll be labelled as a SGS (Long cage - for 3x10 drivetrains) or GS (Medium cage 2x10 or 1x10). There is a short cage Saint available coded as SS (For 1x10 only, possibly not even compatible with 11-36 cassettes as it may be optimised for close ratio cassettes for DH racing), but for derailleurs Saint probably isn't worth the expense.

Being the owner of a Saint I can tell you that they're incredibly solid, but I expect as much from Zee at this point.
So basically don't bother going higher than Zee.
Though you would get shiny gold bits...

Medium cage seems to be the way to go. I have 2 of them (XT and Saint) They're both snappier than I could ever need.
(There's no doubt that I like the Sram snappiness better but that isn't really worth an awful lot.)

I think I'll be going for the SLX chain and cassette myself shortly. Not sure if I'll go single and get a NarrowWide yet though.
I'd rather if someone rather than RaceFace made them...

[LBJ09]

Is there any reason you would go for SLX cassette and chain Neil? Is there no point going higher with those components?

Interesting to note that the list I put up comes to only €206 from bike-components.de with the BB and cranks included on top.

I want a new set of cranks because the SLXs on it look a little shabby and battle worn. Pretty much just like the look of the Zees, and the idea of a full Zee deck out.

I am also on the market for a full susser frame to put all of these lovely parts on in conjuction with the brakes and a few other things from the BFe. As far as I can tell from the reviews the Zee stuff does a reasonably good job in general, might be an idea to switch up to an XT shifter alright.

[seanryan]

The saint can work with both type cassettes 11-28 and 11-36 or so. However the zee you have to buy the specific derailleur, Dh for the close ratio and FR for the up to 36 cassettes. If you want zee I know someone who can get zee cranks, bb mech cassette Nd chain for like 155 pounds. All brand new. And the zee is nice to run from my brief use of it.

[LBJ09]

I thought for a second that the SLX might have been the one sporting the HG tech but the XT does too and is only €5 more expensive for the set....includes a new SIL-TEC coating that offers loner lasting products apparently.

Zee don't do a cassette or chain just so you know Sean.

Also this is a frame I a tempted by....

http://www.senditcycles.co.uk/frames/fu ... inci-Dixon

[neil_]

I'd rather if someone rather than RaceFace made them...

absoluteblack.cc <-- very pretty
wolftoothcycling.com

Is there any reason you would go for SLX cassette and chain Neil? Is there no point going higher with those components?

I didn't really check prices that much, if the xt stuff is within your budget there's no reason not to go for it. But if you did want to save money, parts that wear out every few thousand kilometres anyway are a good place to start.

That looks like a nice frame

[seanryan]

Sorry I ment to say slx chain and cassette that's what I got. Xt'a only advantage is weight am I right. With the weight of my frame saving a couple of grams ain't gonna be noticed!!

[LBJ09]

The XT offers the SILTEC coating embedded with Flouride. Offers low friction and less wear.

[seanryan]

Oh never heard of that before!

[LBJ09]

Me neither, and as Neil says the parts wear out very slowly anyway. It was just the only difference I could spot and for €5 I might as well go for them.

[seanryan]

Yeah can't hurt for an extra fiver!

[Psycholist]

If you divide the extra cost over how long it's likely to last it's less than 1 cent a day ...

[neil_]

If you divide the extra cost over how long it's likely to last it's less than 1 cent a day ...

So you could have one penny sweet every single day for the next couple of years... Or a slightly shinier piece of aluminium. Hmm..

[LBJ09]

I've found a LaPierre Zesty frame with an upgraded RP2 Kashima fork and a chainguide attached so I'm going to go with that and the 1x10 and see how we go from there.

http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/10907135/

I'm also planning on getting Joe's 36 Talas 160mm to turn in it into a trail eating machine. On a video review that I watched they mentioned you would shorten the shock to make room for a 160mm up front. Would this mean the bike would be at a compromise running 160/140 (I think)?

Also are there special adaptor parts for sitting a straight fork into a tapered tube?

[dannyk]

Headset wise, you'll need a lower cup that converts it from 1.5" to 1 1/8th" . top cup should be able to remain the same. Not sure if that frame takes internal/zero stack headset (i.e. if the bearings sit into the frame, or if a cup holds the bearings in the frame.

also, what model of Zesty is it?

[nathybren]

Talk to Joe. I believe he's trying to figure out what to do with his

[Joejoebeans]

Yeah I hadn't quite thought about this. There's a Chris King headset to go with it. I'll get in touch with you about prices

[Psycholist]

If you haven't ordered a chainring already £25.99 in 7075 Aluminium: http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=930

[LBJ09]

As the frame comes with a relatively new BB, I'll probably drop the crankset in favour of this and the Zee cranks.

I saw the email in my inbox and thought that was quite a coincidence.....ohhhhh!