[Closed] General Lee cassette converter experiences

There's one on the classifieds now.

So therte is.... and it would appear it is for sale because it didn't work... bit of a worry.

Possibly a simple fix... would like some feedback.

What do you ride that can't be climbed on a 36t cassette?

What makes you say it didn't work?

No personal experience, but a mate fitted one to his 1x10 enduro bike when he did the dyfi recently. Said it was brilliant to carry on going but to give your legs a rest for a little bit.
Had to fit a medium cage mech to take up the range.
He's had no problems with his that I know of and says he'd use it on other bikes if they weren't so expensive.

jam bo - Member
What do you ride that can't be climbed on a 36t cassette?

There was nothing he couldn't climb before on a 36 but I think the general idea was to give some rest to your legs but to keep moving still when in an enduro.

I would have loved some feedback too hence why i posted this up
http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/general-lee-cassette-problems
but no one replied and i couldn't get any help with it so rather than mess about any longer got some XX1 stuff instead. As has been mentioned above people have fitted them and got them working fine and they are cheaper than the XX1/XO1 stuff, but i ran out of patience with it and just want to ride my bike.

Just fitted one to my Rumblefish with an XT cassette and a 32t Wolftooth front chainring. I was running a Zee rear mech with my regular cassette but had to go up to a GS cage XT when I fitted the General Lee. I also had to fit a longer B-tension screw to get the top jockey wheel far enough away from the 42t cog on the cassette.

Initial impressions are good, it's very lightweight and secure on the freehub body when the lockring is tightened down (although it feels a bit loose before you tension everything up).

Shifting wise it's not quite as slick as the Shimano cassette. There is a compromise with mine when the chain shifts on and off of the carrier on to the next smallest cog from the cassette. I can't get it to be perfect in both directions so have set the cable tension so that it goes off the carrier (ie on to a harder gear) well but when going in the other direction I have to 'overshift' slightly to coerce it up on the 29t cog of the General Lee.

A chap on a different thread has done his own Dremel work on the first three cogs to mirror the ramps of the ones off the cassette and says it works well. I'm going to persevere with mine for a few more rides and see if it beds in before I do anything radcial.

The range of 42-11 with a 32t chainring gives me virtually the same spread as I had with my 2 x 10 so i'm well happy.

Original thread started by me here:
http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/leonardi-general-lee-shimano-adaptor-availability

jam bo - Member
What do you ride that can't be climbed on a 36t cassette?

Waiting to see how X01 settles in and if there is any hint of an X9 version...

I’m running a 40t Sram General Lee on a Sram PG1070 11-36 cassette, with a WolfTooth 30t ring up front and medium cage XT clutch mech. I’ve been running this set up for just over 6 weeks, and approximately 250 miles, and so far I haven’t experienced any problems. The mech is being run outside of its comfort zone so shift quality isn’t quite the same as with a standard set up. It’s still shifting reasonably crisply, but there’s a slight hesitation going into the top two cogs, but it’s not a major hassle and it’s something I’m happy to live with. Dropping down the gears is fine though.
It’s still too early for me to report on the longevity of the adapter, but I’m pretty sure it will wear faster than a normal cassette so replacing the chain earlier than usual should hopefully help to increase its lifespan. Gearing wise, I’m on a 29er and with a 30t front ring I’ve only found myself wanting a lower gear twice, which was on really stupid steep climbs on holiday in the Czech Republic a couple of weeks ago that only the guide, and one other chap from our group managed to clean. I know I would have managed the climbs had I been running my old 22x34 granny gear, but I wasn’t too bothered about getting off, and for the rest of my riding here in NE Scotland the set-up has been near perfect. Another benefit to using the ‘The General’ is being able to run it with standard gear mechs. I was able to buy a relatively cheap SLX clutch mech as a spare to take on holiday with me.

I’d definitely run this type of set-up again if I was to build another bike in the near future, although I’d probably stick with the 40t adapter over the 42t, and if I wanted a lower climbing gear I’d fit a Sram spiderless crank with a 28t narrow/wide ring. If Sram doesn’t trickle down 1x11 to X9 then I think more 1x10 wide ratio set-ups will spring up over the next few months. KCNC already have a ti 38t cassette (expensive), and there was another 40t 10sp cassette shown at Eurobike by Trickstuff which looked interesting…..no price yet though.

I think it's just me, but if just feels like trying to bolt on this mahoosive rear cassette seems like a right dodgy hack when the real solution is to just admit you're not 'down with the kids' / bleeding edge and just having a double (or, gasp, triple) chainset at the front.

Big long steep hills, without compromising top end speed and having to spin your legs faster than is comfortable. It's fairly obvious really.

but the comments above suggest people are running them with 30 & 32t chainrings. climbing in 30-40 must be considerably less than walking pace.

I can just about see the point if you ran it with a 38 or a 40t to get close to 1:1 climbing and a decent top end.

[quote=breatheeasy ]I think it's just me, but if just feels like trying to bolt on this mahoosive rear cassette seems like a right dodgy hack when the real solution is to just admit you're not 'down with the kids' / bleeding edge and just having a double (or, gasp, triple) chainset at the front.

Could be just you, seems like a great idea, drop a mech/shifter for adding a bigger cassette?

Lad I know over here is running one, had no problems with it. Thinking of getting one myself.

but the comments above suggest people are running them with 30 & 32t chainrings. climbing in 30-40 must be considerably less than walking pace.

That's still not as low as the lowest two gears on a "traditional" 3x9 MTB setup.

If you are on a steep technical climb then riding at "less than walking pace" is still much more efficient/easier than walking.

I've used my lowest gear (22x34) numerous times when riding in Wales.

I found prior with my regular 32 x 11-36 set up that if pedalling alone was the challenge then I would have been able to cope and just stand up and honk hard on the cranks and bars.

However, because finding grip is also part of the challenge, running a spinnier gear like 32x42 allowed me to slide forwards to the nose of the saddle and keep pedalling and finding the grip rather than having to stand up. If i were to stand up the grip'd go straight away.

In short, if traction was available indefinitely then I'd be running 1x10 11-36 but whe I live is steep and slippy so the General Lee is a welcome addition

After much faffing and one ride I get the same as Yetiman on my SRAM version. Shifts fine going up the gears (larger rings to smaller ones) but hesitant going into larger rings, especially up to the first General Lee (gear 4) and the third (gear 2).

I can't remember what shims it came with other than one very thin washer type shim that I placed between the two General Lee blocks.

Why not use a 2x10? General Lee is crazy money for a few rings.

If you are on a steep technical climb then riding at "less than walking pace" is still much more efficient/easier than walking.

really? I quite like pushing my bike alongside people huffing and puffing away trying to keep pedalling up really steep climbs.

In my experience once you drop below walking pace the bike is really not an efficient way to get up hills.

For me it simplified & lightened my drive train, while giving me a near perfect spread of gears, without spending big bucks on 1x11. As simple as that. And I’m in a similar boat to robarnold re: big climbs, and techy climbs, which require sit and spin technique over mashing the pedals. So 30x40 is pretty much ideal, and is definitely still quicker than walking.

Farticus – I spent some time fine tuning my gears during the first 2-3 rides, but the slight hesitation going into the bigger cogs remains. For me it’s not a major issue, I can certainly live with it and it’s still preferable to running 2x10, but I guess if you’re a bit OCD about gear changes having to be ‘snappy’ it might be an issue. Going down the cassette from big to small works fine.

I quite like pushing my bike alongside people huffing and puffing away trying to keep pedalling up really steep climbs.

Really? I quite like riding my bike, rather than using it as an overspecified walking stick.

In my experience once you drop below walking pace the bike is really not an efficient way to get up hills.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that one.

yep, because it has to be stupid steep before I cant ride 34-36 up there.

your legs may be weaker 😉

Yetiman - I'm happy with it but I just have to remember to overshift slightly to get the chain up a gear. Once it's on the larger ring it runs silently and doesn't want to drop back down. But the worst shift is 5 to 4 i.e. moving off the SRAM block onto the General Lee.

Far better than having a front mech to bother with, and a perfect range for what I want to tackle.

yep, because it has to be stupid steep before I cant ride 34-36 up there.

your legs may be weaker

**swoon**

Are you on 26" wheels? If so anyone using a 29er with a 32t ring has a taller bottom gear than you. Just sayin like...

the worst shift is 5 to 4 i.e. moving off the SRAM block onto the General Lee

Same with the Shimano version going 4 to 3 but the hesitation is very minimal

Gen Lee + 30T Wolf Tooth ring on Hope Pro2 evo freehub with a SRAM PG1070.

Been on it a few months now and done some proper climbing with it and aside from taking a bit of time to set up the shifting (the B-screw matters) it´s been smooth sailing. You need a Med cage to reach, short cage won´t work.

I haven´t noticed more wear than normal and you quickly get used to slight hesitation in middle and top shifts. Well worth it to lose the derailleur/shifter/rings.

I previously had a Hammerschmidt which I was quite happy with but there´s a massive difference in weight compared to what I have on now.

jam bo - Member

yep, because it has to be stupid steep before I cant ride 34-36 up there.

But its not always about what gear you can push for a short time. What's your heart rate like gurning up a hill at 34-36 just before you have to get off and push? Not an issue on sub-6 hour rides for me (even on a singlespeed all over dartmoor innit) but I can see why someone looking at 12-24 hour rides would like to invest in gently spinning up steep climbs at walking pace (definitely more energy efficient than pushing your bike if you know how to spin gently and efficiently) to stave off the bonk a few hours later. As far as I can tell that's what the spinners on here are after.

Not for me and my budget though: I have a rarely-used-but-enough to-keep-on-the-bike granny ring and a front derailleur that will basically outlast all the rest of the drivetrain, -quite a bit cheaper too!