I just bought ENT elite wheels last week and have been looking at new cassette for my old wheels (putting gravel tires on them) and you just keep putting out the right content. I hope you realize how valuable your videos have been to all of us just trying to do what we love while saving money for family and some extra bike adventures. Thanks!
I got the GOLDIX 12 speeds, and I'm unable to index it properly. If it's quiet at the top range, then it shift poorly in the low range. Going back to shimano cassette for now.
I wish you released this video before I ended up buying my ultegra groupset. I was going to buy the ztto mono block but thought to myself is there a compromise given it’s so much lighter? Kicking myself now I spent more money and could have had a cracking product from ztto.
@TraceVelo found a cool French company (I think) making them for 100quid. 150grams. Still cheaper than top of the range mainstream stuff and a whole lot light
u know ur so worth a membership , i dont have any but, I building a new bike right now its only cost me 780 us , that's very much because of u sir , thank you .
@@kl6336 doesn't matter coupons sales , change the price so much ie the ltwoo hydro r9/rx is 240 today on the 1st when I bought it I got it for 117 it was on sale for 145 , I save more with coins and a 80 off 499 spent there are 3 sales every month , and you can collect coin discounts , and coupons once a month to go with the sale on the 31-8th or so every month , and its not just on bike stuff , THEY KILL AMAZON u can by a small city generator or a house , WITH NO EXARATION
Second this, Built my 500$ dtc frame, most of Luke’s suggestions too. I now have almost a bike under 1500, yes it is a gravel bike, but built it up mostly from parts that I already have. 😅
Just built a Milani ICON from Italy , cost £10,000 but will last 50 years not 12 months if it was Chinese Tech for 10 dollar .....Never buy CCP products ....
Aluminium makes no sense anywhere near the wearable parts, those few hundreds grams less dont make any difference that is worth it to buy stuff that lasts 1/3 of distance at best. Chainrings made of it are the most ridiculous imo, you cant even find any narrow wide ones made of steel because they would literally last forever being that thick
Sram makes (made?) steel narrow-wide chainrings. I have them on my mtb for years now, the things last forever. For road or gravel I´m not so sure if they are available. I don´t do gravel, but the aluminium chainrings for my roadbike last a long time.
As for NW chainrings, I've been using aluminium ones from a brand calledWuzei. I have them on three bikes. One of the chainrings has clocked several thousand kilometers in all weather conditions (winter bike) and it still looks good, so signs of significant wear. One of the bike mechanics also recommend me chainrings from brand Ekfan.
I stick to cassettes like the 105 for a simple reason. I spend most of my time using the same gears which wear out far quicker than the others. When they're worn out, I change 1 or 2 sprockets instead of a single monoblock-cassette, spending ~10 bucks for essentially having the same performance as a brand new cassette. I do not throw away perfectly fine working parts. The money saved on this is so much that I don't care about the weight.
No one outside of competitions should care about a cassette being 200g or 400g, it's just ridiculous. Buy a decent 10 speed cassette for 50€ and be happy riding.
@mazahaka3691 1 kg is worth about 3.5 watts for an average [watts and weight] amateur going at their FTP on a steep climb. To pay REGULARLY twice more for a 100 g lighter cassette, gaining 0,35 W... is weight weenie territory. :)
I suggest to get a set of Rockwell hardness test files. Alloy composition and heat treatment play a big part in the cassettes durability long-term. In my experience the longer lasting ones had a higher hardness. Alloy composition isn't that easy to test.
Ever had issues with the difference in gearings from Shimano Brands and ZTTO. I currently run a ZTTO 11-32 Casette and the middle gears are different from the known brands nad sometimes it takes awhile to click into gear
The problem with the comments is that very specify if they have tried the 11 speeds or the 12 speeds. It seems like tolerance are much smaller on the 12 speeds which might cause problem with aftermarket parts. So that might explain the mixed experience. (I tried the 12 speeds it's impossible to adjust)
I just got 11speed 11-34t Goldix cassette. Shifting is very good at higher Ts, but is terrible at lower Ts. I use shimano GRx rear derailleur. I checked my setting miltiple times..
I bought a monoblock ZTTO Cassette on a 105 di2 but shifting is really really awful. Upshift is going great, but downshift doesn’t work for a bit. It’s skipping sprockets and I can’t get it to index right.
Luke really do be edging us with the Wheeltop group set. Jokes aside, I think Cassettes and Wheelsets really do determine how heavy a bike can be. Great video as always!🥖🥖🥖🥖
been using em for a few years now.... The SRoad ones I find start skipping after approx. 8 months or so... (obviously, depending how much you ride!) - got em on all my bikes... incl. the eMTB.. swear by them! (got the Ztto ones on my Gravel and my eMTB and after 1 year.. no skips!) I would never buy another BRAND name again... infact, that goes for anything to do with cycling!! If you do your due diligence on the companies on Aliexpress...you could be like me, and have your favourite stores that you know won't send you BS! and.. if u have a problem, immediately refund or replace!! I buy EVERYTHING!! and have only had a handful of duffers... and that was long ago! I mean, c'mon.. only idiots or ppl with too much money (seems to be alot of em!) pay them big brand prices!! haha...The only thing I have left of when I was an "idiot" (5+ years ago now) is 1 set of Meilenstein wheels (tubs) (sold my other 2 sets! yup, to IDIOTS!! haha...for a fortune too!) I even managed to STOP an IDIOT "rich" client of mine to not buy a set of lighteights and buy the Winspace Hypers.. which he did, and loves!! same client has a Sroad cassette on his super dooper expensive F12 too!!! - well done bud.. good review...
Dang, that's super light for steel. Are you sure they didn't pull one over on you? Did you check with a magnet? I've seen monoblock aluminum cassettes on AliExpress for half the price of the steel one you're promoting. Are those worth anything?
OMG, just got myself a DuraAce 11~34 12s cassette. Was too concerned about the switching under load and the wear marks. Didn't know how wide the contact points are, thought they would be even slimmer but they look decent in your vid. Great video by the way, definitely earned some 🥖 🥖 🥖🥖
I run through at least 1-2 of the ZTTO cassettes annually. They are easy to know when their lifespan is pretty much up when the gears started to skip or mis-shift. Currently using the 11-30T which is an Ultegra equivalent ratio since February with EDS-TX. So far they have worked together properly once the calibration is spot on.
I recently got the Ztto 11-34t it’s been so good so far. I expect the aluminium cogs to wear out sooner but I calculated that it should last 2 years for the amount I ride. So worth it for my scenario
Why is he comparing a ztto cassette with the top SRAM, Shimano cassette. If you compare it with a Shimano 105 the ztto is the double price as Shimano. Shimano works perfectly. Maybe the ztto works as well but why should I change a perfect combination with a higher price? I prefer to cycle my bike not to be a test dummy...
If you don’t like test dummy stuff you’re maybe watching the wrong channel…. He’s not comparing with 105 because a 105 cassette is 272g for a 11-28 and isn’t monoblock construction. The 105 will almost certainly last longer as it’s steel, and it may shift better too - but if you’re looking to save weight without paying full whack for top end Shimano SRAM, Campag etc then this sort of thing is an interesting option. Even broader point is be grateful for test dummies because when the competition to the major brands gets better, we all benefit through price reductions and performance gains.
Who the hell uses a cassette that seems cheap at first but doesn't guarantee the switching quality, durability or safety? This requires a long-term test and not assembly on an old 105 groupset like he does and then drives around the block. If I have a $3000 drivetrain then I won't use cheap Chinese chains or cassettes.
With a monoblock cassette, you always trade the low weight for the fact that it is harder to adjust and significantly louder. This is because it is a single block. Chain noises are directly transmitted through the freewheel of the wheel to the axle and frame. Even SRAM had to realize this and added rubber spacers between the sprockets on the Force cassette.
When I bought my 12-speed Dura-Ace groupset back in December 2021, it came with a 11-30T cassette. 11-34T Dura-Ace cassette could not be found anywhere so I ordered a 12-speed ZTTO 11-34T cassette from Aliexpress. That rainbow color ZTTO was incredibly light at 232g but its shifting was absolutely awful. I could adjust the rear derailleur to kind of shift from the biggest cog to the smallest, but then it won't shift back properly from small to big. If I adjusted the RD to allow it to shift from the smallest cog to the largest, it would have issue shifting from big to small. Initially, i thought it was perhaps due to how I had set up the rear derailleur. When I finally got my hands on a 11-34T Dura-Ace cassette, there was zero problem shifting from big to small, and in reverse. As soon as I replaced the Dura-Ace cassette with the ZTTO, the shifting issue I encountered before returned. So don't waste your money on the 12-speed 11-34T ZTTO cassette.
The price of Dura-ace is about 3~4 times that of ZTTO, so it makes no sense to compare the two. Compared to the Ultegra, which is closer in price, the Ultegra has smoother shifting performance, but is heavier (11-34 t is 345 g). The shifting performance of the ZTTO has decreased, but the weight is light (11-34 t is 259 g, 75% of Ultegra).
I think it takes me a year and ~8000km to nuke 2 chains, aluminum SRAM cassette and rings. I do ride a year round. Even when there is light frost or some rain going. I think ZTTO is real game changer for me. I wish SRAM had a design where we can disassemble a cassette and replace worn down rings.
Luke hope all is well, keep up the great content as I love an aliexpress bargain, this leads to my next question if ypu can help or know of someone who knows please? ZTTO XDR 12s Cassette's, I can't fine any reviews to see if they are any good, as half the price and lighter than a genuine one?! Please help
You always have to struggle with shimano's freehub splines, 'cause shimano's freehubs REALLY suck!!! With Campy from 1997, never had an issue. Several times i' ve found shimano lockrings completely stucked. Never with Campagnolo.
I bought this ZTTO steel cassette but the shifting is terrible. Thought it was my setup but the moment I went back to the old cassette I could change fine. And it was a brand new SRAM chain I fitted to go with this. ☹️ I think its not properly ramped and splined on the teeth.
Cassettes are the one thing that I would steer away from when it comes to aliexpress. I have purchased Spedao which was awful plus there are a lot of patents that Shimano and Sram build into their cassettes that Aliexpress cassettes can't match
I have a $30 11-50T cassette 9 speed from Aliexpress. My ebike mid-drive with near 4000w (bbshd + 72v battery + Vesc controller). Wear on the cassette is minimal, I couldn't be happier with this purchase. There is no justification to spend a fortune in bike parts other bragging rights and elitism. Matching groups set is bullshit proven over and over again.
So much junk out there. I'm buying the real thing. 105 cassettes are cheap enough. And they actually shift well. And actually last a long time. Aluminum cogs are a f*ing joke. And I don't see what is special about monoblock cassettes(??). I definitely DO NOT want a tiny little freehub contact area like the one he showed. That's horrible and it's going to destroy your freehub body
Mmh I have mtb casettes from ztto, sunshine and meroca. The only problem that i have is that the screws (like on the last you show) that hold the smallest tooth rings in place will go lose with the time. That only is to view when remove from the hub. I prefer cassettes with the smalles 3-5 gears lose and not on the cassette body
Might be a question you’ve already answered, but have you thought of building a chinese titanium bike? The brand doesn’t really matter, but I’ve heard Waltly is pretty cheap and has good quality and I think it would be cool to hear your thoughts chinese Ti
1. Don’t grease your freehub splines, lest you enjoy Road grit and grime sticking to it and turning into a nice grinding paste 2. 40nm is fuck all and 3. 4:32 the lock ring is not what transmits the torque to the freehub, its merely to stop them falling off and it’s not like a tapered BB axle so it makes no difference how tight it is. It’s the splines themselves taking the load and the bite marks happen when running a cassette block made of individual steel sprockets bolted together, on an aluminium freehub body, as steel is harder than aluminium and the load is concentrated through each sprocket, instead of distributed over a wider area, like when multiple sprockets are riveted to an aluminium carrier. To avoid this: only use steel splined sprockets on steel freehubs and alloy on alloy.
I now have ZTTO cassettes on all my wheels (x3). All off the back off one of your reviews. I have the same 50th and it's crazy light (Think Sram equivalent was £300+).
RIRO Cassettes are fvcking amazing, CRAZY light like 150g for an 11s HG 11/28…!! They even do a 12s version now, up to 11/34! If only they did a XD version for Sram! 10/34 come on RIRO DO IT!!
Similar to the ones in the bonus clip, just much more expensive and not lasting as some sprockets are from aluminium. Better stay with Lukes recommendations.
@@tomalbert3299 nonono, you are confused, RIRO cassettes are made from chromoly, and they are faaar better quality compared to the sroad and similar cassettes, the only downside is the price, RIRO cassettes are as expensive as original shimano/sram cassettes
The largest two cogs are made from aluminum alloy. So that's 2/11 or 2/12 of your cassette... and unless you're spending lots of time in those two larger cogs, it could be an ok way to save weight. Assuming you only use those cogs when in your smaller chainrings at the front, the larger articulation angle of the chain of those larger cogs means that they won't wear as fast as if you had, for example, your middle cogs made of aluminum. Then again, the 50g difference between a Riro and a goldix/ZTTO cassette is (only) worth around 2-4 seconds up the Stelvio... be we all just WANT a sub-150g cassette at a decent price, right?! As for price, wait for Prime day or one of the big AE sales and a RIRO cassette can be had for £60-70 before tax.
Tooth profile on those aliexpress cassettes are far from shimano which results in smoothness of shifting. It is like going back way before hyperglide...
For years I've been using a torque wrench to tighten the lock nut up to the specified 40 nm and this did not prevent my freehubs from getting bite marks. The problem is with this is more about the aluminium alloy whicg most of freehubs are made today and it is simply softer compared to steel sprockets of the cassette. For comparison, for years I've beem riding mavic ksyrium equipe wheels which had a steel freehub and guess what - apart from slight surface rusty stains, no bite marks at all.
When tightened to the same 40Nm, does a alloy lock ring press tighter on the cassette? I ask because the steel lock ring has those deep knurls that binds on the sprocket, and therefore it seems to need more torque to achieve the same tension force than a smoother alloy lock ring. I mostly use alloy lock rings when possible and tighten to 40Nm, so far I've not had deep gouges on my hubs but I'm not very powerful. I wonder why steel inserts on the alloy cassette body are not commonly adopted, it's not complicated nor expensive to make. Only some Taiwanese hub markers such as Novatec/Bitex/Hubsmith use that kind of design.
@@wrcompositi I used lock rings both with these knurls and without and it did not make any difference. As for the steel inserts for the alloy freehub splines, I have a wheelset from a polish brand Dandy Horse which has their own branded hubs (probably bitex) and the freehub had these inserts which were absolutely rubbish - not only did they not prevented bite marks, but quickly they became loose and fell out as they were attched to the splines by means of simple pins going inside the splines just with tight fit.
Ive been running a rainbow ztto 11-32 cassette since October went for it because of weight, price and the reduced wear on the freehub I’ve put like 100-150kms a week on it and the shifting started degrading significantly around mid April (so like 6 months of use) and mid May I went back to a Shimano cassette and the shifting quality is day and night I double checked and I do have the all steel version I really hoped this would last more but I think a single Shimano cassette could outlast at least 4 of this mono blocks
mine shimano 105 11-28t cassette is still ok after 20k kilometers. replaced it with dura-ace 11-30t last winter just because i got a great deal for it, it was 80eur with around 1000 km in it, it is titanium and steel and it will last for thousands and thousands kilometers
I appreciate all of your videos, including this one, but I'll stick with my Shimano Ultegra 11 speed cassette for $55. Sure, it's about 150g heavier than that one, but I don't race my bike so I'm just looking for the best value. I've ridden these Ultegra cassettes for years, and I like them. Heck, if I was going to change from the Ultegra cassette, I'd go to the 105 cassette for $43. 105 is a hell of a work horse group set.
I've used the cheap superlight cassette in the last bonus clip in 20+ different bikes from mechanical 105 to dura-ace di2, mostly ultegra di2, without any skipping or durability issues. It takes a tiny bit more time to adjust the derailleurs, especially the B screw, to make it work but ~$45USD for dura-ace weight is a no-brainer for me for every single build. I've recently even tried it on a SRAM build, also works flawlessly.
There is an issue, you say the cassette is 199g 2:25 in reality the cassette is 237g so depending on which teeth you have, you are missing a lock in the weight too.
I think it would only be appropriate to compare them if you've ridden both. But I also have a ztto 11s 11-50 on my gravel bike which has worked absolutely fine but it has only 200k on the clock and there are already some teeth not looking good anymore. But the difference from 200 Euro to 80 is probably worth it. Here also can't tell the difference to the original which would be a Garbaruk I guess. Thanks for the video!
Im riding sunrace casette with sram xx1 deraileur (and shifter) and pcx1130 chain and i must say that without any load its perfect, but one (just one!) gear when im riding rattles. Im a little bit OCD so it makes me furious. I tried all the extremes cable tensions, cleaned the chain twice, lubricated, nothing seems to fix it. I wonder if its the cassette, chainline, offset, or maybe even wrong chain... So many variables to eliminate to troubleshoot the issue.
It's crazy, but to be expected, how Chinese bike manufactures have caught up and are now supplying quality components in direct completion to the mainstream manufacturers. It's going to be an interesting few years to see who survives.
if only these chinese producers would dare to build some a-typical cassettes, such as 14-28, 11 speed, 14-36, 11 speed, or 12-28, 11 speed. Cassettes for youth categories, casettes for time-trial etc. I have an 11-32, 11 speed, of this type. They don't shift to the same quality as an Ultegra cassette.
On our local market, the DA cassettes is about 150 USD, we won't buy the shimano spares & parts by the fully retail price. And the local shimano staff is a little angry about we won't buy the parts from the official store. LOL
James is such an excellent speaker. Its like reading an essay, any thing technical is immediately folloewed with a quick exploration. No pauses, no scope creep. Always relevant.
Hi Luke! Can you confirm how is backpedaling on 28t cog and small chainring? Does chain remain stable or drops on sprocket below? I would appreciate your kind confirmation! Cheers! 🥖
I've got a low end SRAM cassette on my 1x setup and I think I'm going to try SROAD when it wears out because a 11-36 is pretty heavy in traditional form. 🥖🥖
I have seen many vids and forum threads stating that ztto or any other Chinese 10-50/52T shifts like shit with sram eagle axs. Can you please test and/or confirm?
I bought a trw one (the same thing)for my lightweight bike. But some of the sprockets aren't parralell to one another which results in awful shifting. Since then I've only bought Shimano ones.
Maaaaan…. I ordered one of those 3 d printed saddles you recommended. It’s been about 4 days since I ordered it. Every time I go to the email to track the package it’s says this site isn’t valid anymore… 🙄😤🥺
those mountain bike cassettes have competition btw! the microshift advent X 11-48 is very light (can't remember but lighter than XT and GX), and can be had for DIRT cheap, I bought a bunch from wiggle for 25 pounds!
cheers, got one, there is 1 of 20 shifts that is a harder clunk, no idea why that one shift, its always the same, like 4 to 3. But other than that every other gear is perfect. Don't miss hyper glide at all with Di2. And my one didn't have the small contact area.
Riding the ZTTO MTB casette that you showed (not exactly the oil slique, mine is just silver:D) but im putting massive watts in it and it shifts like a charm and is a pleasure to ride... absolute bonkers...!
🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖 baguettes-a-go go! Hi Luke, i hope alls well and good to see two most excellent "Trace Velo" vids appear unexpectedly!! Im ashamed to say i pulled the trigger on a 12spd 11/32 ZTTO cassette for my soon to arrive Giant Defy SL! Also another Zeus 3d printed saddle as they are way more comfortable and better than Giant stock!!! All based on your recommendations buddy! Its fatal watching one of your videos Luke!!😂😂😂😂😂🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖 Btw how is your little Girl, all good i hope??? I expect the wife must be terrified of possible changes in mind for your daughters buggy im sure there are light weight tubeless carbon buggy wheels and handlebars on Aliexpress somewhere!😂😂😂😂
