I have a SRAM GX, which I believe will only cope with 42t - which I currently have
I'm looking to buy a wheelset as per other threads, but the Hope steel freehub and steel shimano driver (11sp only) is reccomended for e-bikes, otherwise I'd have upgraded everything to 12sp
What mech would I need?
new deore RD M5100 should work
or an older XTR / XT with garbaruk cage.
Deore M5100 is the one for 11-50 11 speed.
You can get 12 speed cassettes for standard driver, just look for the cheaper 12 speed with 11 teeth at the bottom, that will allow 12s on your existing freehub
There was a recent PSA where CRC had the SRAM NX Eagle Cassette for £25
Is a 50t really used very much on an ebike?
Is a 50t really used very much on an ebike?
I've upped the front from 32t to 36t, so albeit the bike will still get up most things, I'd prefer a little more cadence
Sold out for now, but this is one option, think there's a 12s Deore also
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/sram-pg-1210-eagle-12-speed-cassette
I think a GRX might cope with a 50t.
edit. Looks like you need a goatlink with it if you go over 46t
the deore 50t specific one is a little agricultural but its cheap and works well.
I recently bought a SRAM NX Eagle drivetrain (cassette, chain, mech, shifter, cable and crankset) for my old non-boost hardtail. I put the cassette and chain onto my ebike (GX Eagle mech) and it works a treat. The old ones from the ebike are now on the Mk1 Cotic Soul and everything works a treat.
12 spd 11-50 cassettes, fit on a 9spd style freehub.
I've hammered a couple of Hope ali XD freehubs on my ebikes and not had any failures yet. 50/11 Vs 42/10 is only 4.54 Vs 4.2 gear ratio so very similar. I've always thought the XG1150 cassette is by far the best cassette option for ebikes in terms of Strength Vs weight Vs cost.
I'm running the Deore M5100 11 speed mech, it works just fine and can be had for very cheap. I was previously running 10 speed XTR and can't say I've noticed a downgrade in performance (I'm using an XT shifter at the moment).
I just moved to a sunrace 50t with my shimano XT 11speed regular cage, lots of people told me it would work. It didn't. Shifting was appaling. Had to then get a 12 speed XT mech instead of the 11 and now it's perfect
I think any Eagle mech will work with your 11 speed shifter and work with up to 52T if you get the newer GX or upwards 520% version.
I think all 12 speed mechanical mechs work fine with 11 speed so you can buy whatever is cheapest