Submitted by
Tamas
a Cross Country Rider
from Hungary
Date Reviewed: February 24, 2007
Strengths: Relatively cheap, easy to rebulild
Weaknesses: Construction
Bottom Line:
The small contact surface of the individual rings causes deep signs on the freehub body. It was used as a training cogs and killed my Tune freehub body, and nearly causing the same at DT Hügi 340 freehub body. So, not recommended for aluminium freehubs!!!
Submitted by
John
a Weekend Warrior
from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: February 12, 2007
Strengths: The same quality as Shimano, Cheaper to replace then Shimano, A great 11-32 tooth cog set.
Weaknesses: Doesn't have a Shimano Deore XT logo on it - for others to see.
Bottom Line:
I'll start to use this stock cogset for it's 7th cycling season, hopefuly by March 2007 when all the snow & ice has melted away. Bottom Line: The best cogset I've used sofar, very similar in quality to the Shimano Deore XT, but at a lower price.
Similar Products Used: Whatever cogset (5 speed) that came on my 1994 Raleigh Matterhorn & the Shimano Alivio (7 speed) that came on my 1996 GT Ricochet.
Bike Setup: 2001 Trek Fuel 90 Disk
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Submitted by
Jonas
a Cross Country Rider
from Vaasa, Finland
Date Reviewed: October 28, 2006
Strengths: Relatively cheap, weight ok for the price, shifted well for almost 2years.
Weaknesses: No spider construction, Destroys Aluminum hub.
Bottom Line:
I was pleased until I tried to remove the cassette, as it is a bunch of separate chainwheels (there is only a small screw that should hold them together) they were rotated in aspect to each other and had been pressed into the Al-freewheelbody on my american classic hub. So I decided to start using cassettes with a spider construction instead. Anyway it lasted for quite long, almost 2years and about 5000km maybe. I have used in XC/enduro, winter and summer.
Similar Products Used: Shimano LX and cheaper brands.
Bike Setup: SantaCruz Superlight 01, Bontrager carbon cranks and bar, hayes mag+, Shimano XT/XTR.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Canaan
from Nashville, TN. U.S.A
Date Reviewed: March 21, 2006
Bottom Line:
Sram's cassette is simple, affordable, and it performs well under heavy or light loaded shifting. The 970 is compatible with many chains and it usually lasts as long they do. I recommend this cassette to riders who are concerned about longevity over expense. In the 970, Sram offers a solid product that shifts well, looks good, and outlasts expensive alternatives. Consider the 970 for your next cassette.
Submitted by
Dbohnsai
a Downhiller
from Chilli, Oh
Date Reviewed: March 19, 2005
Strengths: shifts flawlessly, cheaper than XT!
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
I got this cassette as an upgrade from 8-speed. I liked it so much I got another one for another bike. Never had a problem with shifting or beanding teeth when paired up with a pc-99 chain, even under a heavy load such as when climbing.
Submitted by
Mark
a Cross Country Rider
from Toronto Canada
Date Reviewed: October 25, 2004
Strengths: - Inexpensive - As good as XT, half the price - Zero problems in 70 + rides - Perfect shifting every time. - 330 Grams.
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
But it. Shifts great. Does not wear quickly, even with my uphill, under tourque bad habit shifting... never a problem and I'm 200LBS and ride a free ride bike on agressive trails with lots of climbs and drops.
Submitted by
Morten Edvars
a Cross Country Rider
from Kopenhagen, Denmark
Date Reviewed: August 20, 2004
Strengths: Cheap, good looking.
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
as a 96 Kilo rider, I wear's out my drivetrain quite fast, this casette seems more durable as the LX I nomally use, and the shifting (chain pc59) is mutch better than Shimano LX, I am slowly changing all Shimano parts with Sram as they wears out, Sram is great value for the money!!
Submitted by
Kelly Gunthorpe
a Weekend Warrior
from Batesville,IN,USA
Date Reviewed: June 3, 2004
Strengths: Shifs great..the 34 tooth ring is sooper low and is nice on hills when im lazy. I was abledown shift while climbing up a huge hill. my shimano stuff used to struggle doing this, My SRAM stuff did right when i asked no hesitation, something i never thought possable before
Weaknesses: there is a big jump in in teeth in some of the coggs and that makes for a little bit of a jolt, maybe my derailer is set up wrong, but it works great so i dont know.
Bottom Line:
I was abledown shift while climbing up a huge hill. my shimano stuff used to struggle doing this, My SRAM stuff did right when i asked no hesitation, something i never thought possable before
Bike Setup: Iron Horse sinister h-tail with all SRAM stuff
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Submitted by
LArs
a Cross Country Rider
from AZ
Date Reviewed: May 28, 2004
Strengths: Well, it's cheap - initially - and shiny.
Weaknesses: It sucks. Yes, I posted the last two reviews, and this is an attempt to offset the high initial rating I posted so that others do not fall into using this pos as I did.
Bottom Line:
6 months of easyish to mildly rough (not trils or DH or FR) trail riding once per week by a lightweight rider (160) and about 70% of the teeth on this cassette are bent!
My last cheapo Deore cassette lasted nearly 3 years.
It worked great at first - but 6 months! What a waste!
Strengths: I posted the last review. I gave this 5 chillis. 5 rides later my brand new chain broke while peddling up a short, rocky, medium streep hill. Hmmm.... Fixed the chain, funny noise in back revealed a few teeth bent way out of alignment. Not happy.
Weaknesses: See above
Bottom Line:
This was a great cassette for 6 months, then all of a sudden... wham! Bent teeth for no appearent reason. No likey.
Weaknesses: none so far. I got the 11-32 becuase I think the jump from 28t to 34t would be just too much! From 28t - 32t is a bit much! Wish they'd gone 28, 30, 32, or at least 27, 29, 32... Oh well.
Bottom Line:
It shifts very very well - crisp and clean with no caffine :-) Seems to be holding up great to my mashing abuse in the rock piles locals call trails.
Forget it exists 'cuz it does what it's supposed to. Can't imagine anything better!
Bike Setup: HT w 4" fork n' stuff. SRAM DT including 9.0sl esp rear and front 'der, 9.0 sl shifters.
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Submitted by
Aaron Simpson
a Weekend Warrior
from Scotland
Date Reviewed: March 22, 2004
Strengths: Instant shifting, Finish is excellent - doesn't wear, Easy to maintain & clean, Machine drilled holes for drainage & to save weight - whilst maintaining bombproof strength & Looks Amazing!!
Weaknesses: Errmm you will be hard to find any!!
Bottom Line:
This cassette is just fantastic!! If you fit it with a PC-59 chain its great. Some people think that Shimano Deore does the job & it does, but this 7.0 cassette certainly delivers! You are better off splashing out on this, shifts smooth, even under pressure - climbing up hills!! The finish on this beast will always look great.
Bottom line is: I will never go back to a Shimano chain & cassette, SRAM knows how to make the toughist kit available.
Bike Setup: Marzocchi EXR Fork, Mavic 221, DT Spokes, Tioga 2.1 Factory Tyres, Deore Brakes/Shifters/Rear Mech, Mr Control Slalom Chain Device, FSA V-Drive Ring & Arms, SRAM PC-59 chain, 7.0 Cassette, DMR V8 Pedals, Azonic World Force Stem.......
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Submitted by
Doug
a Weekend Warrior
from Cleveland, oh, USA
Date Reviewed: October 1, 2003
Strengths: very, very, very nice shifting. keep it clean and it even looks pretty.
Weaknesses: it isn't made of kryptonite, or ceramic composite, or transparent aluminum, it's approximately .00043 grams too heavy, no supermodels are included in the box, and it's not wrapped in $100 bills.
Bottom Line:
you don't notice it? you just notice that the gear changes happen immediately, silently, and every freakin' time. the cassette/powerlink chain combo is great, too- definitely a buy.
Bike Setup: schwinn mesa gsx, nice upgrades but still full deore shifters, sram powerlink chain
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Submitted by
Rich
a Cross Country Rider
from Thunder Bay ON Canada
Date Reviewed: September 10, 2003
Strengths: Shifts smooth, appearance if that matters, light weight
Weaknesses: tight nine speed cogs get clogged up with leaves and dirt easier than old Sram 5.0 eight speed
Bottom Line:
This cassette shifts as smooth as butter. As you see, the set up I have is by no means high end but no problems. I like this set up much better than my old eight speed set up. Even with my 4 year old LX rear derailler noticed no real shifting issues. Bottom line good durable cassette. Definately recommend.
Bike Setup: Deore crank, Sram PC99, Deore(front) LX rear deraillers, lx shifters and prolink chainlube Sram 7.0 11-32 cassette
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Submitted by
Brown Teeth
a Cross Country Rider
from Morro Bay, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: July 29, 2003
Strengths: Lasts about 1800 miles under mostly fine sandy use. If installed right will work well with XT or XTR rear d, puts up with my 200 lbs and never failed just wore out over time like good parts should.
Weaknesses: None really good bang for $ especially compared to LX, XT might be better but not worth a 20$ premium.
Bottom Line:
I'm on my third set having worn one set out, good bang for the $ and lasts long enough. Highly recomend Wipperman 908 chain, nice shifting even with crappy deore shifters. Got to rate 5 flaming roaches all around