After hours of anxiety trying to get the aluminium part of the cassette to join to the steel part, you my kind Sir have managed to solve it! Once all the contact points on both the aluminium and steel clusters have a good coating of grease... 1) Support the wheel on two opposite sides with wood under each side 2) Use a cassette tool NOT a chain whip. 3) Apply lots of downward pressure whilst turning.
I've been running the following configuration since March of 2021: Helix R 12 speed cassette with a 30 tooth AB chain ring, GX (now X01) shifter, KMC chain, and Shimano XT rear mech. I have about 800 miles on the Helix R with no issues and great shifting performance. It's lighter and less expensive the the major S brand competitors' options. Great review!
Thanks for reviewing this cassette, this is perfect for my gravel bike setup I can now downsize my chainring to 40t from 44t while still having the same top speed thanks to 9t and have more range for climbing. I think this wins over Garbaruk 10-52t though the Garbaruk was a bit lighter and a bit cheaper than this.
I’m using 11 speed 9-46 helix cassette on my Shimano drivetrain (M8000 shifter M9000 derailleur) & absolutely love it. It gives the the range or 12 speed while offering clearance. I am running X01 chain though as it seems like Shimano chains often doesn’t get along with foreigners...
Perfect! Thanks to you I also bought my first e*13 9-46 (11t) cassette, the Helix looks perfect, I'm going to buy it too! Thanks for the awesome review!
I've had a Helix cassette for a few hundred miles already. Performance: flawless shifting with a lunar GX / X01 chain setup. Installation: I'm not sure I would recommend it for a Hope hub. The only way the big cluster doesn't move towards the outside - install the biggest shim you can, no lube / yes dry (it will not creak), and secure fastener very tight (I don't use a torque wrench, but assume tighter than 3nm). Durability: weak anodizing (orange has faded a lot), the aluminum assembly is showing wear but works 100% ok. Might try the intergalactic / hardened cogs when that one wears out.
Thanks for this comment, I am looking to step up from 10-52 eagle to this or the garbaruk to keep my lovely range, got to say this was looking good till I read your info about the hope hub. It also concerns me that more than 1 gear is aluminium because I generally run my bike almost as an 11 speed, never using the low gear unless bikepacking or riding somewhere mountainous. I have gotten a very high mileage with gx eagle considering the muddy conditions I ride in in the winter, I think these two lead me back to the garbaruk for now.
I have been running a E*13 9-46 TRS+ 11 speed cassette mixed with a SRAM drivetrain. Shifting was really good. Maybe a wee bit harsher and louder than SRAM but still quick and precise. However there are a few drawbacks of that E*13 system: 1. The cassette started to make a creeking noise after approx. 200 km because the contact points are made out of metal. Disassembly and re-greasing solved the issue however yet again after 200 km the issue was present all over. Looking on the internet showed that many users faced the same issue using the provided grease. I got it fixed by using Motorex copper grease instead of the E*13 standard one. 2. The only way making full use out of the wider range is installing a smaller chainring as you did. However a smaller chain rain increases the change of chain rattle and might also require running a chain guide in order avoiding losing the chain. And the biggest issue is that because of the smaller chainring most of the time also smaller cogs are used in vast majority of riding time in turn resulting in higher wear both on the cassette and the chainring.
Same creeking issue with my 9-46. After applying grease at the third time. I decided to replace it with other brand cassette. I love it except that I give up on the creeking sound.
I’ve had the Helix for about 4 months now. Between 200-300 miles on it. I love the Nine tooth high gear! I do have issues with chain skipping under load on just the 9 and 11 tooth cogs. Running a Shimano 12speed SLX chain…I will measure it soon to see if I’ve already stretched it. That’s my only concern
i've heard about 9t skipping issues from other peiopkle as well. I race xc and that would be a huge disadvantage, if you want to stand up to sprint on the 9t cog. Have you resolved this issue? do you know others who also have issues?
@@williammorris6097 usually its a case of the directional chain link being wrong way round.....had that on my GX eagle drivetrain.....was hidden on larger cogs but exposed on the smallest! Gone once swapped to right way round!
I'm running the Helix R with a GX Eagle drivetrain and it works a charm. Also you get some weight saving, because of the smaller front chainring. And the Helix cassette is lighter as well.
To be honest I'm mostly interested in options with less teeth on the smallest cog, so this being 1 tooth down is a big welcomed bonus in my eyes. Especially when you as well have lighter gears than normal with the same cassette. It does look a bit humorous with that big thing on there, but anyhow. Function all day long in my eyes.
3 года назад
I have a 2x12 with a 10-45 cassette and 26-36 chainrings. The lowest gear is enough on the steepest hills, and the highest gear is only needed when i ride smooth gravel roads downhills or strong tailwind. And the chainline is way better on the extremes.
Hi Sir, just wanted to say great job for the videos. i really enjoyed how you went straight to the point with short concise explanation instead of spending first 10mins~half hour(gasp!) with intro and ramblings. Really enjoyed your presentation, good job and keep it up. Cheers and happy 2022.
I have older Trs+ 11-46 12 speed. Tested with Sram GX & Shimano XT shifters both with Xt8100 SGS RD on two bikes. Older cassette works better with Sram shifter. So if you want your Shimano setup to work better just use Sram shifter (GX or above).
How smooth does the nine cog work. Thats the guestion. And think about an 11 speed with a nine cog and short cage you can switch under load, maybe with a shorter derailer cage with bigger whells. Thanks for the god answers we need when we buy this stuff.
Thanks for reviewing this e thirteen cassette. Just ordered one, was little warning about performance as didn't get any proper reviews on it. Great work.
@@LoveMTB My bike came with Sram GX grup set but i change shifter for shimano 12s xt 8100 (because i was messing double release). And now i gonna have e thirteen cassette. I will post my experience with this new setup in next week.
Recently purchased Garbaruk 10-52 shimano micro spline casette and i am in love with that light one piece beauty !!!. No offense but after shimano messy casette installation this one piece SRAM like casette is big step up for me !!! It's so neat and it seems also durable, shifting is very good and quiet also. My whole drivetrain is M 9100. Almost 2000 km with it and i am so satisfied with it. I don't want to go back shimano casette ever again, unless they make one piece durable and light casette.
I have been using Sram cassetes lately, all 10-50t on my Sram X01 drivetrain, i still haven't bought the new 10-52t because i think the gap between the 42-52t cog is too big, a 45-52t or 46-52t would be great! I was almost tempted to buy the Shimano XT 10-51t cassete and chain and install it, but i will wait a bit more time and see what Sram will do with future 12 speed cassetes. Thanks for the videos.
@@LoveMTB yes it has been hard times for manufactures putting out the items. In my case i use a 10-50t cassete with a 34t oval chainring, so a 51t or 52t big cassete cog would be a little more handy in some cases where i ride, cheers.
This helix looks good, since my GX cassette is just backed after one year of riding (2 chains replaced). I wish it would be something with more reasonable price.
They even produce HG Driver 12 Speed Cassettes. Which give older bikes an opportunity to go twelve speed. For the record I am not related to them. I just like there Products.
I bought a garbaruk last year and paired with xt mech. It is beautiful machined and shifts amazing. Also lighter and cheaper even shipped to Canada. Only thing beneficial of the e13 is that 9T for higher speed.
It sounds like the performance was slightly better in the SRAM set up. If I'm running Shimano, do you think maybe a SRAM chain would help close the gap a bit for better performance? I love your videos and when yours come up in my searches, I always check them out first!! Thank you!
It looks really well constucted but also a bit complecated compared to Sram's NX and GX cassette's. My cassette often is taken of completly for cleaning, this looks like a lot of work with E13. For road use it's probably ok but in muddy conditions i'm not zo sure
Interesting, but the problem with the smaller cogs is that the jumps between the gears get bigger. And the 22% jump from 9 to 11 tooth is huge and way too much for my liking. Even 11 to 13 is a 18% jump and pretty big, but common. I don't mind bigger jumps in the lower gears like from 42 to 50 but for higher speed in flat or slight downhill sections (when air resistance becomes the most relevant part) the 22% jump is a no-go.
I'm honestly more excited to see smaller cogs get smaller, so that bigger cogs don't need to be so big and both the cage of the RD and the front chainring can me smaller. Heck maybe someday my enduro bike will have a Zee RD but with the range of an enduro bike haha.
@@LoveMTB My Shimano 10-51 on my Canyon Strive groupset. I already broke two RD doing trialsy moves and hitting the derailleur sideways, Can't buy a third because I'm broke so yeah: Smaller cog + Smaller ring - a bit higher wear - Lightweight - Less chain / chainslap - Less prone to damage Overall way better.
Smaller than 9t at the current cog diameter?... I think we're already at the limits. I agree 50 is big enough, so I would rather welcome the rear hub integrated shifters, such as Classified Powershift, currently offering 451% range.
@@ChaviBonchev I honestly would be happy with a 9 speed 9-45t and a 30t in the front with 165mm cranks. Actually I would go for Box components but their offerings are expensive and can't even be found here in Spain. Advent X is a good alternative though.
@@LoveMTB Yeah I saw it already and I actually liked that cassette but I can't afford to change mine either and the used market isn't much helpful here in my city either. Thanks for the suggestion though!
Hey! Any mid term update? Anything negative or do you still recommend? Also, I'm assuming there is no lame Eagle chain sync issues on the 2 biggest gears because they are not narrow wide?
@@LoveMTB Perfect explanation! I am worried about that because I'm 200lbs and all of my rides are out/up and back/down with some pretty punchy sections requiring full gas in 1st or 2nd, and I have read posts of bent cogs. I found an X01 on Lord Gun for cheaper than the E13 so I'll just pull the trigger. Thanks again for the channel!
@@LoveMTB Hey, last question. If you had to choose either this Helix R or a Shimano XT 12 speed to use with GX AXS shifter/RD/GX carbon cranks/Absolute Black round ring, which would you choose? I'm really tired of the chain sync issues in 1st and 2nd on Eagle.
@@LoveMTB Yeah, I just want a fewer colors on my bike. At least is installed correctly. When I installed my 11-speed TRS cassette, it wouldn't fit the driver. I even took it to a bike shop and they couldn't manage it either. The larger aluminum cogs would not fit onto the XD driver. Thankfully, e13 was cool about it and sent me one that would fit that particular brand of XD driver. I guess the tolerances of the XD need to be pretty tight. Hopefully e13 has a handle on it by now.
I would say that the last step 42 to 50 is to high for a Non-Ebike. I`ve got the GX on my Ebike and it is okay. On my Bronson I love my XTR-Casette! Good review, specially demonstrating shifting!
Could do so easily on a 32t chainring. Wish my MTB had a 9t cog to be honest. Damn thing spins out at around 23mph... My monstercross bike has a 42t chainring and an e13 9-50 on it... climbs like a mtn goat on crack, DOES NOT spin out on the slightest downhill. Nice.
I have never understood the need for a 10t cog much less a 9t cog. I'd really like to see some cassettes that were higher end but did a 11-50 or 12-52.
I was unlucky enough to get an e13 cassette on my YT Jeffsy and my God was that cassette garbage: shifting was terrible, would drop the chain from the bigger cogs under load and the smaller cluster would wear out after only a few hundreds of kilometers. It was replaced under a warranty but the new cassette was just as terrible. I gave up on it and switched to the complete Sram GX Eagle drivetrain. Maybe they fixed these issues on the newer cassettes, who knows but considering a price I wouldn't risk testing it.
Weird. I'm on my 3rd season with a first gen 11sp trs+. Still works great. It's a little crunchy shifting under load into the 46 but that's to be expected. Maybe your b-screw wasn't set correctly? I remember that took a bit of trial and error. I bought it as it was the cheapest way to get eagle range without buying a new shifter and derailleur. It's exceeded my expectations.
@@dennismicallef9350 same here on my 5th season and original Jeffrey trs+ 11 speed cassette still going strong and shifting smoothly with just 1x outer cogs replacement....2 years of lower mileage during COVID though! Now looking to go 12 speed with the helix maybe but wonder about longer term shimano shifting quality....
been waiting for a trust worth review of these ethriteens. they seem to be the more reputable 9 tooth option, the only other ive seen and mentioned once on this channel is the KCNC; which youo met with some healthy skepticism.
How has the durability on this been? Any concerns about the installation system? An Eagle cassette mounts to the driver by threading it on at 50nm torque. This one just clamps on using that little 3nm set screw. That seems like a recipe for the cassette to come loose and shift/slide out are on the driver.
It does not shift, under heavy heavy torque you might hear a bit of tension in those large cogs, otherwise ok. DOn't have it anymore was stolen together with my bike
I find 12sp completely unnecessary. Don't want it at all. I grudgingly went to 11sp (10-42) so I could upgrade to an XD driver, but honestly...the 10sp shifted more smoothly, had a shorter cage, had a lighter cassette, and had more robust chains. All those things apply when comparing 11sp to 12sp too.
@@LoveMTB It is nice to have options. For me, I'll stick to the 10-42 for all the reasons stated. I really want to keep my unsprung weight down on the rear, so my suspension performs better. I hope the "Supre Drive" protected derailleur becomes the de facto standard. Personally, I think that is the drivetrain innovation we really need as mountain bikers.
I hope you also do a longer term test. My e13 cassette from the past worked ok to begin with but after a while it started to shift badly. Went back to Shimano, and didn't look back.
It's good that the E13 has gone away from the giant aluminum band nut. And it will be very interesting whether the cassette will creak after a while, as the 11-speed E13 cassette did at the junction of the steel basket and the aluminum group of stars.
I have the garbaruk, it is brilliant. Much better spacing on the top 3 cogs (doesn't have that massive jump from 52-42), shifts beautiful with my SRAM X01 and colours too !
I use the garbaruk microspline 10-52 cassette. its the lightest or almost lightest one available and at a great price as well. it uses best of both worlds, shimano hyperglide +, the ease of use of the microspline body for cassette installation, the one piece steel construction of sram, so no bite on the splines and the whole cassette just slides on (also available in sram xd), and all in nice colours. so far a big fan. I wish i had a 9 tooth though.
@@Jacob99174 its pretty good. have not yet worn one down. comparable to sram and shimano counterparts. i use ethirteen 9-50t cassette now as my favourite on my other bike. hyperglide works even better.
Thank you for your video. Still keen to see your long term feedback of your Shramano set up. Curious also if any improvements if you put the helix R cassette into the mix.
I admit that I'm kinda old school. I just don't get this fascination with packing so many gears at such extremes onto cassettes. The major drawback of such an extreme range of gearing is the excessively long cage derailleur they require. Doesn't anyone care about ground clearance anymore? I have used a 9-speed XT cassette 11-34T with a Dura-Ace Short cage (RD-7700) derailleur for years on my Trek and have never bashed or broken it since I installed it.
Great video! Just one question - I'm building new bike with 55 mm chainline at the moment, could you tell me what do you mean by saying that you can back pedal without any problem with this cassette? Does 55 cl cause any problems even if it configured as it should be (correct crank etc)? Thank you
Curious to see your review having this work with AXS. I tried and tried and the shifting was very disappointing. Hanger, install, chain, oval/round, offset, micro adj were all dialed but in the end I sold the helix. Went with a gx and shifting was immediately better.
Thanks for the review. I have SRAM but I am thinking to change to XTR rear mech and shifter. Do you think SRAM or Shimano chain will work best with XTR and Helix cassette? Or same difference?
uhm, i tried out the e13 12 speed 9 to 46? although it was as good as my sram stuff for sure when shimano came out with their HG+, it was a no brainer to switch, it doesnt compare and its noiser and it works betetr with srams uh.. sloppy drive train, than it does with shimanos quieter stuff fantastic tho, went from a 34chainring to a 30 chain ring and could still get around in between runs np cool thing to check out, nothing to dig deep for tho
@@LoveMTB but i thought hg+ was for the chain and cassette combo only? It wont work when using a third party cassette. Now that you are using a third party cassette, why not try using sram chain.
@@LoveMTB Thank you. I have deore m6100 cassete 10-51t. My crankset have 34t, it's very good for mi. 9-52t cassete it's ultimate for me. I have basic Shimano freehub Shimano HB-MT401. I have deore microspilne bicycle drum. 9-52t will fit for my bike.
How does the 9t run? smoothly? does it shift smoothly? Will it take a stand up sprint load ? I've heard form multiple parties that a 9t cog isn't as smooth or as reliable.. Please comment so I can determine if I should buy one.. thanks!!
Hello I have a question, should my chain rub on the ISCG05 chain guide? (The plastic thing on top that prevents chain from falling), It rubs specially when I shift to my 50t largest cogs,
@@LoveMTB in general terms, eagle is more tolerant to changes, dust, wear,, etc. Shimano works great when everything is spot on. When not, then is not so good, plus some other incoviniecenes as proprietary one way chain and some other detalis that make your life hardwr
What is the procedure with a hope hub? Is it even possible? I tried to install a Leonardi General Lee and it was impossible even when switching to a newer axel.
The SRAM XX1 cassette requires many turns of the cassette lock ring to tighten to 40Nm. But this Helix one seems to not even have one single revolution of turns to move from the unlock to lock position. How does that work?
Good morning from Philippines i have a Giant fathom 2 mountain bike 12 speed Sram the chainring is 30t can i change it to 36 or 40t what about the chain pls advice?
Great video as always. I’m thinking of getting this cassette only bc of the color way. I’m also getting the gray one. Does it really look like copper? Did they send you the wrong color? TIA.
