Today we picked up a brand new Beargrease for herself with an SLX drive train. As I already have an XO1 Beargrease with two sets of wheels, I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea to swap this new bike over to a Sram setup, just so we aren't trying to support two disparate ecosystems. I'm surely going to be getting another set of wheels built for her bike, likely Onyx hubs, etc. I have no doubt that the Shimano will work fine, but maybe it makes more sense to standardize. Thoughts and opinions welcomed.
Is it worth changing a drivetrain from Shimano to Sram?
Schlubbe
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Today we picked up a brand new Beargrease for herself with an SLX drive train. As I already have an XO1 Beargrease with two sets of wheels, I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea to swap this new bike over to a Sram setup, just so we aren't trying to support two disparate ecosystems. I'm surely going to be getting another set of wheels built for her bike, likely Onyx hubs, etc. I have no doubt that the Shimano will work fine, but maybe it makes more sense to standardize. Thoughts and opinions welcomed.
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It's not hard to do and good idea to upgrade with X01 (I find X01 is better than Slx) but you have to change Trigger and Shifter together.
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I'd ride it till it's dead and then swap if you still want to. Barring something catastrophic (destroying the derailleur?), there's not really an added burden to sourcing a different kind of chain.
FWIW I've been riding SLX for 4 years and it's been no trouble at all. 3 chains, no new cassettes.
FWIW I've been riding SLX for 4 years and it's been no trouble at all. 3 chains, no new cassettes.
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I'm not really sure if weight is a factor, but here are some cassette weights: SLX 534g, XT 470g, GX 450g, XO1 356g. While you likely would not need to change the chainring, I just thought I would include those weights for reference in the event you were interested: SLX 121g, XT 116g, GX 78g.
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It depends what you want to gain.
You can mix/match as much as you like between the two (just make sure chain and cassette are same brand).
Shimano tends to shift better, and their dérailleurs are much cheaper, however sram x01 and xx1 chains are really strong and reliable. (internal hard coat).
I like the ebike single shift sram shifters though.
I generally run xx1 chain, sram sx cassette (uses HG), shimano slx or deore dérailleur and a x01 ebike shifter as it gives great reliability and life.
The shimano shifting might be slick, but I can't turn down an almost indestructible chain.
You can mix/match as much as you like between the two (just make sure chain and cassette are same brand).
Shimano tends to shift better, and their dérailleurs are much cheaper, however sram x01 and xx1 chains are really strong and reliable. (internal hard coat).
I like the ebike single shift sram shifters though.
I generally run xx1 chain, sram sx cassette (uses HG), shimano slx or deore dérailleur and a x01 ebike shifter as it gives great reliability and life.
The shimano shifting might be slick, but I can't turn down an almost indestructible chain.
I've been using sram chains with shimano cassettes forever.
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Me too without any chain suck even if I prefer SRAM chain for durability (very subjective I think, XTR chain seems to be good as Xx1 for my experience)
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We have three bikes with Shimano 12 speeds (XT-SLX) and 2 with SRAM Eagle (mixed of GX XO1 mostly). Personally, I like shifting better on SRAM, but Shimano are working perfectly and are easier to setup IMO. Just prefer the feel of SRAM. But, on my personal summer bikes (Ripmo on SRAM and Nimble 9 hardtail on Shimano) I can can get from one bike to another without problem. So both are fine IMO. Only thing I changed was braking because going from codes to XT was too different and had near crash situations because of that (both bike on XT and moved codes to my fatbike).
In general, Shimano parts are cheaper (GX cassette 330 vs 230$can for XT). I don't like mix-matched parts in groupset personally, particularly with new Shimano stuff (company like Absolute Black have to make Shimano HG special chainring so there must be a reason for that...). Unless you want to swap wheels from one bike to another or really have a preference for a system, I don't see the point of changing everything, beside maybe having spare parts that can go on both bike if you break something like a chain
In general, Shimano parts are cheaper (GX cassette 330 vs 230$can for XT). I don't like mix-matched parts in groupset personally, particularly with new Shimano stuff (company like Absolute Black have to make Shimano HG special chainring so there must be a reason for that...). Unless you want to swap wheels from one bike to another or really have a preference for a system, I don't see the point of changing everything, beside maybe having spare parts that can go on both bike if you break something like a chain
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isn't it more a chainring issue? Shimano says that to get that HG+ advantage you need their chain but that's probably marketing BS.
You guys are fancy! I still run Shimano XT 11 SPD with e13 9-46 cassettes (xd driver). MUCH cheaper than either brand's 12 spd set ups, spares are cheap everywhere, bullet proof system, and the e13 cassette is as light (maybe lighter) than XO1 and XTR, while being much cheaper. Nearly the same range as well.
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Good to know.
At 11sp the xtr was great, but the new hard coat sram are just in a different league ime.
The x01/xx1 chains wear from the outside in, not inside out on them. I'm not if that's relevant but I had one still working fine until 12% wear. I just kept running it out of curiosity.
It finally started shifting bad
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If you want an onyx wheelset, its pretty expensive to switch freehub standards, so build it with what you want from the get go. Seems like you have enough bikes with nice parts that you're not scared to spend money, do what makes you happy 
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I currently have 3 bikes in my garage and they all run different drivetrain configurations. It's no big deal to maintain them all that way. I get that people have their preferences (or not) when it comes to SRAM and Shimano drivetrains, and I agree that those differences are a good thing to have. That way, folks have choices with the ergonomics of different drivetrain systems to figure out what works best for them. My preferences are slightly towards Shimano. I've ridden both drivetrains over the years and I can get on with both. And honestly, they're not even strong enough that I'd switch on a bike that already had SRAM installed, even though I prefer Shimano. When my wife's 11spd SRAM drivetrain wears out, it's going to stay as a SRAM drivetrain, but it'll probably get upgraded to Eagle. The supposed benefits of keeping all the same drivetrains on all the bikes in our household just aren't big enough.
I carry Eagle quick links in my on-bike repair kit for all 12spd configurations, even though I ride a bike with Shimano 12spd. Eagle quick links will work on any 12spd chain. But Shimano quick links will only work on a Shimano 12spd drivetrain with a Shimano 12spd compatible chainring because of the differences. So the quick link thing isn't even a big deal. Now, that said, my mtb is Shimano 12spd. My wife's mtb is still on SRAM 11spd, and my grave bike is a bastard Shimano 10spd configuration. So I need 3 different quick links in my garage regardless (wife carries her own, and the gravel bike kit stays on the bike).
With the 12spd stuff, that system "works" but not as well as mating SRAM with SRAM and Shimano with Shimano.
For chainrings, yes, it's a definite go/no go between Shimano and SRAM. When mixing chains and cassettes, the differences are more subtle. They will "work" together, but not as well as keeping the same brand. The physical gaps between cogs (I'm not referring to the tooth counts of the cogs) are ever-so-slightly-different between SRAM and Shimano, also. Not different enough that they won't work at all, but different enough that you make the system more finicky to adjust when mixing.
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and that's not really a benefit. just carry Eagle quick links. they'll work on a shimano 12spd chain.
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