I was hoping so badly for Craig to say something along the lines of "use whatever is on there" and it was literally his first suggestion. Nailed it!! Could not agree more.
For my retro mtb builds and builds in general the goal is capability, efficiency and affordability. I have come to the conclusion that 2x9 Shimano combined with the ubiquitous four bolt double bcd crank will check all those boxes. 9 speed is a sweet spot for price, range and compatibility (road and mtb have the same pull rates so you can use brifters with mtb derailluers as they have the same pull rates). The four bolt crank is cheap, offers several different bb options and almost endless ring options. I really like 11-34 cassette paired with something like a 22 or 24t low and a 32t up to a 38t high up front. A trail gear and a highway gear. 2x also elminates the need for a clutched rear mech. And truth be told I'm not a big fan of 1x. I think they look out of place on vintage mtbs and in general I don't like the big gear steps. Food for thought! Anyways I like your builds and follow you on YT and IG! Take care!
@aceprater5397 with the right gearing I can achieve well over 500% gear range on a 2x so there's really no need for 3x. And 3x was really devised to ad low end to touring bikes back in the 6 speed cluster era. When you get into 9 (and maybe even 8) you have enough gears to have the same range.
I have a shimano hack. Use Acera M3020. It has 45t capacity. I took that from Path less pedaled, it is a cheap mech that can handle huge range of gears.
My Giant Sedona has its original 3×7 ... and you're right it work fine. But I keep thinking about upgrading it to something with a bit more range. It's got a totally sufficient Shimano Tourney rear derailleur, last year I changed the grip shifters to clicky-clicks, but ... I just checked the chain - worn out ... and before I spend money on it I thought to check listings ... and people are selling used Deore and Deore XT groupsets for under $200 Canadian. More appealing yet, for $180 a guy is selling a slightly upgraded version of the drivetrain on my mountain bike ... so I could upgrade my mountain bike and then put a 1×11 on the Sedona ... which would feel pretty chill.
For 8 speed, the Shimano Altus m310 is absolute bullet proof. I absolutely love S-Ride 10 speed, shifts like a dream. I recently picked up a Shimano Deore M4100 derailleur and shifter for £40.
Shimano Diore 10 speed- $20. Can be used on everything from 5-10 speed depending on the shifter. You can add a QUALITY clutch for $10. Sram X series and others don't look retro and the model/brand didn't exist in the 80s/90s, but Diore has been around since the beginning. You can get them in silver for a more retro look or black for a more updated look. My Go-To😋
I've had good luck with a MicroSHIFT Acolyte 8 speed setup on a retro 26er. With the short cage (w/clutch) and 11-38 cassette it gives pretty good range and no low hanging hardware.
I'm running their 9 speed advent short cage 11-38, hasn't given me any trouble really running it 1x9. The clutch is nice, ans I just got a narrow wide so I shouldn't get anymore chain drop
I was running 11-42 advent on an old hard rock. I loved it but did feel like the cage was a touch too long. 40t ring so I could go fast and cruise around, while also having that little bit of underdrive so I could climb anything around me. Once I hit the bike park, it started showing its weaknesses. Still recomend it.
In parallel with epic Eric on Spindatt (I took part in his basher trash competition last year) is "Path Less Pedaled" hosted by Russ Roca (in the process of moving to Spain) and his episode "Why Bike Parts are Disappearing" , interviewing Grant Paterson where they told of the derrailleur being perfected at the end of the 80's! If you want Shimano the Acera or Altus line of derrailleurs are pretty universal robust simple and compliant, even going up to 9 speed, which is sort of the most gears you get before brands, road and MTB, sort of part with sharing the same ratio between shifters and derraileurs.
I fitted a Btwin 9 speed derailleur to a 80s Raleigh Winner which I converted from a racing bike to a long distance Audax bike. It was originally just to get me by until I was able to upgrade, but it works so flawlessly well that I've decided to keep it on the bike. I got it in Decathlon, for anyone interested. Great video...glad to see you're over COVID . Keep up the good work.
Glad you mentioned single speeds, I was about to chime in with the virtues of single speed riding and you covered it. My recent video , covers me and my chum on a 25 mile single speed gad about. It's a simpler cruise. I like old all metal derailleurs you can make all shiny. Then I put them away in a draw and ride single speed...
I'm still on 7x3 Shimano's with biopace up front ;) 400 LX 500 LX Mountain LX Deore LX STX RC Pro My go to deralliers, all bullet proof, using 400 LX and Mountain LX on my 1989 Giant and 1996 GT, both work faultlessly (Mountain LX one is 34 years old and done 1000's of miles) off road, canal path and road they are all absolutely brilliant
Thanks Craig! As someone who you’ve inspired to get into building bikes it’s great to have videos like this that talk about how to move from easy (single speed) to the next step (multi-speed). Keep the part specific videos coming!
My "around town" build: - 1999 Schwinn Mesa GSX converted to 1x. - IXF crankset with 32 T narrow/wide oval chainring. - Shimano Hollowtech II bottom bracket. - Microshift Acolyte 8 speed shifter and long cage derailleur (with spring lock clutch). - Sunrace 11-40 cassette - 700 mm wide bars with 90 mm rise. - Postmodern suspension seat post. - 26" x 2.4" Maxxis Holy Rollers on the factory rims. It's such a fun bike as it is but would like to come across a decent set of double wall wheels to replace the single wall ones that came on it.
Total digg... I was about to buy a new der for my old 8 spd. I took some gasoline and an old toothbrush to the rear der and its now sparling and works like new. I had a lot of buildup junk/crud build up between the back cage body and the spring. Once that was out. all good. I prefer the NOS XT and XTR stuff.
I built myself a restomod racing bike. 6 speed Shimano 105 rear derailleur and front derailleur, 7 speed Shimano 105 downtube shifters, 8 speed Shimano cassette at the rear and a new Stronglight crankset at the front. What can I say? It works perfectly
I don't know what I got on my bike, but if I go through my husband's workshop, I find boxes over boxes with "Acera" written on it. So I think that's what he puts on most of his builds. Or it is probably some kind of weird fetish 😁
Any derailleur with a long cage and a friction shifter, either old Suntour or newish Rivendell/Diacompe will work fine for non-racing situations. The old 9 speed Shimano Rapid Rise derailleurs that start in the lowest gear, when your cable snaps, are my favorites but getting hard to find. Rivendell is developing their own, hopefully some day it will be available.
Shimano 2x9 is the sweet spot for me Deore M592 RD with Sora R3000 series shifters and FD. More of a gravel/winter road setup with an 11-36 in the rear and 48-32 up front on a Deore M6100 12 speed crank with an AliExpress shimano direct mount to 4x104bcd spider
My sweet spot is a 11x36 cassette and the Deore rd-m592 sgs it's not retro but i build my bike 3 years ago and i never set it again,and schifts smoooth on a 3x9 ATB❤
Friction shifting is very easy to set and use, it's very robust. I have an altus on a 1X4 which covers most situations 🤔 but if i went 3X4 I'd have 12 speeds and no cross chaining 😀
@@tmayberry7559 4 speeds at the back from a cassette 12/15/17/19, or there abouts with 32 out the front. Originally I was going to have two speeds, like a single speed with a bail out but four it is.
I just found myself a good deal on an old raleigh amazon. It’s running a 3x7 right now but I hate a front derailleur so I’m gonna try to make it run a 10s deore with a new wheelset 😎
Question: I am currently using the drive train that was on the bike. Works great. It has a derailleur like the one you show at 2:36 . It is mounted the exact same way. My question is: If I ever plan on changing the drive train to a modern 1 by 8 let’s say, could I even mount a SRAM X3 or whatever on that type of frame? Or are there adapter plates or something ? Because the modern ones alsway seem to mount on that separate mount. Maybe an stupid question but it‘s my first project and I want to learn as much as I can.
Great channel. I've been slowly been building up a 90s Mongoose Sycamore. I've recently put a Shimano Cues 10s, but have been pulling my hair out with the B screw not aligning with the stop on the frame. Is this something you've come across before? Do you have any suggestions?
I'd love to do a resto mod and put on an 8 speed but the used bikes in my market don't have cassette's but 6 or 7 speed free wheels. They're good bikes and it's pretty flat where I live so it all works but I'd love one of those large range cassettes on a bike.
I have a qurstion for you. I have a very old bike i bought to learn on. It currently has a 1 piece crank. I want to make it into a 1 by whatever. I plan to put in a european bottom bracket so that i can use more modern crankset and have the ability of playing around with different crank lengths. Im liking the microshift derailure and cassette you feature in your video even if i have to change the back wheel to make it work. So do you think this could be a good way to go or am i missing something im not considering. I paid 10 us dollars and it isnt a super high quality bike.
Curious what implications there are with putting an external bearing bottom bracket on a vintage bike frame. I assume it transfers the forces further outwards. Can this be risky on a vintage frame?
i recently picked up 3 from the local bike collective. I've not put them on anything yet, but they look amazing. Now if i could just find the shifters.
I have a silly question... sort of... So i have a bicycle shaped piece of rust, that was already a bicycle shaped piece of rust when i liberated it off the street 10 or so years ago, i mean, it's a recovery, but it was clearly very very abandoned, it was parked in front of a store which was unoccupied for years, so they never cleaned out their bike rack, and the chain was one solid piece of rust, the everything was a solid piece of rust, no seat adjustment possible, no handlebar adjustment possible, all rusted solid, for sure abandoned for 4+ years by my estimate back then and now i'm thinking more than 10, some youngster used to own this and then moved away probably. It's sort of a mountainbike... except it's not, more of a youth bike... anyway i got it going, rode it around for a while, then i wasn't around for a number of years, now i'm back, and... i'm ashamed to say i haven't addressed all the rust when i first got it, so well i'm struggling to unseize things, but i suppose worst case i can just engage sheer violence and then replace parts. Among all other sorts of things, while i'm working on it, i'm wondering, why don't i switch out the rear derailleur? Not that there's anything horribly wrong with the current one... 3x7 drivetrain, the usual, freewheel with not too much wear, spins OK, and when i replace it, it's going to be 7 or 8 speed not sure when, nothing too different. The derailleur is a ty22 it's... fine i guess? By that i mean there's nothing mechanically wrong with it. I don't think it came from this bike, but from another piece of rust, the rust on this piece of rust was too thick. But i mean i could swap it out, not sure why. I'm keeping the shifters! I put the EF51 shifters back then 10 years ago because i felt i had to for some reason, maybe to give myself something without obvious decay to grab, i came to like them, and while i have to replace them... well i have to replace the top plates, they got eaten by sunlight, since i don't live in the UK, but i'll just buy a set of identical ones, keep the rest of them for spare parts. So i'm not putting an sram derailleur on it. I don't know what i want or expect of it, but i guess rain and mud resilience would be good. I've heard that say tx800 is supposed to be "better" than the derailleur that's currently on the bike for example but i have no idea what that means, except it's not hideously expensive. Or there's like a million others that i could put on.
I have my SRAM X-3 on my 9 speed for years and it works perfectly, but I constantly hear people say it’s a 7-8 speed derailleur, does anyone know anything about that?
don't try single speed. waste of time and money. best to learn about derailleurs, they're easy once you have a go. You get more flexibility in your riding.
I've seen that @garys.projects, @toastyrides and @2ndlifebikes are all addicted to evaporate. Have you ever thought about running an experiment to see if other stuff works? Maybe a long rusty chain in evaporust vs vinegar vs coke to highlight some cheaper options.
I was hoping so badly for Craig to say something along the lines of "use whatever is on there" and it was literally his first suggestion. Nailed it!! Could not agree more.
Cheers dude!
For my retro mtb builds and builds in general the goal is capability, efficiency and affordability. I have come to the conclusion that 2x9 Shimano combined with the ubiquitous four bolt double bcd crank will check all those boxes. 9 speed is a sweet spot for price, range and compatibility (road and mtb have the same pull rates so you can use brifters with mtb derailluers as they have the same pull rates). The four bolt crank is cheap, offers several different bb options and almost endless ring options. I really like 11-34 cassette paired with something like a 22 or 24t low and a 32t up to a 38t high up front. A trail gear and a highway gear. 2x also elminates the need for a clutched rear mech. And truth be told I'm not a big fan of 1x. I think they look out of place on vintage mtbs and in general I don't like the big gear steps. Food for thought! Anyways I like your builds and follow you on YT and IG! Take care!
do you like 3x9 setups? If your going to have a Fr der/shifter its a very small weight penalty for another bailout gear. I normally ride old 3x8s.
@aceprater5397 with the right gearing I can achieve well over 500% gear range on a 2x so there's really no need for 3x. And 3x was really devised to ad low end to touring bikes back in the 6 speed cluster era. When you get into 9 (and maybe even 8) you have enough gears to have the same range.
I have a shimano hack. Use Acera M3020. It has 45t capacity. I took that from Path less pedaled, it is a cheap mech that can handle huge range of gears.
2nd for M3020, cracking rear mech!
3x7 works great and you should not have a problem getting around with it.
It works great for a commuter or something like that. But mountain biking in a forrest? No thanks! Spoiled by clutched 1x !
My issue with 7 speed is freehub spacers rust/corrode and crack or they ruin the chain line.
My Giant Sedona has its original 3×7 ... and you're right it work fine. But I keep thinking about upgrading it to something with a bit more range. It's got a totally sufficient Shimano Tourney rear derailleur, last year I changed the grip shifters to clicky-clicks, but ... I just checked the chain - worn out ... and before I spend money on it I thought to check listings ... and people are selling used Deore and Deore XT groupsets for under $200 Canadian. More appealing yet, for $180 a guy is selling a slightly upgraded version of the drivetrain on my mountain bike ... so I could upgrade my mountain bike and then put a 1×11 on the Sedona ... which would feel pretty chill.
“The one that’s on the bike…”
YES!
For 8 speed, the Shimano Altus m310 is absolute bullet proof. I absolutely love S-Ride 10 speed, shifts like a dream. I recently picked up a Shimano Deore M4100 derailleur and shifter for £40.
+1 for Shimano Altus. Been running 1 for 10 years... never had any issue.
With a goat link can run a 40t cassette no problems.
Shimano Diore 10 speed- $20. Can be used on everything from 5-10 speed depending on the shifter. You can add a QUALITY clutch for $10. Sram X series and others don't look retro and the model/brand didn't exist in the 80s/90s, but Diore has been around since the beginning. You can get them in silver for a more retro look or black for a more updated look. My Go-To😋
I've had good luck with a MicroSHIFT Acolyte 8 speed setup on a retro 26er. With the short cage (w/clutch) and 11-38 cassette it gives pretty good range and no low hanging hardware.
I'm running their 9 speed advent short cage 11-38, hasn't given me any trouble really running it 1x9. The clutch is nice, ans I just got a narrow wide so I shouldn't get anymore chain drop
I was running 11-42 advent on an old hard rock. I loved it but did feel like the cage was a touch too long. 40t ring so I could go fast and cruise around, while also having that little bit of underdrive so I could climb anything around me. Once I hit the bike park, it started showing its weaknesses. Still recomend it.
In parallel with epic Eric on Spindatt (I took part in his basher trash competition last year) is "Path Less Pedaled" hosted by Russ Roca (in the process of moving to Spain) and his episode "Why Bike Parts are Disappearing" , interviewing Grant Paterson where they told of the derrailleur being perfected at the end of the 80's! If you want Shimano the Acera or Altus line of derrailleurs are pretty universal robust simple and compliant, even going up to 9 speed, which is sort of the most gears you get before brands, road and MTB, sort of part with sharing the same ratio between shifters and derraileurs.
Yup. Acera M3020. 😊
The Shimano STX is a winner. Two tone metal finish. Nice shape.
Stx rc is a jump up again
I fitted a Btwin 9 speed derailleur to a 80s Raleigh Winner which I converted from a racing bike to a long distance Audax bike. It was originally just to get me by until I was able to upgrade, but it works so flawlessly well that I've decided to keep it on the bike. I got it in Decathlon, for anyone interested. Great video...glad to see you're over COVID . Keep up the good work.
@connyconiglione yes... I think you're right 👍
Glad you mentioned single speeds, I was about to chime in with the virtues of single speed riding and you covered it. My recent video , covers me and my chum on a 25 mile single speed gad about. It's a simpler cruise.
I like old all metal derailleurs you can make all shiny. Then I put them away in a draw and ride single speed...
I'm still on 7x3 Shimano's with biopace up front ;)
400 LX
500 LX
Mountain LX
Deore LX
STX RC Pro
My go to deralliers, all bullet proof, using 400 LX and Mountain LX on my 1989 Giant and 1996 GT, both work faultlessly (Mountain LX one is 34 years old and done 1000's of miles) off road, canal path and road they are all absolutely brilliant
Thanks Craig! As someone who you’ve inspired to get into building bikes it’s great to have videos like this that talk about how to move from easy (single speed) to the next step (multi-speed). Keep the part specific videos coming!
I’m using a Shimano Acera M360. 7/8 speed, 34T max cog and 43T capacity iirc! Got it for $5 USD at my local co-op, works great!
My "around town" build:
- 1999 Schwinn Mesa GSX converted to 1x.
- IXF crankset with 32 T narrow/wide oval chainring.
- Shimano Hollowtech II bottom bracket.
- Microshift Acolyte 8 speed shifter and long cage derailleur (with spring lock clutch).
- Sunrace 11-40 cassette
- 700 mm wide bars with 90 mm rise.
- Postmodern suspension seat post.
- 26" x 2.4" Maxxis Holy Rollers on the factory rims.
It's such a fun bike as it is but would like to come across a decent set of double wall wheels to replace the single wall ones that came on it.
All the gears and plenty of ideas! 👍
Total digg... I was about to buy a new der for my old 8 spd. I took some gasoline and an old toothbrush to the rear der and its now sparling and works like new. I had a lot of buildup junk/crud build up between the back cage body and the spring. Once that was out. all good. I prefer the NOS XT and XTR stuff.
Love some shimano 9 speed myself. the pricing is good in Australia for replacement parts😊
I built myself a restomod racing bike.
6 speed Shimano 105 rear derailleur and front derailleur, 7 speed Shimano 105 downtube shifters, 8 speed Shimano cassette at the rear and a new Stronglight crankset at the front.
What can I say?
It works perfectly
I don't know what I got on my bike, but if I go through my husband's workshop, I find boxes over boxes with "Acera" written on it. So I think that's what he puts on most of his builds. Or it is probably some kind of weird fetish 😁
Any derailleur with a long cage and a friction shifter, either old Suntour or newish Rivendell/Diacompe will work fine for non-racing situations. The old 9 speed Shimano Rapid Rise derailleurs that start in the lowest gear, when your cable snaps, are my favorites but getting hard to find. Rivendell is developing their own, hopefully some day it will be available.
Does the newer rear derailleurs screw settings fit on 1980 road bikes?
Shimano 2x9 is the sweet spot for me Deore M592 RD with Sora R3000 series shifters and FD. More of a gravel/winter road setup with an 11-36 in the rear and 48-32 up front on a Deore M6100 12 speed crank with an AliExpress shimano direct mount to 4x104bcd spider
Stx rc rear derailleur are bullet proof and look possibly the best on a vintage bike all polished up.
Thanks for the great video! Could you please do one on your experience with 1x cranksets and narrow wide chainrings?
Wish more vids like this existed
My sweet spot is a 11x36 cassette and the Deore rd-m592 sgs it's not retro but i build my bike 3 years ago and i never set it again,and schifts smoooth on a 3x9 ATB❤
In a world with MicroSHIFT Advent, what else do we need?
Friction shifting is very easy to set and use, it's very robust. I have an altus on a 1X4 which covers most situations 🤔 but if i went 3X4 I'd have 12 speeds and no cross chaining 😀
Are you saying you only have 4 gears in the back. Wow. What's your highest and lowest gear in the back? Freewheel or cassette?
It is not for everyone, but there is something magical on using a thumbie with friction with pretty much any mech you want.
@@tmayberry7559 4 speeds at the back from a cassette 12/15/17/19, or there abouts with 32 out the front. Originally I was going to have two speeds, like a single speed with a bail out but four it is.
Cool video man 🤙🏼 I love the old school original type of derailers with thumb shifters
I'm a fan of the retro shimano deore they work and have a great look that matches that retro look
7-8 speed Shimano XT long cage derailleurs are bomb proof and totally restorable.
Great shout!! I actually have a couple I’m going to restore for an upcoming build.
I just found myself a good deal on an old raleigh amazon. It’s running a 3x7 right now but I hate a front derailleur so I’m gonna try to make it run a 10s deore with a new wheelset 😎
I bet you can stretch that rear triangle out to fit an 8 spd. That will get you a lot more wheel/cassette options.
Best, no holds barred , bomb proof, reliable, put it on and forget it...Shimano Eagle. You can still find new old stock at hair pulling prices.
Question: I am currently using the drive train that was on the bike. Works great. It has a derailleur like the one you show at 2:36 . It is mounted the exact same way. My question is: If I ever plan on changing the drive train to a modern 1 by 8 let’s say, could I even mount a SRAM X3 or whatever on that type of frame? Or are there adapter plates or something ? Because the modern ones alsway seem to mount on that separate mount. Maybe an stupid question but it‘s my first project and I want to learn as much as I can.
Thanks for the Spindatt tip. Will check out. Any updates on your podcast or any you recommend? Or other UA-cam channels?
Great info! Thanks for sharing🙏
Great channel. I've been slowly been building up a 90s Mongoose Sycamore. I've recently put a Shimano Cues 10s, but have been pulling my hair out with the B screw not aligning with the stop on the frame. Is this something you've come across before? Do you have any suggestions?
Cheers, from Australia 🦘
I'd love to do a resto mod and put on an 8 speed but the used bikes in my market don't have cassette's but 6 or 7 speed free wheels. They're good bikes and it's pretty flat where I live so it all works but I'd love one of those large range cassettes on a bike.
You can get 8 speed freewheels. I used one last year on my nephew's Apollo. I've seen them with 40t.
I’ll have to look into that. Thank you.
@@johnbrann75 the 40and 42t by Falcon are a little pricey. The 34t one I used was about £17 from Amazon.
Love your channel. Inspiring me to keep collecting and fixing old bikes. I’m curious, how many bikes do you have?
I have a qurstion for you. I have a very old bike i bought to learn on. It currently has a 1 piece crank. I want to make it into a 1 by whatever. I plan to put in a european bottom bracket so that i can use more modern crankset and have the ability of playing around with different crank lengths. Im liking the microshift derailure and cassette you feature in your video even if i have to change the back wheel to make it work. So do you think this could be a good way to go or am i missing something im not considering. I paid 10 us dollars and it isnt a super high quality bike.
What's your favorite cassette to run with the MicroSHIFT Advent X?
Shimano m592 is a great super compatible shadow derailleur
Lovely video but I've just realised I've never seen you fit a front derailleur - are they overrated?
Any recommendations for a front 3x to be paired with a 9speed. I was an idiot and broke both my derraileur and shifter with my own stupidity
Curious what implications there are with putting an external bearing bottom bracket on a vintage bike frame. I assume it transfers the forces further outwards. Can this be risky on a vintage frame?
Sram x3 with sunrace friction shifters. Your opinions please.
3:07 where are you getting these free SRAM derailleurs from?
Shimano Deore XT M771 9 Speed Rear mech is a fuckin wonder I own 4 of em can't go wrong
i recently picked up 3 from the local bike collective. I've not put them on anything yet, but they look amazing. Now if i could just find the shifters.
I have a silly question... sort of...
So i have a bicycle shaped piece of rust, that was already a bicycle shaped piece of rust when i liberated it off the street 10 or so years ago, i mean, it's a recovery, but it was clearly very very abandoned, it was parked in front of a store which was unoccupied for years, so they never cleaned out their bike rack, and the chain was one solid piece of rust, the everything was a solid piece of rust, no seat adjustment possible, no handlebar adjustment possible, all rusted solid, for sure abandoned for 4+ years by my estimate back then and now i'm thinking more than 10, some youngster used to own this and then moved away probably. It's sort of a mountainbike... except it's not, more of a youth bike... anyway i got it going, rode it around for a while, then i wasn't around for a number of years, now i'm back, and... i'm ashamed to say i haven't addressed all the rust when i first got it, so well i'm struggling to unseize things, but i suppose worst case i can just engage sheer violence and then replace parts.
Among all other sorts of things, while i'm working on it, i'm wondering, why don't i switch out the rear derailleur? Not that there's anything horribly wrong with the current one... 3x7 drivetrain, the usual, freewheel with not too much wear, spins OK, and when i replace it, it's going to be 7 or 8 speed not sure when, nothing too different. The derailleur is a ty22 it's... fine i guess? By that i mean there's nothing mechanically wrong with it. I don't think it came from this bike, but from another piece of rust, the rust on this piece of rust was too thick. But i mean i could swap it out, not sure why. I'm keeping the shifters! I put the EF51 shifters back then 10 years ago because i felt i had to for some reason, maybe to give myself something without obvious decay to grab, i came to like them, and while i have to replace them... well i have to replace the top plates, they got eaten by sunlight, since i don't live in the UK, but i'll just buy a set of identical ones, keep the rest of them for spare parts. So i'm not putting an sram derailleur on it. I don't know what i want or expect of it, but i guess rain and mud resilience would be good. I've heard that say tx800 is supposed to be "better" than the derailleur that's currently on the bike for example but i have no idea what that means, except it's not hideously expensive. Or there's like a million others that i could put on.
You should put affiliate links to your derailleur pics!
Shimano Alivio is my SRAM X4.
Do you have a link to the speedat video?
ua-cam.com/video/JbUbIY421uU/v-deo.htmlsi=vPp63PVgrzfDXzR5
I have my SRAM X-3 on my 9 speed for years and it works perfectly, but I constantly hear people say it’s a 7-8 speed derailleur, does anyone know anything about that?
falcon
Unless you are adament you wish to tetain original part or you are skint the sram X3 is the way to go. Brand new, high quality and as cheap as chips
Bye
don't try single speed. waste of time and money. best to learn about derailleurs, they're easy once you have a go. You get more flexibility in your riding.
L twoo man
I've seen that @garys.projects, @toastyrides and @2ndlifebikes are all addicted to evaporate. Have you ever thought about running an experiment to see if other stuff works? Maybe a long rusty chain in evaporust vs vinegar vs coke to highlight some cheaper options.