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Submitted by
Bob12676
a Cross Country Rider
from Pinckney, MI
Date Reviewed: October 1, 2008 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$60.00 | | Purchased At: | Beyond Bikes | | Strengths: | Lighter & more ridged than LX cassette I replaced | | Weaknesses: | None | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano LX & XT | | Bike Setup: | NRS Carbon
XTR rear D.
XT crank
Easton 70 series- seat post, stem- monkey light bars
Sram 970 cassette | | Bottom Line: | I have been told that the rings will wear quickly,I ride 3 or 4 times a week (40 or 50 miles a week) and have yet to see any evidence of excessive wear. My guess is this has a lot to do with the trails I ride and my riding style. So far this cassette has proven to be bullet proof. There have been times I thought for sure I would have bent or broken a tooth (shifting at the worst possible time mid-climb), but nothing and I am not a small guy (6’4” 200lbs). | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
jj_4x4
a Weekend Warrior
from pomona, ca
Date Reviewed: July 25, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | Claremont Wilderness | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$65.00 | | Purchased At: | cambria | | Strengths: | Light | | Weaknesses: | Everything, skipped in 3 gears from day 1 never worked smoothley | | Similar Products Used: | LX | | Bike Setup: | Trek, marzocchi mx pro, RaceFace cranks tons of goodies | | Bottom Line: | Do not be fooled by SRAMS cheaper but just as light as Shimano products. They are pure garbage. I thought maybe it was just me or they needed to be broken in but the combination of a high end SRAM chain and Casette caused me tons of anger and frustration. Chain broke twice in 2 different places and Casette never would work right paired with x7 derailleur and shifters. Switched to an LX chain and casette and everything is perfect. PURE JUNK, cant believe they even sell that CRAP. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
mtbman007
a Cross Country Rider
from Williams Bay, WI
Date Reviewed: July 25, 2008 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$35.00 | | Purchased At: | ebay | | Strengths: | price | | Weaknesses: | wears quickly, very flimsy construction | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano XTR, XT, others | | Bike Setup: | 2008 Santa Cruz Heckler with many keen neato parts but no reflectors | | Bottom Line: | I would say that you are very lucky if you get over 500 miles out of one of these. On my last ride, I noticed a new noise after a few miles. I suspected it was the cassette, but didn't stop because the skeeters were so thick. When I got back to the trailhead I took a look at it; several of the rings were actually loose even though the lockring was tight! I took it all apart and cleaned it, put it back together, and it appeared to be OK, but it looked as if some of the sprockets are bent or warped in some way. I really don't like the plastic spacers between the rings. Wish me luck on my next ride, I ordered a new Shimano, but will have to make this work until I receive the new one.
This is the second sram cassette that gave me problems. I am an ex-mechanic, and take meticulous care of my bikes. There's no excuse for this, sram. I'll be purchasing Shimano cassettes from now on. I have to admit though that sram shifters and derailleurs are top notch and will continue to use them. I'm just disappointed that the cassettes suck so bad. I doubt that the 990 is that much better. I would be reluctant to buy one of their cranksets as well.
Two chilis for value since the price was right, one chili overall because of the poor quality. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jim
a Cross Country Rider
from So. Cal
Date Reviewed: June 2, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | Daley Ranch | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$39.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Shifts ok, looks nice | | Weaknesses: | Seems to be made of very soft metal; wears quickly | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano LX, XT | | Bike Setup: | Much loved Turner Burner with lots of miles on it. | | Bottom Line: | The drive face of the rings flattened and widened from chain pressure. Cassete was installed with new chain and crankset, but was still badly worn after about 800 miles. I replaced it with Shimano LX for almost the same price. The LX is lighter, and so far has lasted more than 3 times as long. The SRAM is probably worth it's price, but the LX is a better value. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
ridethe bike
a Weekend Warrior
from NJ
Date Reviewed: May 10, 2008 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$60.00 | | Strengths: | none | | Weaknesses: | No spyder/carrier for the larger rings | | Similar Products Used: | LX XT XTR | | Bike Setup: | Turner 5spot | | Bottom Line: | What a total piece of junk Each ring is seperate and had dug in to my riding bud's King hub so deep it was necessary to drill out the guide pin in order to remove the rings one at a time. Even cheap Lx has alloy carrier. This thing belongs on a kid's bike from Walfart. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Matt
a Weekend Warrior
from NY, NY
Date Reviewed: November 29, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$60.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Sorry, but really nothing good to say about it. | | Weaknesses: | I experienced exactly the same thing as several other reviewers - a nasty clunking in one gear. I took the cassette off and reinstalled, checking the lock ring with a quality torque wrench. Unfortunately nothing worked. Eventually I scrapped it and went back to an XT cassette. In installing the XT cassette I noticed that the XT has its main body rivited together much more securely than the Sram. I don't know if this played a factor, but the Sram just felt cheaper and flimsier. Also the Sram lock ring was not as substantial as the XT. | | Similar Products Used: | XT | | Bike Setup: | Mostly XT | | Bottom Line: | I have to give this a don't buy recommendation. I don't want to completely trash this cassette because it remains a possibility that mixing a Sram cassette with an otherwise all Shimano setup made for some problems. However, Sram markets it as Shimano compatible, so it should be. My advice: stay away. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chucko
a Weekend Warrior
from Silicon Valley, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: July 18, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | Saratoga Gap | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Purchased At: | Came with bike | | Strengths: | Inexpensive. Robust. Wide gear range. | | Weaknesses: | Heavy. Play in some cogs. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano XTR, STX-RC | | Bike Setup: | Chumba XCL, Fox TALAS RLC fork, Fox DHX Air 5.0 shock, Shimano/SRAM drivetrain mix, Truvativ Team OS bar & stem, Thomson Elite post, Specialized Avatar Gel saddle, Avid Juicy 7 brakes, unidentified wheels, Maxxis Minion tires | | Bottom Line: | The 11-34 version of this cassette came with the standard Chumba build kit. It's a stack of individual steel cogs with the 7 largest held together with pins and a screw. The cogs seem to be well made.
It shifts OK with the SRAM X.9 derailleur and shifters. But on every ride, I experienced some play in a couple of cogs that felt like "clunks" while pedaling, even after double-checking the lock ring torque. This behavior isn't in keeping with a $3K bike build, IMHO.
The play and the 400+g weight turned me off of this piece, so I got a Shimano XT M760 cassette on sale to replace it. I'll keep the PG-970 as a spare. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Paul
a Cross Country Rider
from Atlanta
Date Reviewed: June 29, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | Pinhotti | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$35.00 | | Purchased At: | E-tailer | | Strengths: | Shifts well, good price, fairly long lasting | | Weaknesses: | tiny allen bolt in the back comes out on its own. | | Similar Products Used: | xt | | Bike Setup: | saltamontes | | Bottom Line: | I would buy this over the XT's every time. Allthough it is not perfect, I can get 1500 miles out of it before it begins to skip, bend or cause the chain to slip. They dont develop play on the freehub like the XT did either. That being said, cassett, chain and chain rings are spares I always keep around. Drive chains wear. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mark Redwood
a Cross Country Rider
from Hampshire, UK
Date Reviewed: April 12, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | Internet retailer | | Strengths: | shifts well, looks good, reasonably light | | Weaknesses: | wears fast | | Bike Setup: | 11-32 970 cassette, sram 971 chain, x-7 rear mech, x-gen front mech | | Bottom Line: | really smooth shifting cassette - shifting to larger cogs is particularly nice - shifts nicely under power, which is a big bonus when climbing.
haven't had any of the problems with bending cogs - but the 970 cassette has bigger cutouts than the 950 cassette (saves about 30g). might be too weak - always assuming that people are doing the lockrings up to the correct torque (",)
downer is the fact that this cassette has worn fast - it's only lasted 9 months and one chain (the chain and the cassette gave up around the same time) - my chain started skipping on cogs 4,5,6 (which are the ones I use most) and had just reached 0.75% stretch - no point changing just the chain that would make it skip worse.
I noticed that the cassette doesn't rust - wondering whether they're made from stainless? If they were then it would explain the wear pattern - the edges of the teeth are all flared outwards on the badly worn cogs - unfortunately stainless while it is very hard, is actually more malleable than carbon steel - it's harder to drill or cut, but is easier to bend or stretch - which might explain the problems with bending cogs, and the wear pattern on my cassette.
have replaced it with a 950 cassette instead. If it's going to get fried in 9 months at least it will cost me less - and on my steel rig I can get a 30g weight saving cleaning out my belly button fluff.
gets 3 chilli's for wearing out quick and a 4 overall coz it's nice while it's nice | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tom
a Cross Country Rider
from Portland
Date Reviewed: March 14, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | ebay and installed on new trike | | Strengths: | Nice gear range
Good shifts
Easy install
Easy cleaning | | Weaknesses: | None found... Bike factory didn't tighten fully so the screw/pin came loose. No harm; no foul. Just reinstalled the screw and all was good. | | Similar Products Used: | Note sure what Specialized uses... but whatever it was, it wore out quickly. | | Bike Setup: | Actionbent Tadpole Trike; 26" drive wheel. | | Bottom Line: | I upgraded the trike with a SRAM DualDrive and chose the same cassette that was on the original wheel (11-34). The price was right and the performance was good for a road trike. Never skipped a cog and always shifted smooth up and down. At 240# and climbing 12+% grades, this thing is hanging in fine under my masher feet. I'm running a KMC Z9000 9 speed chain over the cassette. Took the original PG-970 cassette apart to clean it when I put the DualDrive on and it cleaned up good as new with over 500 miles on it. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Marvin
a Cross Country Rider
from Lakeland, FL, Polk
Date Reviewed: February 7, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Strengths: | Fairly light and less expensive than Shimano | | Weaknesses: | Large cogs bend | | Similar Products Used: | Many different cassettes | | Bike Setup: | Scalpel, Fox F100 rlc fork, Sram grip shift | | Bottom Line: | This is the third Sram 11 x 34 cassette that I've bent the 2 largest cogs teeth on. They bent after between 3 and 15 rides. This with fresh chains and proper adjustment. I'm an older 165 pound rider with moderate power so these cassettes were not stressed. I'll be going to cheaper, heavier cassettes when I need a 34, otherwise I'll run 11 x 27 ultegra which should solve the problem. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
vandal
a Cross Country Rider
from Canada
Date Reviewed: February 6, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | ebay | | Strengths: | Looks good, medium weight, shifts well | | Weaknesses: | none really...or at least none yet | | Similar Products Used: | LX | | Bottom Line: | for $30 if it fell apart at the end of the season, i'd still be happy, but like i said i only had it for that one season | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Waterat Pat
a Cross Country Rider
from Morgan Hill, CA
Date Reviewed: October 11, 2006 | | Favorite Trail: | One I am riding | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$40.00 | | Purchased At: | Internet | | Strengths: | Shifts good and cogs seem to last longer than XT. | | Weaknesses: | Cassette binding pins came loose and deflected the big cog damaging my drive side spokes. | | Similar Products Used: | XT | | Bike Setup: | Yeti 575 | | Bottom Line: | I run the large 34 tooth model as my local park has many steep climbs. Probably too much torque for this design caused it to fail. That doesn't bother me as much as damaging my wheel. Get the smaller 32 tooth version or something else. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
ray
a Racer
from toledo,ohio
Date Reviewed: July 21, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$38.00 | | Purchased At: | ebay | | Strengths: | very attractive design, chrome cogs, orange spacer, shimano compat. ( need a sloght adjustment in cable tension from a DA cassette to the sram. I dont know what you off roaders do to this cassette.. maybe it isnt for a dirt bike. but on a steet bike its better than a Dura ace cassette. this is easy to clean also just dip a rag in some orange clean and floss the spaces. (to clean the da properly it requires removal from the hub.) | | Weaknesses: | none after 2 years (7600 miles) very little wear on a road bike. | | Similar Products Used: | after 30 years you name it,,, ive probably used it...(not the exotics.. never seen any real cost/penefit factor | | Bike Setup: | cannondale cadd 5 full DA (except for the freewheel)
specialized alez pro ( full 105)
Tsunami Compact (campagnolo record groupo) | | Bottom Line: | cant say anything about off road biking but for road racing its the sh*t. Ive put over 7000 miles on the first one i bought and after clean up looks close to new. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tim
a Racer
from Council Bluffs IA
Date Reviewed: May 18, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | shifted well
cheap | | Weaknesses: | wore out at about 400miles | | Similar Products Used: | shimano | | Bike Setup: | paragon | | Bottom Line: | this chain ring needed replaced at a little over 400 miles. I keep it clean and my chain lubed. Weak component on a great bike. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
John
a Weekend Warrior
from Indy,IN,USA
Date Reviewed: April 14, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$38.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Smooth shifting, durable, reliable | | Weaknesses: | None I can tell | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano, generic no-name | | Bike Setup: | Iron Horse Hollowpoint XT, RS Duke fork, Manitou shock | | Bottom Line: | Good piece of gear. It just works & works through everything. Lasts as long as any cassette I've tried. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
John
a
from Bromley, KY
Date Reviewed: March 16, 2006 | | Favorite Trail: | Idlewild | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$34.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | shifted well, low price, looks nice | | Weaknesses: | Worn out after 6 months of use. | | Similar Products Used: | Sunrace JuJu 11-34 | | Bike Setup: | Ironhorse Warrior, Raceface Evolve X-Type Cranks, XT FD and RD, LX rapidfire shifters, CN-7701 chain. | | Bottom Line: | This thing shifted well, but in my opinion wore out too fast. I am pretty much a clean freak when it comes to my dirvetrain, so I am sure that the quick wear is not a result of dirt and grit build-up. It was better than the SurRace JuJu that came with the bike, which I managed to wear out in about 3 months. I suppose that I am a little on the large size, weighing in at 190, and I do put quite a few miles on my bike, so those may be extenuating circumstances. I am replacing with an XT 760 cassette, which is roughly twice as expensive. Shall see how the XT lasts in comparison. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Elvis
a Cross Country Rider
from NC
Date Reviewed: January 12, 2006 | | Favorite Trail: | The really dirty one! | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Purchased At: | some webstore?!? | | Strengths: | Love those shifts, i have abused this cassette still no probs | | Weaknesses: | its really cool looking, makes my buds jealous | | Similar Products Used: | the dreaded shimano crapola | | Bike Setup: | Trek 6500, Juciy 7's, Sram X9 rear der and shiftys, Sram X gen front der, Crank Bros mallet c's, Wtb Dual duty Rims,ect... | | Bottom Line: | Ok so i got sold on cassette after using a 990 on a buds bike, wanted one like that saw the 970 said yep thats for me... I am very very hard on my drivetrain Im heavy(220 lbs) and i abuse the teeth on my stuff all the time but i can say i love this cassette! Get one! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
N.B.GAS
a Cross Country Rider
from LAS VEGAS, NV.
Date Reviewed: November 24, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | EMPTY ONES | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$34.00 | | Purchased At: | PRICE POINT .com | | Strengths: | FLAWLESS,FAST SHIFTING!!!
NO FLEX!!!
SATIN FINISH!!!
PLAYS WELL WITH ALL OF MY DRIVE TRAIN!!!
PRICE!!! | | Weaknesses: | NOT!!! | | Similar Products Used: | XT,LX,DEORE, ALL ARE GHOST-SHIFTING CHAIN EATING PsOS!!! | | Bike Setup: | 05'IBEX HT: MANITOU...SRAM...RACE-FACE...AVID...CANE CREEK.
SELLE ITALIA...PLANET-X...IRC...OURY... | | Bottom Line: | SRAM HAS FINALLY CAME INTO THEIR OWN! AND WITH A BIG BANG!
LIVING IN VEGAS HAS GIVEN ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND ALL
THE INTERBIKE SHOWS...THIS YEAR I NOTICE ALL MOST ALL OF THE
06' BIKES HAD SRAM DRIVE TRAINS...ILL ADMIT SOME STILL
HAD shimano FDs...
Iam A RECOVERING shimano JUNKIE! STILL HAVE ENOUGH WORKING
shimano PARTS BOXED UP TO BUILD 3 BIKES...BUT I REALLY DONT
SEE THAT HAPPENING!
WHEN shimano STARTED WITH THE DUAL CONTROL $HIT I DECIDED
IT WAS TIME TO STEP OUT OF THE big-s BUBBLE...MY LAST BUILDS
ARE BOTH shimano FREE...I GUESS Iam GETTING BETTER, I KNOW
MY BIKES ARE!
.......SRAMS X-SERIES COMPONENTS ARE TRUE WORKS OF ART......
.................TRY AN ALL SRAM DRIVE TRAIN................
........................TAKE THE CURE.......................
................YOU'LL RIDE MORE AND TUNE LESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
............ASK MY WORK-STAND..........PEACE................
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ted Welsh
a Cross Country Rider
from Westland, MI
Date Reviewed: August 6, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | Tree Farm | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | LocaL Bike Shop | | Strengths: | Cheap | | Weaknesses: | Wore out fast. Shifting not as smooth as Shimano. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano Deore & LX | | Bike Setup: | XC. SRAM cassette, Shimano XT cranks, SRAM PC69 chain. LX/XT derailleurs. | | Bottom Line: | Opted for SRAM over Shimano when my cassette needed replacing as the mechanic thought the SRAM had harder, tempered metal. Apparently he was wrong as I'm starting to get slippage after 2 months and 300 miles. I can't say Shimano is any better as my Shimano crankset is wearing fast as well but I will be switching back to Shimano. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Eric Parent
a Cross Country Rider
from Rimouski, Québec, Canada
Date Reviewed: July 26, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$40.00 | | Purchased At: | Vélo Plein Air | | Strengths: | Shift Realy Well !
Light for the price !
Satin Chrome finish...
| | Weaknesses: | I used it for arround 100km and i did'nt dicovered any weakness... | | Similar Products Used: | Deore Cassette, Deore LX Cassette | | Bike Setup: | Devinci Cameleon, FD16 FrontWheel (XT Hubs), XM117 RearWheel (Deore Hubs), LX Rear Derailleur, Marzocchi EXR PRO 120mm Fork... | | Bottom Line: | This cassette is a little bit lighter then the deore lx cassette that cost way more... And the Pg-970 work way nicer, even with a chain (HG-53), This cassette is the one you should get if you don't want to buy an XT cassette because its to expansive.
People that said that the shimano HG chain are not compatible just don't know how to adjust their derailleur... | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tyler Levine
a
from Somerville
Date Reviewed: June 12, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | Hunter to Prichet (Moab) | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | Good price, looks good, I'm had good duribility with them. | | Weaknesses: | Works a lot better with the SRAM chains. | | Similar Products Used: |
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