[StumpyandhisBike]

So I wanted to have some fun and update my drivetrain to a 1x system. I really wanted the XX1 but didn't like the $1500 price tag. I mean hey I bought the bike for 11 bones to begin with. So I knew it wasn't gonna be cheap but I was able to do it for under 500.

Budget XX1

KMC 10 xps chain $18.50 eBay
Shimano SLX hg81 11-36 cassette $44.99 eBay
General Lee 29-35-42 $249.80 eBay
ZEE 10 speed shifter $39.99 JensonUSA
Race Face Narrow Wide 32t blue chainring $35.99 Bikeman
Shimano slx m675-10 spd shadow+ rear derailleur $60.25 Merlin Cycles

Total $449.52

Now I ordered my 32t through Jenson who price matched Bikeman's but the ring was on back order so I got another one but in 36t through Art's.

Race Face Narrow Wide 36t blue chainring $38.99 Art's cyclery

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11-13-15-17-19-21-24-29-35-42

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The next three pics are of the weights of the 2 different 9 speed cassettes I was running a 12-36, a 11-32 and finally a pic of the modified 10 speed 11-42. I'm not a weight weenie and my scale doesn't do grams, only pounds and ounces, so it was the only items I bothered weighing.

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Took me awhile to get this drivetrain to shift well on the stand. The shift up and down between the General Lee and the HG-81 isn't the best. Almost as if the spacer isn't quite the correct thickness. I've got it pretty good going up but not so great dropping back down to the SLX cassette. I also might need to shim the chainring a bit to get a better chain line but it's not bad.

It was raining out pretty hard tonight but I caught a break in the storms and took it for a spin and the ratio changes seem fine. I'm gonna be racing tomorrow in an XC race with a good dh section and a real decent climb. No better way to test it out right? I hope I can push that 36t-42t combo up the hill.

 

[crossracer]

Cool. I also looked really hard at the 1x11 drive train but settled on a 1x10 instead.

Everything I've seen on those rings for the back is they work ok, but nothing to write home about.

Good luck to ya. Thanks for sharing.

Bill

 

[StumpyandhisBike]

Thanks man. I will say that the shifts seem to be better riding around in my street compared to on the stand. Jury is still out whether they were worth the money or not. I will update after tonight's race to see how it was riding with the General Lee as well as if I have any dropped chains or any other problems with the Raceface narrow wide ring or the SLX rear mech.

 

[greenblinker104]

very cool. thanks for posting this. please keep us updated on the General Lee on your race.

i too am very curious on a 1x10 large gear ration setup. i found this thread as another option: http://forums.mtbr.com/drivetrain-shifters-derailleurs-cranks/10s-11-39-cassette-647456.html

 

[006_007]

I wasnt aware the general lee was available in a 42 - I thought its biggest was a 40. That is a very good option for me as well - I was considering doing a XX1 crankset paired with the new X01 rear to make things affordable. Yours will be cheaper still!

 

[StumpyandhisBike]

Well the official results haven't been posted yet but I think I either got first or second in my age group (19-34) and class (beginner). Best finish I've ever had. That said I am 33 years old 40 lbs over weight. I ended up having to walk one steep section on the second lap. I was at that point and at least one other time wishing for another low gear. The 32t gear on back order would definitely help there. Or I could lose some more weight and get stronger!

Shifting wasn't that bad. Shifting in the three gears of the GL was fine but not as good as the 7 other gears. Shifting numerically up through the entire cassete gears was better than numerically down. Again this may just be me needing to do more adjusting. I still have no shift from 29 to 24. I have to drop to 21 and back to 24 if that's the gear I want.

This XC course has a lot of roots ,a couple good rock gardens, jumps if younwant them, dropped trees and tonight it was very muddy. I never once dropped a chain. In fact except for the lack of gear, during the second lap I basically forgot about the drivetrain.

All in all I'm very happy with it. I have just bit more adjusting to do to get it spot on. Actually the only thing that I didn't like was at times I could feel the GL rotating back on the drive hub. I'm going to play with some spacers to see if I can get a tighter interface.

You can see the back cuts in the machining at the hub interface in this pic.
View attachment 818942

My impressions? Shifting is good but could be better. Never dropped the chain and I was trying over a rough course. The drivetrain was stealth silent! Oh and I need more legs to push the gears I chose. Overall I'm stoked and very happy I did it!

 

[crossracer]

Still, great that you did so well. Thanks for the ride report.

I had my chance to check out a xx drive train and it is a machined thing of beauty. No doubt about that. But cost is way out of my league.

Ride more and those pounds will shed and legs will grow stronger. I've got 12 years on ya and it still helps me every day.

Bill

 

[StumpyandhisBike]

Thanks, I will keep strengthening myself and continue to shed more weight. That section I had to walk I didn't have to walk before with my 2x9 setup. But I had a 22-36 option. When the 32t comes I will use that to try and get a bit more spin and do less of the mashing that I'm doing now. My knees are a little sore this morning. That all said if it wasn't a race I wouldn't have been pushing myself as hard and I most likely wouldn't have had any problems on a regular ride. I could ride this setup anywhere is my initial thoughts.

 

[StumpyandhisBike]

So I did a quick 5 mile ride today over the roughest trails I know and still no dropped chains. I do believe that I need to shim the CR over just a bit. The only shims I have are thicker than I want but might try them anyhow. Shifting in the General Lee isn't all that responsive. Going up in teeth is never a problem. It's going back down that it hangs up now and then. I've never been unable to tune a bike transmission and this one is giving me the most headaches I've ever experienced. Now I have my mid season legs so I was able to climb a hill that gave me issues earlier this year. I also messed myself up once, instinctively going for the front derailure and hitting my relocated Reverb remote LOL! Still happy overall but it has been far from bolt on and go parts. I like to tinker though and is part of the reason I did it.

 

[c3024446]

I've just bit the bullet and got the last one on eBay. See if i can get is going smooth with an XTR Shadow+ RD, 400km old chain and a hopefully-not-too-worn bottom half of my XT cassette. Will report back with results.

 

[StumpyandhisBike]

Right on man. I hope the xtr works better for you. I'm wondering if I should have gone the sram route sometimes or XT or ZEE all the way. I've never had a problem though with SLX before though. I also went with a long cage. Would I have got better performance out of a shorte cage I wonder? Well let us know how it works.

 

[c3024446]

I'll keep fiddling with the B-screw height, clutch tension, shifter cable tension, chain length etc until I get it working well. Hopefully.

 

[StumpyandhisBike]

Update... Swapped wheels this weekend to my more robust DH worthy hoops and tires and took the rig out to Mt. Snow for a day and Highland MTB park for two on a east coast trip with my bud. No dropped chains and still the only shifting issue I have is going from the 29t to the 24t. Otherwise it all works super well together and I have a bike that one day I can go race XC and two days later be charging down gnar and railing high speed berms. My friend was dropping his chain and I had no issues.

 

[skyno]

subscribed

 

[c3024446]

Mine turned up and I installed it this afternoon. Same problem here: struggles to go from 29 to 24.

I'm running:

29er hardtail
11-36 xt with 29 35 42 general lee
Xtr shadow + rd, b screw from 9 Spd xt derailleur since the xtr one was too short
112 link kmc x10sl chain, 34t rotor q-ring front with superstar xcr chain guide, 450mm chainstay

The general lee teeth are much higher than the xt cassette teeth, and the rd is a long way below the 24 cog so this won't help with shifting.

Anyway, this was the only problem in my riding up and down the street. Hopefully will test it later in the week on some steep stuff.

 

[Verbl Kint]

Looks promising, thus, subscribing.

Posted via Tapatalk

 

[morkys]

Interesting. The original SRAM version was 25-29-34-40.
I thought the new Shimano compatible one was 28-34-40.

General Lee 40T ? Cassette Adaptor (Shimano) | I-MTB Magazine

General Lee 40T - Cassette Adaptor (Shimano) - Bagnoli Bike

I would like to try it in converting my 2 x 10 to 1 x 10, but the thing is, reducing my chainring from 38 to a 34 or 36 would give me an even lower lowest gear, which is nice, but I wish we could get a 10 tooth rear cog. A 10 tooth rear cog would be very useful in this situation. Reducing the size of the then (with 1 x 10) front single chainring allows a tad more clearance and is slightly lighter than a bigger chainring, and give lower climbing gears. Somebody give us a screw on 10 tooth to replace the 11 tooth and we're sitting pretty with a 10-40 in a 10 speed cassette.

 

[006_007]

Interesting. The original SRAM version was 25-29-34-40.
I thought the new Shimano compatible one was 28-34-40.

General Lee 40T ? Cassette Adaptor (Shimano) | I-MTB Magazine

General Lee 40T - Cassette Adaptor (Shimano) - Bagnoli Bike

I would like to try it in converting my 2 x 10 to 1 x 10, but the thing is, reducing my chainring from 38 to a 34 or 36 would give me an even lower lowest gear, which is nice, but I wish we could get a 10 tooth rear cog. A 10 tooth rear cog would be very useful in this situation. Reducing the size of the then (with 1 x 10) front single chainring allows a tad more clearance and is slightly lighter than a bigger chainring, and give lower climbing gears. Somebody give us a screw on 10 tooth to replace the 11 tooth and we're sitting pretty with a 10-40 in a 10 speed cassette.

Pretty sure a 10-tooth is to small a radius to fit on a standard freehub, which is why the XX1/X01 uses a different (smaller diameter) freehub to fit the 10T that it comes with.

 

[Harlsta]

Mine turned up and I installed it this afternoon. Same problem here: struggles to go from 29 to 24.

I'm running:

29er hardtail
11-36 xt with 29 35 42 general lee
Xtr shadow + rd, b screw from 9 Spd xt derailleur since the xtr one was too short
112 link kmc x10sl chain, 34t rotor q-ring front with superstar xcr chain guide, 450mm chainstay

The general lee teeth are much higher than the xt cassette teeth, and the rd is a long way below the 24 cog so this won't help with shifting.

Anyway, this was the only problem in my riding up and down the street. Hopefully will test it later in the week on some steep stuff.

Is your XTR rear a long or medium cage? I currently have a XX1 crank with 28t chainring and 11-36 XTR rear cassette, shifter and derailleur... Thinking about buying leonardi for Shimano but the issue with 29-24 shifting is stopping me.

 

[c3024446]

It's a medium