Drivetrains

Various drivetrain components played out on the floor

I recently read a fun article by Rob English over on Escape Collective about assembling various mechanical and electronic drivetrains in useful, non-standard ways.

While my drivetrains aren’t quite as exotic as most of these, some are quirky in their own ways. I’ve included only complete or soon-to-be-completed bikes and only bikes that I regularly ride. Any themes here? They’re all mechanical, mostly 1x, and other than that they seem to be a mix of flat and drop bar, different brands, and various speeds. Still, that’s ~~nine~~ eight bikes, and they’re all detailed below in no particular order.

Singlespeed • XTR 1×10 • Eagle 12 speed • IG 1×7 • 3×8 • SRAM 2×11 • Shimano 2×11 • 1×11

Singlespeed

This singlespeed 29er drivetrain is pretty straightforward: the components were chosen for longevity, and at 1.65:1 the somewhat odd 28/17t set up was chosen to reduce chainring size and because it’s a little taller than the more common 1:6:1 32/20t. The SRAM steel chainring is particularly good value.

I used to have a 3/32″ cog and would run any extra chain I had laying around. I neglected to change this habit when I swapped to the 1/8″ Surly cog and broke a KMC quick link in a 10-speed SRAM RED chain on a climb. Oops. I’ve switched to the cheap and cheerful SRAM PC1 1/8” chain and haven’t had any issues since.

Cog: Surly steel 17t
Crank & BB: SRAM S1400 175mm crankset
Chainring: SRAM X-sync direct mount steel 28t
Chain: SRAM PC1

XTR Dynasys + Genvenalle/Microshift, 1×10

My dropbar 650b MTB drivetrain is built around a particularly nice 10-speed Dynasys XTR rear derailleur. Most (all?) of my other bikes have mid-tier components, but I was given this XTR derailleur and had some fun with it. I’ve swapped the standard derailleur link for a Wolf Tooth Goatlink to accommodate the larger 11-42t cassette. The cheap and somewhat heavy Deore M4100 11-42t cassette works well and works just as well as the previous XT plus Wolf Tooth 42t cog it replaced.

This bike has been through several configurations, and the current Gevenalle GX shifters are the second set from Gevenalle. I swapped the old Gevenalle with mechanical disc brake setup for the GX’s TRP Hylex-based levers and callipers. The Gevenalle-modified Microshift 10-speed MTB/Dynasys thumb shifter works well and shifts faster than any STI or RapidFire system. Overall, this is a very satisfying and reliable drivetrain.

Rear Derailleur: Shimano XTR M986 10-speed, plus Wolf Tooth Goat Link
Cassette: Shimano M4100 11-42, 10-speed
Shifter: Gevenalle GX levers (TRP Hylex and adapted Microshift thumb shifters)
Crank & BB: Shimano XTR M9120, 10-speed, Shimano Saint BB
Chainring: Wolf Tooth 36t direct mount
Chain: Shimano HG95, 10-speed

SRAM Eagle X01/XX1, 1×12

An Eagle mechanical drivetrain on my rainbow Canyon Lux CF SL 8.0. Not much to say here, it’s a pretty standard SRAM Eagle configuration, except for perhaps the oval chainring, and it all works as reliably as anything. Downsides? The $750AUD cassette is obnoxious, but it is rainbow and complements the frame nicely.

Rear Derailleur: SRAM Eagle X01
Cassette: SRAM Eagle XX1
Shifter: SRAM Eagle X01
Crank & BB: SRAM Eagle XX1 with a broken Quarq power meter
Chainring: Wolf Tooth 36t oval
Chain: SRAM X01

Nexus 7, 1×7

My utility ebike has the drivetrain it came with from new. The Giant/Yamaha drivetrain uses a Nexus 7 internally-geared hub that mostly works, but does occasionally hang between shifts and needs a little backpedal for encouragement. The shifter feels cheap, the ‘1’ and ‘7’ in the chosen font are difficult to distinguish, but it works.

Rear Hub: Nexus 7
Cassette: NA
Shifter: Nexus 7 grip shift
Crank & BB: Some cheap crank arms bolted to a Yamaha mid-drive
Chainring: Round with some teeth, but it’s hidden behind a chainguard
Chain: I checked, it’s a very dusty KMC

LX/XT, 3×8

A few years ago I rebuilt my old 1995 StumpJumper M2. When I bought this bike new in the spring of 1995 it came with a 3×8, predominantly Deore XT drivetrain, save the GripShifts, but I had some integrated XT (M738?) Rapidfire shift/brake levers swapped on at purchase.

The M2 is now roughly similar to its original setup, but now with a mix of Deore LX, XT and Paul’s brakes and levers. I do have a full Deore XT M739 drivetrain and brakes in a box that I’ll likely swap on at some point.

Impressions? Clutches are a great innovation and the chain slap from these old drivetrains is way noisier than you may remember.

Rear Derailleur: Deore LX M560
Cassette: Shimano HG51 11-32
Shifters: Deore LX M569
Crank & BB: Deore XT M751
Chainrings: Deore XT/LX
Chain: Shimano 8-speed; and too dusty to read the plates…

Force 22, 2×11

I installed this 11-speed SRAM drivetrain on my old 2001 Gunnar Crosshairs in 2015 and it’s been very reliable, very durable, and very good. The rear derailleur was replaced after the original developed an annoying squeak after being submerged in a flood, the chainrings are new, and the remainder is original aside from the chain. No complaints here, it’s great and I vastly prefer the shifting and lever feel over anything dropbar from Shimano.

The Crosshairs is a rim brake bike, and I’ve used a variety of cantilevers and now mini-vs on this one. I don’t recall the original cantilevers, probably something Tektro, but I had Paul’s Neo Retro/Touring cantis for several years. They were pretty good, but the setup was finicky and I wanted more power. I swapped to Paul’s Minimotos along with this drivetrain in 2015. I initially had a lot of trouble chasing a chattering front brake and ultimately solved the issue swapping the included MTB brake pads for a some shorter cartridge road pads. All of the brakes from Paul’s are good, but the Minimotos are the best.

Rear Derailleur: SRAM Force 22 Wifli/medium cage
Cassette: Shimano Ultegra R8000 11-32
Shifter: SRAM Force 22 DoubleTap
Crank & BB: SRAM Force 22 172.5mm crank and SRAM GXP BSA BB
Chainring: SRAM Force 22 50/34
Chain: Shimano HG701 Ultegra 11-speed

Ultegra, 2x(mostly)11

I’m currently building a couple bikes. This one, a pretty traditional 2x road build, is based largely on Shimano Ultegra R8000. I don’t have much to say about this one at this stage, but I expect it to work and not require much attention.

The rear derailleur is Ultegra 11-speed, but the medium cage with a clutch proto-GRX Ultegra RX800. I’m planning on pairing it with either an 11-32, 11-34, or 11-36 XT/Ultegra cassette.

The crank, a 12-speed Ultegra R8100, is the more-likely-to-remain-a-crank-shaped-object than the matching R8000. I considered the recall replacement FC-08, but the mismatched 11-speed chainrings on the clearly 12-speed crank arm is annoying and a non-starter.

Rear Derailleur: Shimano Ultegra RX800, medium cage with a clutch, 11-speed
Cassette: TBD, 11-speed
Shifter: Shimano Ultegra R8000, 11-speed
Crank & BB: Shimano Ultegra R8100, 12-speed
Chainrings: Shimano Ultegra R8100 50/34, 12-speed
Chain: Shimano XT M8100, 12-speed

XT/GRX/Ultegra-ish, 1×11

This is the second bike in process. This dropbar 29er is a bit of an 11-speed mullet with non-series RS685 Ultegra-adjacent road shifters, gravel GRX rear derailleur, MTB crank, and MTB cassette.

I’ve ridden this one a few times, and initial impressions are pretty good. The 11-speed GRX derailleur shifts well, the range is great, and the brakes are outstanding. The RS685 levers have a nice shape, but are fairly rattly over rough terrain. I’ve swapped bars the traditional bars already for some old Salsa Cowchippers with some more flare, and I image there will be further adjustments.

Rear Derailleur: Shimano GRX RX812, 11-speed
Cassette: Shimano XT M8000 11-42, 11-speed
Shifter: Shimano ST-RS685 Ultegra-ish, 11-speed
Crank & BB: Shimano XT M780, ext. BB
Chainring: NSB 38t
Chain: Shimano HG701 LX/XT/Ultegra/etc.