FAQ (will update as necessary) Q. Can’t you use XT/XTR di2 derailleurs? A. For 11 speed no problem (I used that previously) but Shimano has not yet released any non-ebike 12 speed di2 MTB derailleurs. Q. What about the e-bike 12speed di2 m8150 RD? A. Will not pair with road shifters (to my knowledge, feel free to correct me) Q. What about the garbaruk cage? A. It’s made for the 11speed 817 RD which is 1x specific. Using that on this 2x 825 RD will cause the same clearance issues as shown in this video. Q. S-RAM? A. Don’t be silly now ;)
The main difference between the 1x and 2x derailleurs is the parallelogram pivot angle. They change this to suit the cassette profile, ie the angle (or steepness of curve to be more accurate) all the gears make from small to big. This is why changing cage doesn't really work properly. The 2x parallelogram angle is just too shallow for big cassettes.
@@ridesofjapan I found your channel when looking for Di2 installation videos in 2019. Your 'How to use Di2 EW-RS910 bar end junction with ANY handlebar', got me out of trouble. Been coming back every since!
Just ordered a bike with the new Di2 GRX 12-speed 2X, I think 2x is still king for Gravel and Road (and that bike is going to be my winterroadbike/gravelbike).
keep sharing all of your experiments! I've been toying with this idea of di2 1x for a while and it's good to see the current state of things, as well as the different part combinations without having to pay for anything myself. This saved me already from the shimano spd cleat adapters
And as a Belgian I would recommend to give Classified a view. This off course means a dedicated hub or wheel and limiting you choice in cassettes. But as a 1x gravel solution with a large range, they really rock. And the shifting under load is genious. Don’t know about the weight though.
Thanks Tobias, that was interesting to watch. I wonder what the future holds? Maybe one day we will be beyond chains and dangly things, and will be pedalling a generator to drive a hub motor with infinite gears, or something equally bizarre. Look at the effect the quartz watch had on the mechanical watch industry, which also had lots of gears and chains and dangly things....
What a great day when a video drops! More please, also rides and stories! I will come to japan in august and have already rented a bike to ride around. I already checked your older videos about riding in japan, it is going to be fun (anf hot, very hot)
I’ve been doing sort of the same with Shimano GRX 400, but when the money became no issue, I’ve went straight to SRAM Eagle derailleur paired with Force Shifters and 11-50 12 speed cassette without all that hassle you had to go through… Never looked back!
Used to be a Shimano guy myself but it is hard to beat the versatility of the SRAM AXS . All my bikes now have SRAM and I can quickly go from a 2x system on my Gravel bike to an Xplor and if I’m getting really spicy I go Mullet .
Great video as always. I agree with you entirely on having a different experience between road and gravel, which is why I will never convert my gravel bike to 2x or my road bike to 1x. They both work perfectly as they are for what I use them for.
For me, range was more important than 12 speeds so I did the XT cage mod to my 11sp 1x Di2 GRX with the 51-11 cassette and without a hanger extension and I have had zero problems. I also await the proper 12sp 1x GRX for that extra bit of top speed with a 51-10 but at least I now have an acceptable range in the meantime.
Just throwing it out there for those who want to run 1x, clutched, with a road cassette (11-30), grx di2 RD RX825 works with no issues. Just need to note the b limit screw.
I had to leave saitama and now I live in England. The roads are very rough and the speed limit is 100km on back roads with no shoulder. I miss having nice roads to ride on 😭
One can easily modify the shadow arm by filling off a little material on the index nose so that it points more vertically down. This is often times enough to create sufficient space between the upper pulley wheel and the cassette. In rare cases it becomes necessary to swap the b tension screw out for a slightly longer one
Ha ha ha! I am not alone in my idiocy I did exactly the same thing earlier this week. I too twisted the cage the wrong way and bent the spring and crushed the plastic washer. My experiment is 11 speed RD-M8050 medium cage to long cage swap. For anybody trying this, when mounting the new cage make sure that everything is in alignment before tightening the main screw that holds the cage on the clutch - then turn the derailleur over so you can see where the spring hooks onto the cage and make sure to twist the cage in the direction that the hook on the end of the spring is holding the spring against the direction of rotation. If you go the wrong way like our buddy Mr Rides (and me) the spring will slip out of the cage and bend itself as shown. Good information that the spring and washer are available as spares - I assumed that they werent and reused the damaged pieces anyway - so far it seems to work as normal. Mounting on the bike today.
Haha... it just now hit me as watch this video back that I twisted the wrong way!! I swapped the cage probably 5 times before recording that segment, and several times after, and I never even thought that might have been the case! Doh!!! 😂 Cheers and good luck with your bike!
There's also XD and XDR hub bodies/cassettes. I run e*thirteen XD cassettes on my gravel and mountain bike. They work well with shimano and SRAM chains, are very light and have replacable upper and lower clusters
I had a similar experience with the goatlink. Yeah it clears up to 52T, but shifting at 11-15 is less than optimal. In the end I went with Sensah SRX and now I have perfect shifting from 11 to 52 with 46 chainring.
While in experimentation mode - why not try XT Di2 derailleur (RD-M8150-12) with proper 1x cage? This model is eBike only according to Shimano, but it is a 12 architecture with SD-300 cables so it should work (?)...
I had the exact same experience when I wanted 1x 11-40 om my Ultegra rx (the one intended for 2x). I bought the cage from the XT m8000, considering my self a genius! Alas, I was not. So I bought the Wolftooth link and it worked brilliantly. Keep it simple, stupid.😂
Ive watched a few gravel races and the riders had that GRX system and I got used to the sound of the actuation and shift.. In the begining I couldnt take it, then I realized I wasnt noticing it anymore.
Try the original derailleur with the new b link but only take 3 links so ,are the chain is 1 link longer. I've found on the larger cassettes and 2x derailleur with a 1x the slacker chain worked smoother.
One word: SRAM. Now with that said, I have a 46 tooth up front run a 10-44 xplr setup, and when I need it, 10-52 XO1 on the rear with the XO1 RD. Gives me massive range and options, and I can swap them out in like 10 mins
To make the MTB jockey work you need a bigger pulley wheel on the bottom and a smaller one on top. You may need to cut the safety bridge of the jockey.
you could still have messed with the b screw, with a di2 setup, you kinda have some room to go out of ideal adjustment, this would make the derailleur compensante the lack of tension on the highest gear, I could work, the draw back would be shifting getting slower
That seal you mangled is actually a thrust type bushing preventing cage from rubbing against the main body. And the worst of it - it is not sold seperately, only together with the spring in very limited instances. It doesn't even have an official part number! Once it's gone, only salvaging from another similar derailleur might save you. Or 3D printing, of course
@@ridesofjapan wait, since when?! That's really good news because it hasn't been a case with XT, SLX etc documents I had at hand. And I was too naive to check XTR🤦♂ Still weird they call it a seal when there are two huge holes for the spring right next to it...
Hi, the answer is RD made for ebike RD-M8150-12 + shorter cage (GS) from Deore XT RD-M8100-GS. Anyway I would try the cage from 1x mechanical GRX RD - the GS version made for 10-45 cassette.
I currently don't understand Shimano. The 11 speed Di2 was just excellent and rather bomb proof in 1x, 2x, road, gravel and MTB. I used GRX and MT800 display for many years. When it came to 12speed gravel and MTB..........nothing. I ride a Specialized Creo 2 and need 1x as 2x will not fit. It came with 12 speed SRAM wireless, which I have found to be rather good. Shimano as so far behind the game in 12 speed Di2, they are missing the cut !!!!
Good to see you again, Roj. In your opinion, is it worth replacing my Ultegra 9200 Di12 (50/34 and 11-32 Dura-Ace cassette) with this new GRX? The purpose would be to lighten my bike (Bianchi, mod. Specialissima 2022) which, although expensive, is heavier than the old 2016 model with rim-brakes. Thanks in advance for your opinion!
To save weight? Than No, GRX will be heavier. Just to be clear, you mean ultegra 8170 right? (9200 is dura ace). Also think you mean 11-34 cassette? No 11-32 12speed cassette available from Shimano.
I recently set up a TT bike with 1x Dura-Ace (56 tooth chainring from Alugear, 11-34 cassette). Using the three biggest cogs on the cassette is super noisy. Sounds similar to the noise in this experiment here, I suspect it's the narrow-wide (and fairly big) chainring. Does anyone have any ideas how to avoid that kinda noise with 1x?
Lol. Experimenting with Shimano parts out-of-spec is fun. Shimano has a 12-speed Di2 RD for eMTB (RD-M8150-12). Do you think the cage from that unit might work? 😆 I recently put a cage from a 8150 RD onto a 9250 RD so that I could run a 11-36 cassette on the 9250. It works like a charm. When the experiments work it's very satisfying.
Unfortunately I don’t think that works since the 8150 uses the 12speed mechanical MTB config with 13t pulleys. So I think I would run into the same clearance issue if not even worse :)
Hey Ho! I tried the Rotor 11-39 with a Ultegra 12spd and the roadlink a few months ago. Didn't work at all, i think the shifting ramps are not compatible.
I wander if you can put a 2x up front with 48/31, I run a 11-40 back with 48/31 front atm. Can't do such thing for 12 speed 2x atm because there's no cassette available. But now if you can shift up to 45T with the 2x rear derailleur, worth a try?
Watched the video and just wondered: Why no Garbaruk......? until I realized they havn't got something for the 12speed GRX yet... You should still try going down the Garbaruk road, rather than buying the 1x RD...
why didn't you try like a sram force or apex set up with Ratio Technology 1x12s kit? with a cheap HG compatible aliexpress cassette it would be pretty easy imo. Theoritacilly, you could go 46T chainring with a 12s 11-42,44,46 at the back
I'm using GRX 820 SGS (mech). For such cage lenght, Direct Mount is not used anymore by Shimano (as it happened in MTB). My guess is that maybe looking at this hanger and the relative position of the first linlk of the parallelogram (more vertical, slmewhat), you could find an option. Seems that it's mounting screew unit (MPN Y3FW98020) won't be compatible at all :(. Does Garbaruk's RD cage offer any disctinct to what you've tried? Regards, thanks for sharing your exploration.
When you lose the tight 1t steps on your cassette, 2x doesn't make sense any more. You have the same large 2t jumps as with 1x but you still have to mess with the front derailleur
@@userdjee834 They were only on the few hardest gears I rarely use. I don’t race, so that’s no issue for me. I have 1x12 on the MTB, and no, it would not be a substitute.
Real talk its so hard to find a 11-40t cassette that doesn't weigh half a kilo. Somehow it's easier to find 11-46t or 11-50t cassettes that weigh under 500 grams.
I'd be very interested to know how you are finding the new Panaracers? What model are you using? I'm looking for a slick 35mm, been considering Rene Herse but would look at the GK if I knew how they feel.
Thank you for being a brave man trying to modify things. I hoped you showed us how the set up was without the front derailleur. Which shifters are you using and how is it wired? Thanks
12speed shifters are wireless and you can use any of the dura ace/ultegra/105/GRX they all work the same. (On this bike it’s the ultegra shifters) Cheers!