Put on a new chain at STR maint clinic due to bad jumping on rear cassette. Now the chain won't stay on any of the middle gears. I have to ride the two Hi or jump to the two LO. (only 1 ride on the loop like this). I need a cassete (2,500 miles on the old one, an entry level SRAM). Economy = now $$ and Im considering the SLX HG61, any comments on this product ? XT seems to be a good choice but at $80 it's steep for my budget. I saw the SLX-HG61 online for $39.98.
The new SLX stuff is pretty nice. You can't go wrong there. Before you swap it out though, does the skipping in the middle gears happen on every chainring? It could be a worn chainring causing the skip too.
I normally change everything that touches the chain, including the chain, at the same time. If not, you're asking for either premature wear or bad shifting.
Skipping Not sure how to ref the rear gears but here goes. Big (34T) --- Small (11T) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Before chain swap, would skip in 3 and 4 under moderate pressure. Chain swap adjusted all gears, shifted nicely on the bike stand. First ride gears 3 - 7 all skip with any pressure. I'll shop for best price on an SLX 34T cassette.
Do they skip on every chainring (front gears) too? Sometimes a skipping chainring can make it seem like the cassette is skipping.
Older review I saw this article and they do not recommend the lower end SRAM. Thats why I was looking at an SLX, since shimano makes the XT/XTR and this might be nearly as good at a better price point (just heavier) http://www.eyebike.com/articles/11.html
Every time I have put I new chain on I have had to replace cassette and chainrings. Just replaced the drive train on the RIP yesterday, got almost two years out of the old one. I draw the line at the forth powerlink. Tried to reuse the granny gear but I could feel the a hear that it was off a bit. Having all new drivetrain is sweet. Dean
I also was considering the SLX. But the LBS had SRAM 980 for $50 bucks. It weighs only 10g heavier than the XT. So far so good.
Opps, I think it was a 980. I think I got it for $45 at the Path. It was the model below the one with the red spider. Still has a an aluminum carrier. Nice. Hope it holds up as good as my XT.
the 980 is lame... only the big 3 gears are on a carrier... where as the 990 has like the big 5 or 6 on the carrier... i broke a 980... :/
Well, I'll cross my fingers Chewy and hope I don't develop your megaton torque. If it breaks I'll post up about it's lameness.
Wouldn't hurt to check the new chain closely for a stiff link. It happens. There are lots of little things to check before just throwing money at it until it stops. If you are not using an aluminum freehub body, then the advice to not use the 950 cassette doesn't really apply to your situation. If you got 2500 miles out of the original, then I see no reason you should steer clear of another of the same thing.
On my outdated bike (7 speed rear), I've been forced to go from a snobby and lightweight XTR setup to XT, then to LX, and now to STX in discontinued bins just to find parts. What I've found through this pain is (1) I need to pony up for a modern bike; (2) the cheaper you go the heavier things are; and (3) the cheaper you go the less finicky things are. The lower end stuff is heavy but very reliable. It doesn't shift as smoothly as a well tuned XT/XTR groupo, but it also doesn't need much maintenance or regular tuning. Plus, there is much more weight savings to be had in areas like your tires, your cranks, and your pot belly that will have more effect than on your drivetrain.
