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Hi, I know this has probably been done a few thousand times on here but a forum search didn't come up with any obvious threads I could hijack. So, I've got sram gx 11sp drivetrain on my bike, but the clutch on it seems weak and the mech is noisy (compared to my old shimano stuff on old bikes). It shifts fine but on any rougher downhills it slaps on the chainstay a lot. I've put loads of noise deadening tape etc on the chainstay to quiten it down and whilst it is better, it's still annoying. Doesn't seem too awful in terms of losing the chain (has happened a couple of times) although I've only done local / chilled riding for a good few months obviously.
It's a type 2.1 clutch which isn't adjustable, (although I've found a thread on Pinkbike with a hack to increase the tension but it means taking a dremmel to the mech and I don't fancy the mech's chances of surviving me with a dremmel). Hub is an oem sram thingy and I don't want to buy a new hub so I'm stuck with the GX 11 sp cassette, and don't feel the need to spend to go 12sp, so I've got 3 choices as I see it.
1. Put up with it (earplugs?) maybe buy a stfu chainslap thingy or something.
2. New gx or nx rear mech
3. New Shimano slx 11sp mech and shifter (£80 odd from CRC for shifter and mech).
2 - gx is £90, which feels a little rich to pay for "old" drivetrain tech, nx is cheaper (I have seen it for £55 or so but finding one in stock anywhere is proving tricky). Plus would it acutally be any better?
3 - does Shimano 11sp play nice with Sram cassettes? Worse shifting?
Any experiences / advice welcome. Did I miss an option?
Thanks all.
The Shimano mech should do fine on a Sram cassette, but you’d need a new shifter too.
More importantly, it’s doubtful it would help with chain slap. Seems like an expensive gamble.
Can you shorten the chain? (Making sure to check length with rear suspension compressed if you have it)?
Is the derailleur worn out and in need of Replacing?
what cassete do you have? 10t or 11t small cog?
If your cassette is nearing the end of it’s life, you could consider going to a larger one (Sunrace, Shimano or Garbaruk), and a bigger chainring in front. That will keep the chain a bit further away from your chainstay.
Just buy a new slx mech, it'll work fine with your current SRAM shifter, cassette and chain. I've just done the same and bought a 12s slx mech and it works a treat with an 11s cassette, SRAM 11s shifter and a SRAM 12s chain. The clutch is miles better and it was £45... The 12s mech allows you to use larger cassettes (I use a garbaruk 10-48) so you can get the same range as a 12s setup with your 11s shifter
Had exactly this dilemma. Went for SLX shifter and mech. Works fine with SRAM cassette. Would prefer Shimano cassette but changing the freehub didn't make sense.
Thanks for the responses all, much appreciated. I'd always thought mixing a sram shifter and Shimano mech was a no no, but if the slx mech would work with my GX shifter and cassette that sounds like a win win.
Fwiw cassette is fine in terms of wear and the chain is as short as it can safely go (checked with air out of the shock when I put the chain on). Thanks.