 |
| Shimano XT 11-40 11 speed cassette |
I mean, what if steel prices go bananas? That would make maintaining my "fleet" of bicycles kind of a painful thing. The good news is I essentially had all the bikes on new chains last year, so drive train reliability should be excellent for some time. I even had to put a new crank set on the Tamland. I should be fine for quite awhile now.
But I had itchy fingers so I hopped online late last week and ordered three new chains and two cassettes. My cassettes last and last because I am always flipping wheels in and out of the bikes I own. To wear out a cassette takes some doing then. Chains do not get swapped around nor do they get to sit idle for weeks at a crack, so those I wear out much more quickly. Fortunately, those chains are not all that expensive...yet!
Actually the chains I use are still on sale due to over-inventories of them. I generally like to go with Shimano chains and I have been using 11 speed Ultegra chains, for the most part, with the brief exception of using Wipperman chain during the COVID times. That was due to Shimano chains being unavailable due to high demand at the time.
I do not have a bike with 12 speed. So, I have the liberty to use some lesser expensive 11 speed parts which are usually pretty good quality bits. Like the 11 - 36T SRAM PG 1130, and the XT cassette shown here. Both work on all my gravel bikes. Yes....even on the GRX rear derailleur. Shifts in and out of that 40T cog just fine, thank you!
Anyway, the parts will be here soon. I'll squirrel them away for future usage. How about you? Are you making any preemptive purchases, ya know....just in case?
1 comment:
I won’t lie… I’ve been hoarding Shimano chains and cassettes too. I know I’ll use them, and I’ll have ‘em on hand when they’re needed.
Oh, and the 11-40 on a GRX rear derailleur. Yes! Just add a link or two of chain and adjust the B-tension to suit. Good to go.
Post a Comment