I think the 2x goes for a very different segment: long rides on mixed terrain with not only steep, but very long climbs, descents and plains to work with because it offers a better ratio, and the longest the climb, the more you tend to appreciate more a better ratio than a better weight IMO, especially if the difference is not that much. A 32x51 1x will give you a 0.62 ratio for the lowest gear, which is slightly better than SRAM's 32x50, but a 26x45 will produce a 0.57 ratio on the lowest gear, which is noticeable when there are a bunch of long climbs in the trail.On the other side, 32x51 will give you 3.2 meters on the highest gear for plains and descents, whereas a 36x45 will give you a 3.6 meters ratio and then again, the longer the descents and the plain sections, the easier to move at the same or higher speed. You can equal or improve the lowest ratio in a 1x system by installing a smaller chainring, but then you're reducing the highest ratio in consequence. So, as I see it if you run some laps in a bike park a 1x would be really sweet, but if you're running on natural trails for long rides with mixed terrain, and especially if you're getting old or you have any kind of leg injuries or problems, the 2x will be better on the long run because of the better range in both directions while keeping the cool tech benefits; honestly I don't remember any time where I had a front derailleur issue in a ride.
And 2x10 (for example) will be MUCH cheaper and last longer, since all the sprockets are steel. I doubt there-s much weight difference, an 11-36 10sp xt is 200gr lighter than this slx 12sp cassette !
@@tonycaluda1868 2x10 is a great option as well, but if you need to climb steepest terrains I'd rather go with the wide range options that's where 11 speeds become slightly better, because the jumps between gears are smaller for having an extra cog, affecting slightly less the cadence, but that's a minor that may or not bother people. For example, a SunRace 11-46T 10 speed cassette has one step of 5 teeth and two steps of 6 teeth, whereas an 11-46T 11 speed cassette also from SunRace has only one step of 6 teeth and no 5 tooth step and if you want to keep all cogs in steel, you need to go down to 11-42 which reduces the ratio a bit 😰 there's a lot to think about indeed when you think about drivetrain combinations and options. Then again if you can climb everything with an 11-36T or even an 11-42T cassette then it's a no-brainer, 10 speed is the best bang for the buck.
What I don't like about this release is that up to this point to me 2x also meant reasonably priced and cheap to run, while 1x meant $100/€100+ cassettes. I know the prices are gonna go down, but even if you dig up articles from years ago about the announcement/release of M7000 and look at the MSRPs back then, M7100 is almost twice as expensive as of now. And guess what, as of now the MSRP for the cassette is around a $100/€100. Big range is great, but the cassette prices and prices in general are getting a bit ridiculous. An M7000 11-42 goes for around $50/€50 and with the combination of a double with a 10T difference it gives you ~530% gear range which is still pretty darn big. I'm very curious to see if this is gonna pump up the prices of complete bikes too. IMO nowadays lower end stuff like Deore M6000 works so good, but most of the time you only see M6000 on lower end complete bikes with crappy forks and crappy wheels. And of course if you want to build up a new bike with all new stuff from the frame up it's gonna come out so much more expensive.
@@Asthbendriel i have a 24/38 chainring and a 11/42t cassette and even with this massive low gear ratio (0.57) i barely get to the top of the hill (it's not so long, maybe 900m, but very very steep). So if i would change to 1x12, to keep the same ratio i would need a 30t chainring (ratio would be 0.59). But i also like going really fast down the hill and on the roads, and with a 30t chainring i would be much slower than a 38t. I've had SO. MANY. PROBLEMS with a front derailleur in the last years, chain rubbing on the derailleur, missed shifts, re-adjusting cable tension and limit screws every 2 months... And i really want 1x. But i really want the huge range of 2x. So i'll probably wait for 1x13 with maybe a 56 or 58t max cog wich will allow me to have a 32 or 34t chainring and still climbs easily and go fast.
@@Andrea-qg5yk you can make the switch to 1x if you want, your legs will become stronger over time but you'll be missing the top speed for sure, as it was my case a year ago when I moved from 2x9 to 1x11. My brother in law broke his drivetrain and he was broke so I gave him mine, and I did the switch to 1x just to try it out; I was using a 22-36T front chainring and a 11-40 cassette on the back, so I had an even lower gear ratio of 0.55 when I made the switch to a 32T chainring and a 50T cassette. The loss of range was noticeable in both directions, it was harder to climb steep or prolonged climbs and the bike was spinning a lot more in the plain sections, even while having a smaller 36T compared to you riding a 38T with your 2x. One year after I made the switch, I eventually got used to the range and now I can climb the same or even further with a 0.64 range then I did with a 0.55 back in the day, but I still do miss the top speed a lot in many situations in both fireroads and asphalt sections when you're connecting trails in a long ride. I did not have any major problems back in the day with the 2x9 in terms of malfunction, maybe a stuck chain once or twice in long rides because of poor gear shifting because of me entirely. On the adjusting side of things, SRAM drivetrains tend to need adjusting every few months as well in 1x, a friend of mine has a SRAM NX Eagle and he does need to adjust it every few months to avoid excesive noise.
Today’s SLX GroupSet is basically yesterday’s XT GroupSet. Republicans in the Americas call it “Trickle Down” So, if you already have a bike equipped with XT and are happy with it, your still good to go. However moving from M8000 XT to M9000 XT is actually an upgrade.
Nice update Will. There is a product from CRC called Disc Brake Quiet. Basically it’s high temp silicon and you put a pea sized nugget on the back of each pad.
Awesome review Wil. Not a huge weight penalty over xt makes these very appealing. The noise thing is annoying though. I'd love to give the 'enduro' brakes a go. A bit more modulation from shimano sounds like a great thing!
Thanks Richard! Agreed - the SLX groupset looks and feels properly solid, and while it loses a little bit of adjustability over XT, overall it's killer value for money. [ST Wil]
That's a good shout mate! I'd like to try the non-finned version myself, as it appears that the rattling is due to the fins banging about on the calliper body. I suspect that while the fins do help to keep the brake running cooler, that's unlikely to be noticeable unless you're riding super steep and long descents in the alps. [ST Wil]
Mark VanWey: Bent bracket? (The thing that connects the rear derailleur to the frame). That was my problem. If a friend has a derailleur straightener give it a try.
I'm using that group on my Fuel Ex, and I love it. Maybe I'll buy a m8100 trigger, cause the slx trigger feels cheaper, but derailleur are awesome (only difference is the bearing vs bushing pulleys). Change gears are so smooth, silent, and precise.
I'm getting a 2020 nukeproof scout 275 expert with this new slx groupset and it looks the business I can't bloody wait. Loving the look of them shifters tho.
Good review :) I would be seriously interested in this as my sram eagle gx has been good but so unrealible, chains snapping , rear mech problems and snapped teeth on cassette .
Cheers Richard! From my early experience with the SLX drivetrain, it feels really solid. Time will tell as to how durable it is in the long run, but given how deliberately rough we were on the cassettes and rear mechs, I'm very impressed with how well it shifted under load. [ST Wil]
brake levers are about a strong as carboard, had my new bike 2 months now and already snapped off both brake levers in 2 seperate minor crashes. other than that the SLX groupset is fantastic
@@carado1984 They do indeed. Comment is three years old. Just before they brought that out. The new deore cassettes really are good. Got an 11-46 deore cassette on my ebike
One thing that bothers me that my bike from 2009 can only accept 10x135 rear hub which means i can only use maximum 11-speed cassette. For 12-speed i need new bike frame... that can use 12x142 rear hub. Otherwise i can use 2x10 groupset. For 1x12 my goal is 34t in front and 10-52t cassette on back for Trail/All-mountain bike.
Hey... I am thinking to get the Trance 2 Giant (2020) and I don't know... after a quick spin around the shop I notice that the hubs make quite a loud sound... is that normal???? cheers
I am thinking about XT RD-M8100-SGS, ShadowPlus, 1x12, 10-51T AND cheaper XT RD-M8000-DSGS, ShadowPlus, 2x11, 36x26T. Gear range is same...Besides terrain I want to use it also on a flat road sometimes. Do you think there is any reason to think about 2x11 or would you recommend XT M8100 in any circumstances? Thank you
Yo Nathan! Doesn't seem to be a problem mate - none of us had any issues with chain derailment throughout the three days of testing. The work that Shimano has done on those Hyperglide+ cassettes is really impressive - it's super stable. It'll be interesting to see how that holds up over time as the cassettes get wear onto the teeth. [ST Wil]
12speed. Are the first 3 cogs (the 51/etc cogs) attached to themselves and the rest are own their own? (This would make a nice conversion for a 9speed user that isn't looking for super 51tooth but still wanna keep with the XTR setup performance.
Compared to a 9spd cassettes the cogs are closer together, they're also thinner so you need a 12spd chain, and the cassette uses a completely new freehub standard. I see no point in hacking together a 9spd setup, but you wouldn't be able to do it anyways.
@@HollyBoni If the splines of the hub are same. Then it'll still use the standard shimano cassettes. Just cause the inner functions of the hub itself are different. doesn't mean the outside attachment is also. The general idea isn't the thinness or different usage of chain. It's if someone doesn't want to use a large speed size. So if they don't wanna go 12speed, but want that kind of cassette. then using it's 12speed cogs to fit only just 9 of those, would give better range and keep it even lighter.
Those are Leatt Airflex Pro knee pads, which I reviewed not long ago here: singletrackworld.com/2018/09/review-dont-like-wearing-bulky-uncomfortable-knee-pads-leatts-airflex-pro-is-made-for-you/ [ST Wil]
Brake pads are rattling a bit inside the caliper and shimano should get it fixed asap. Okey. Even normal dual piston brakepads are rattling inside of a caliper, I dont understand this criticism at all, It is as it should be.
It seems to be much more noticeable with the new 4-piston Enduro brakes (XTR, XT and SLX), which use a different pad shape compared to the Saint/Zee brakes. On an otherwise silent bike, the rattling noise is pretty noticeable. It seems like a relatively simple problem that I'm surprised Shimano hasn't addressed. [ST Wil]
Singletrack Magazine it’s because shimano leave an expansion gap to stop the pads buckling when they heat up because they’re not smart enough to know that if you make your pads a bucket shape like sram the pads don’t need an expansion gap so the rattle inside when braking on rough ground also pulling and pushing on the porous ceramic pistons letting air in which makes its way to the lever and gives its that random bite point that’s been plaguing shimano brakes for the last five years. Have they done anything about that? 😂 Nice advert though I’m sure shimano have suddenly stopped making trash overnight.
I am a beginner on bikes stuff and I have an old bike with a 2X10 shimano deore XT rear derarlleur, with quick release system. I was said by a SRAM tech that I could get a NX 1x12 transmission but after watching several videos and reviews for this new SLX transmission I am sold by SLX. Does anybody know if it is possible to mount this SLX trans in a QR bike? I didn't find any 12 speed FREEHUB Quick Release on shimano's Web.
Wouldn't it be working like crap when it was rushed? As of now the first reviews say something different. Seems, that Sram is in trouble either in brakes or drivetrains, the quality seems much higher.
pvillaluna1 I wouldn’t call it a ‘panic release’ after three years... 😀 Also, GX Eagle is flimsy and cheaply built - even the grass can bend the cage - I had it on two bikes, I upgraded one of them to 11 speed XT. I can only imagine the quality of NX and SX Eagle as they are below GX. Shimano doesn't have to scramble too much to catch up with SRAM's quality... I'd blindly welcome SLX over SRAM's GX/NX/SX Eagle.
@pvillaluna1 So what would you have liked to see instead? I think it's a good release but to be honest i'm pretty sure manufacturers are starting to reach the end of what you can do with a chain and a cassette. For the past few years we've only seen marginal improvements and more cogs (and yes that includes SRAM stuff too).
Boni Hollóssy Panic release meaning to say XTR, XT and SLX were released in a relatively short time frame from each other; in terms of what is possible from here??,,, I’ll just let you watch this marketing piece and I’m aware it is drinking the koolaid ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LEbJRmNgD8E.html