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This has probably been done to death but maybe not for the more modern 12 speed sram stuff.
I've recently gotten a new bike (second hand but hardly used) with sram nx 12 speed. I know this is still in the budget realm but posh compared to my 8 year old beater with bodged shimano 10 speed with a £15 ebay cassette.
I looked up a price of a cassette and it's £100! absolutely mental to me. How can i make sure it lasts as long as possible? get a chain wear guide? run it all together until it dies? clean religiously?
Any tips and idea's of how long it will last?
I ride about 4 times a week which right now is in the lovely scottish slop
I ride in a lot of slop, especially over the last few months and mines had no special treatment, just regular maintenance and cleaning. 18 months on and touchwood all still sound and smooth. (sram NX 12 speed)
Good to hear. Is that on the same chain?
Eagle cassettes last well by all accounts, the cheaper 12 spd chains not so much.
Your jockey wheels have bushings, not bearings. That's good news as the bearings seize.
Watch for play developing in the NX mech pivot points.
Nx has the pg 1230 cassette which is steel and weighs c650g.
Uses shimano freehub body and lasts for 1000s km. Can be had for £80.
No lightweight alu design on these. Just change the chain periodically.
Overall, nx is pretty good. It's slx equiv, gx is xt albeit lighter esp with gx carbon cank, x01 = xtr, xx1 no shimano equivalent.
Very much sram or shimano camps so you will get mixed responses.
I find sram 12 speed better than shimano, even sx when vs deore. You do need the sram b screw adjustment tool though to get right on sram, it's very sensitive to set up.
Sweet thanks. I don't have the tool...just set it up like I traditionally have and it seems fine I think. Maybe would be even better with the right tool though
The tool makes the world of difference.
I have tried the various YouTube/Forum guides to set up sram eagle without the tool then checked with the tool and none of the approaches are close enough.
^^ I agree, can be had on eBay for not mega money. I think! Not looked in ages.
Totally agree. The genuine SRAM item is a bit of a rip off bought alone, there are bright green copies of it on eBay and they’re exactly the same.
Does anyone know which chains are the best bang for buck? I had 550 miles out of an SX chain, have a GX on now but will go higher next time if they’re considerably more durable?
Sounds like I should get the tool and it will be even more smooth.
Cheers - good to know
No im on chain 2 with mine now. Like i said, just regular maintenance and its been fine. I may be one of the lucky ones because there seems to be alot of hate for the NX out there. Id happily buy another in a heartbeat
It’s a lot of money for the chain but the oil slick XX1 chain looks beautiful and should last ages.....
It’s sram, the mech will fail and the chain will snap way before you wear out the cassette
The NX will break in half before the hanger snaps!
550 miles out of an SX chain
How did you check the chain had gone?
My new bike has a NX groupset with GX cassette and after some reading on here decided I would replace the chain at 0.5 wear to maximise life of the groupset. Using my parktool checker and Pro Bike Garage I can see I did 208 miles for it to get to 0.5. It seemed to take an age to get to 0.25 then shot through to 0.5!
Added a tool onto a recent order as was only a few quid.
Turns out it's between 0.75 and 1.0.
the nx chain didn't ever seem as good and definitely gets a bit more surface rust if I neglected wiping down immediately than others.
What are the chances of if I buy a new gx chain it won't play nice?
Poor.
GX chains are shiite any way. I've lost count of the number of master links Ive used since 2017, but I'm estimating about 13 across 4 gx chains.
Once Ive used my remaining stock of gx chains, I'm migrating to X01 chains.
Once you've got the B-tension in the right place I would thread lock it too. IME once you start pushing on in rough terrain it starts wandering.
I used a Park Tool CC-4 on the SX chain, changed at 0.5. I have a GX on there now which has done just over 300 miles so far and is currently ok.
Recently found this, tonnes of info if you read the whole thing but the important part is the section relating 12 speed drivetrains. NX and GX are the same in terms of longevity. X01 as stated above is significantly better than anything else out there at the moment, that’s where my money will go next:
https://cyclingtips.com/2019/12/the-best-bicycle-chain-durability-and-efficiency-tested/
Don't know about NX, but GX cassettes are worth the cash. They are a work of art construction-wise and very hard wearing. On balance, due to the longevity, I would say they are good value.