Lighter cassette with linkglide?

[Suns_PSD]

Yah, at $84 for the silver one, it ain't made of titanium.

I wish it was as it's 400 grams heavier than my Sram 11sp as it is.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/microshift-advent-mx-drivetrain-wide-range-11-speed-low-price.html

 

[TheKaiser]

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/microshift-advent-mx-drivetrain-wide-range-11-speed-low-price.html

Yeah, I was just going to paste that link too! Looks like their Advent MX HG 11-50 Linkglide compatible cassette is 130-140g lighter than the Shimano 700 series model, which is pretty darn good. It looks like they achieved the savings in part by using aluminum for the larger 2 cogs, so I wouldn't expect them to be as durable as Shimano's all steel setup, but thats a tradeoff most high end cassettes make, and these things are very reasonably priced too which somewhat compensates for a shorter service life in my book, vs. something like an XTR cassette.

I noticed in the article Microshift claims 6x better durability for Advent MX (they don't say what they're comparing it to but I'm guessing their regular Advent X), and they also say that in their internal tests it outlasted the "Cues" Linkglide cassettes, so good stuff all around. Shimano claims 300% better durability on Linkglide vs. HG, so make of that what you will in terms of what it's saying in regard to the respective durability of each brand's Linkglide and regular offerings.

 

[zizajaun]

Yeah, I was just going to paste that link too! Looks like their Advent MX HG 11-50 Linkglide compatible cassette is 130-140g lighter than the Shimano 700 series model, which is pretty darn good. It looks like they achieved the savings in part by using aluminum for the larger 2 cogs, so I wouldn't expect them to be as durable as Shimano's all steel setup, but thats a tradeoff most high end cassettes make, and these things are very reasonably priced too which somewhat compensates for a shorter service life in my book, vs. something like an XTR cassette.

I noticed in the article Microshift claims 6x better durability for Advent MX (they don't say what they're comparing it to but I'm guessing their regular Advent X), and they also say that in their internal tests it outlasted the "Cues" Linkglide cassettes, so good stuff all around. Shimano claims 300% better durability on Linkglide vs. HG, so make of that what you will in terms of what it's saying in regard to the respective durability of each brand's Linkglide and regular offerings.

They said "similar" durability to Linkglide.

 

[TheKaiser]

They said "similar" durability to Linkglide.View attachment 178407

Yeah, they could have been a little more clear about the durability characteristics but you can figure out what they mean by looking at the tables comparing the individual cog materials. They also should specify that the XD model is the same cog material split as the "E-series" (which includes both the EG and and EH), as they kind of make it sound like it maybe isn't as durable by not specifically mentioning it in relation to the E-series, but they both have 7 "chromoly" cogs which is where they state the enhanced durability is coming from. The H-series, on the other hand, uses all plain steel. And then the difference between the EG and EH series is the EG uses an aluminum spider to cut weight, but I'd expect the actual durability of the teeth to be the same as EH.

Regarding the durability vs. CUES, I was basing my statement of Microshift claiming better durability on the following comment of theirs. In reality, while I don't know what kind of steel Shimano is using, I'd imagine that which is more durable would probably depend on which of the cogs you are running the test on. Microshift might be more durable on the cro-mo cogs, but CUES might be more durable on the cogs were Microshift is using plain steel or aluminum:

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

I just sent Garbaruk an email suggesting they consider making a lightweight Linkglide-compatible cassette. I'll let update the thread if I hear anything significant back from them. Linkglide width cogs but with a 1 piece weight conscious machined design sounds pretty sweet to me in terms of a "best of both worlds" durability and weight.

Also, I should mention, for anyone considering their cassettes for e-bikes, I just noticed in their tech info that they specifically say their older 11spd and 12spd cassettes are not intended for e-bike use. The only e-bike approved cassettes they offer are their new "2.0" 12 and 13 speed models, which also have refined tooth shaping for better shifting. I also asked them if they plan to similarly update any of the HG/XD 11spd stuff.

UPDATE: I heard back from Garbaruk, and they actually said that, contrary to their website, their older cassettes are e-bike compatible. They also said they are looking at making a Linkglide version, possibly by this Summer, so good stuff all around! Here is the relevant part of their reply:

"Actually all of our cassettes, including 11sp are e-bike compatible

We just warn our customers with similar inquiries they should take care of the drivetrain and treat the cassette like a standard one. The point is that e-bike riders usually use 1 or 2 gears, which leads to premature wear, they don't clean the bike and don't grease the chain.
But with a proper care the cassette will serve at least 2 years

As to cassette compatible with Shimano Linkglide system, we were thinking about it as well, but unfortunately we are limited in human resources, so the earliest we get to it is May-June 2026"

I wonder if this got any traction with Garbaruk...

I'm only at 230 miles/50k vert on my Norco Range and I've been noticing a lot more chain slap, ghost shifting under rough terrain and more "popping/crunching" noises.

Recent chain wear check indicates between 0.5-0.75% wear at the quick-link and few surrounding links, otherwise the rest of the chain is less than 0.5%, but close. There's also a decent amount of lateral wear too.

In addition the RD shows a fair amount of wear/slop at the parallelogram pivots and jockey wheels (bushings). I've only experienced similar parallelogram pivot wear on a XTR RD, which was on an analog enduro bike. That RD also had likely over 1000 miles on it and my first hint was ghost shifting under rough terrain. Otherwise, RDs generally die yearly from impacts on my bikes.

I've run Shimano 12spd XT on analog bikes for nearly 5 years across multiple bikes. This Norco has a deore level 12spd cassette, RD and chain. I'm kind of surprised at the amount of wear already. My last eMTB had a NX cassette, Shimano deore RD and NX chain , but I only had it for a few months and ~500 miles. On that bike a stick took out the RD and chain, before I noticed wear.

Now I'm wondering which direction I should take once the drivetrain fully gives out... I've ridden transmission briefly and it was okay. I was more annoyed with the shifter pod setup and lack of tactile feedback that you've selected another gear and then subsequent delay in actual shift. I'm sure I could adapt and overcome.

I've also taken out quite a few RDs over the years and those were strictly on 29ers... now this Norco is Mx and so far knock on wood its been fine, but instead its worn out in 2 months of riding.

I wonder how much shorter the cage on the Linkglide RD is than the long 12spd cages? LG uses HG driver, so a steel one would be preferred. 11T is the smallest, so your giving up some speed. I don't need a 50T granny as long as my battery isn't dead or limping in ECO. With the steepest climbs here, 34/45 works with power available on CX.