u know ur so worth a membership , i dont have any but, I building a new bike right now its only cost me 780 us , that's very much because of u sir , thank you .
@@kl6336 doesn't matter coupons sales , change the price so much ie the ltwoo hydro r9/rx is 240 today on the 1st when I bought it I got it for 117 it was on sale for 145 , I save more with coins and a 80 off 499 spent there are 3 sales every month , and you can collect coin discounts , and coupons once a month to go with the sale on the 31-8th or so every month , and its not just on bike stuff , THEY KILL AMAZON u can by a small city generator or a house , WITH NO EXARATION
Second this, Built my 500$ dtc frame, most of Luke’s suggestions too. I now have almost a bike under 1500, yes it is a gravel bike, but built it up mostly from parts that I already have. 😅
Just built a Milani ICON from Italy , cost £10,000 but will last 50 years not 12 months if it was Chinese Tech for 10 dollar .....Never buy CCP products ....
I just bought ENT elite wheels last week and have been looking at new cassette for my old wheels (putting gravel tires on them) and you just keep putting out the right content. I hope you realize how valuable your videos have been to all of us just trying to do what we love while saving money for family and some extra bike adventures. Thanks!
I've used the cheap superlight cassette in the last bonus clip in 20+ different bikes from mechanical 105 to dura-ace di2, mostly ultegra di2, without any skipping or durability issues. It takes a tiny bit more time to adjust the derailleurs, especially the B screw, to make it work but ~$45USD for dura-ace weight is a no-brainer for me for every single build. I've recently even tried it on a SRAM build, also works flawlessly.
I stick to cassettes like the 105 for a simple reason. I spend most of my time using the same gears which wear out far quicker than the others. When they're worn out, I change 1 or 2 sprockets instead of a single monoblock-cassette, spending ~10 bucks for essentially having the same performance as a brand new cassette. I do not throw away perfectly fine working parts. The money saved on this is so much that I don't care about the weight.
No one outside of competitions should care about a cassette being 200g or 400g, it's just ridiculous. Buy a decent 10 speed cassette for 50€ and be happy riding.
@mazahaka3691 1 kg is worth about 3.5 watts for an average [watts and weight] amateur going at their FTP on a steep climb. To pay REGULARLY twice more for a 100 g lighter cassette, gaining 0,35 W... is weight weenie territory. :)
I suggest to get a set of Rockwell hardness test files. Alloy composition and heat treatment play a big part in the cassettes durability long-term. In my experience the longer lasting ones had a higher hardness. Alloy composition isn't that easy to test.
Luke really do be edging us with the Wheeltop group set. Jokes aside, I think Cassettes and Wheelsets really do determine how heavy a bike can be. Great video as always!🥖🥖🥖🥖
I recently got the Ztto 11-34t it’s been so good so far. I expect the aluminium cogs to wear out sooner but I calculated that it should last 2 years for the amount I ride. So worth it for my scenario
OMG, just got myself a DuraAce 11~34 12s cassette. Was too concerned about the switching under load and the wear marks. Didn't know how wide the contact points are, thought they would be even slimmer but they look decent in your vid. Great video by the way, definitely earned some 🥖 🥖 🥖🥖
When I bought my 12-speed Dura-Ace groupset back in December 2021, it came with a 11-30T cassette. 11-34T Dura-Ace cassette could not be found anywhere so I ordered a 12-speed ZTTO 11-34T cassette from Aliexpress. That rainbow color ZTTO was incredibly light at 232g but its shifting was absolutely awful. I could adjust the rear derailleur to kind of shift from the biggest cog to the smallest, but then it won't shift back properly from small to big. If I adjusted the RD to allow it to shift from the smallest cog to the largest, it would have issue shifting from big to small. Initially, i thought it was perhaps due to how I had set up the rear derailleur. When I finally got my hands on a 11-34T Dura-Ace cassette, there was zero problem shifting from big to small, and in reverse. As soon as I replaced the Dura-Ace cassette with the ZTTO, the shifting issue I encountered before returned. So don't waste your money on the 12-speed 11-34T ZTTO cassette.
The price of Dura-ace is about 3~4 times that of ZTTO, so it makes no sense to compare the two. Compared to the Ultegra, which is closer in price, the Ultegra has smoother shifting performance, but is heavier (11-34 t is 345 g). The shifting performance of the ZTTO has decreased, but the weight is light (11-34 t is 259 g, 75% of Ultegra).
i tried to change out my shimano 11-32T to ZTTO 11-32T but the shifting is miserable for the first 4 gears. couldnt get it to shift properly. Had to use back my old shimano casette and it works fine
Aluminium makes no sense anywhere near the wearable parts, those few hundreds grams less dont make any difference that is worth it to buy stuff that lasts 1/3 of distance at best. Chainrings made of it are the most ridiculous imo, you cant even find any narrow wide ones made of steel because they would literally last forever being that thick
Sram makes (made?) steel narrow-wide chainrings. I have them on my mtb for years now, the things last forever. For road or gravel I´m not so sure if they are available. I don´t do gravel, but the aluminium chainrings for my roadbike last a long time.
As for NW chainrings, I've been using aluminium ones from a brand calledWuzei. I have them on three bikes. One of the chainrings has clocked several thousand kilometers in all weather conditions (winter bike) and it still looks good, so signs of significant wear. One of the bike mechanics also recommend me chainrings from brand Ekfan.
Been waiting for someone to do a review about this monoblock CNC cassette, but couldn't find any on Chinese websites. So eventually I put the budget on my commute gravel bike. Great video, thanks!
Ever had issues with the difference in gearings from Shimano Brands and ZTTO. I currently run a ZTTO 11-32 Casette and the middle gears are different from the known brands nad sometimes it takes awhile to click into gear
Thanks looking for new cassette, My shra-crap... That came on my bike really stinks. Started buying things of A.E. Been major satisfied... Thanks again great great channel
I run through at least 1-2 of the ZTTO cassettes annually. They are easy to know when their lifespan is pretty much up when the gears started to skip or mis-shift. Currently using the 11-30T which is an Ultegra equivalent ratio since February with EDS-TX. So far they have worked together properly once the calibration is spot on.
For years I've been using a torque wrench to tighten the lock nut up to the specified 40 nm and this did not prevent my freehubs from getting bite marks. The problem is with this is more about the aluminium alloy whicg most of freehubs are made today and it is simply softer compared to steel sprockets of the cassette. For comparison, for years I've beem riding mavic ksyrium equipe wheels which had a steel freehub and guess what - apart from slight surface rusty stains, no bite marks at all.
When tightened to the same 40Nm, does a alloy lock ring press tighter on the cassette? I ask because the steel lock ring has those deep knurls that binds on the sprocket, and therefore it seems to need more torque to achieve the same tension force than a smoother alloy lock ring. I mostly use alloy lock rings when possible and tighten to 40Nm, so far I've not had deep gouges on my hubs but I'm not very powerful. I wonder why steel inserts on the alloy cassette body are not commonly adopted, it's not complicated nor expensive to make. Only some Taiwanese hub markers such as Novatec/Bitex/Hubsmith use that kind of design.
@@wrcompositi I used lock rings both with these knurls and without and it did not make any difference. As for the steel inserts for the alloy freehub splines, I have a wheelset from a polish brand Dandy Horse which has their own branded hubs (probably bitex) and the freehub had these inserts which were absolutely rubbish - not only did they not prevented bite marks, but quickly they became loose and fell out as they were attched to the splines by means of simple pins going inside the splines just with tight fit.
Shimano wheels always had steel freehubs, i assume they still do. My understanding is that Shimano know that the fine splines on the free hub would be susceptible to bite marks if made from alloy so they accepted the weight penalty and stuck with steel.
I just got 11speed 11-34t Goldix cassette. Shifting is very good at higher Ts, but is terrible at lower Ts. I use shimano GRx rear derailleur. I checked my setting miltiple times..
I got the GOLDIX 12 speeds, and I'm unable to index it properly. If it's quiet at the top range, then it shift poorly in the low range. Going back to shimano cassette for now.
Glad I watched the bonus clip I would agree, I had ZTTO light weight 12 speed and honestly didn't last very long before the skipping started and it was worn out. I did purchase off the back of a lightweight 11 speed that had very good wear. In the end the 12 speed one got replaced with a heavier steel one. (Sunrace i think) that came in group set package and it's still going strong 3 years on.
I bought a monoblock ZTTO Cassette on a 105 di2 but shifting is really really awful. Upshift is going great, but downshift doesn’t work for a bit. It’s skipping sprockets and I can’t get it to index right.
3:50 actually the reason freehubs get damaged is because the individual steel cogs on shimano is very thin and this will act like a knife cutting through butter but if the contact area is wider the chance of this leaving a mark on the freehub is much much lower
The problem with the comments is that very specify if they have tried the 11 speeds or the 12 speeds. It seems like tolerance are much smaller on the 12 speeds which might cause problem with aftermarket parts. So that might explain the mixed experience. (I tried the 12 speeds it's impossible to adjust)
With a monoblock cassette, you always trade the low weight for the fact that it is harder to adjust and significantly louder. This is because it is a single block. Chain noises are directly transmitted through the freewheel of the wheel to the axle and frame. Even SRAM had to realize this and added rubber spacers between the sprockets on the Force cassette.
Ive been running a rainbow ztto 11-32 cassette since October went for it because of weight, price and the reduced wear on the freehub I’ve put like 100-150kms a week on it and the shifting started degrading significantly around mid April (so like 6 months of use) and mid May I went back to a Shimano cassette and the shifting quality is day and night I double checked and I do have the all steel version I really hoped this would last more but I think a single Shimano cassette could outlast at least 4 of this mono blocks
mine shimano 105 11-28t cassette is still ok after 20k kilometers. replaced it with dura-ace 11-30t last winter just because i got a great deal for it, it was 80eur with around 1000 km in it, it is titanium and steel and it will last for thousands and thousands kilometers
I've been riding the SROAD cassettes for a couple of years now and just bought a ZTTO one for my SRAM AXS bike. Shifting seems to be the same as on my Shimano and SRAM cassettes.
cheers, got one, there is 1 of 20 shifts that is a harder clunk, no idea why that one shift, its always the same, like 4 to 3. But other than that every other gear is perfect. Don't miss hyper glide at all with Di2. And my one didn't have the small contact area.
Riding the ZTTO MTB casette that you showed (not exactly the oil slique, mine is just silver:D) but im putting massive watts in it and it shifts like a charm and is a pleasure to ride... absolute bonkers...!
Took delivery of the 11-30 version of this today. The same item is also sold branded Goldix and is about £10 cheaper. Great to hear it gets the Trace Velo seal of approval, excited to try it out 🥖 🥖 🥖
I now have ZTTO cassettes on all my wheels (x3). All off the back off one of your reviews. I have the same 50th and it's crazy light (Think Sram equivalent was £300+).
I've been using the ztto alloy/steel for some time now and the weight is very good for the money. You really wont the derailleur to be aligned and tuned in as they aren't as good as Shimano imo. I only had a bit of rough shifting when the b screw was wound out too much. The full steel woukd be my next buy just for longevity
Mmh I have mtb casettes from ztto, sunshine and meroca. The only problem that i have is that the screws (like on the last you show) that hold the smallest tooth rings in place will go lose with the time. That only is to view when remove from the hub. I prefer cassettes with the smalles 3-5 gears lose and not on the cassette body
I bought a trw one (the same thing)for my lightweight bike. But some of the sprockets aren't parralell to one another which results in awful shifting. Since then I've only bought Shimano ones.
those mountain bike cassettes have competition btw! the microshift advent X 11-48 is very light (can't remember but lighter than XT and GX), and can be had for DIRT cheap, I bought a bunch from wiggle for 25 pounds!
Hope the ztto ones are better than the sroad ones. Had two or three sroad cassettes and shifting went off pretty quick - thats with sram etap, it just struggled to shift mid block as though it was a badly adjusted cable set up
1. Don’t grease your freehub splines, lest you enjoy Road grit and grime sticking to it and turning into a nice grinding paste 2. 40nm is fuck all and 3. 4:32 the lock ring is not what transmits the torque to the freehub, its merely to stop them falling off and it’s not like a tapered BB axle so it makes no difference how tight it is. It’s the splines themselves taking the load and the bite marks happen when running a cassette block made of individual steel sprockets bolted together, on an aluminium freehub body, as steel is harder than aluminium and the load is concentrated through each sprocket, instead of distributed over a wider area, like when multiple sprockets are riveted to an aluminium carrier. To avoid this: only use steel splined sprockets on steel freehubs and alloy on alloy.
@TraceVelo I am really enjoying the "Sunshine" mtb/gravel cassettes that have the largest cogs (3 or 4 depending if it's 10, 11 or 12 speed) machined from a block of aluminium. Yes, the aluminium gears will wear faster, but since it's only the largest cogs (used less frequently and for shorter periods of time) I expect to get decent life out of them.
I think it would only be appropriate to compare them if you've ridden both. But I also have a ztto 11s 11-50 on my gravel bike which has worked absolutely fine but it has only 200k on the clock and there are already some teeth not looking good anymore. But the difference from 200 Euro to 80 is probably worth it. Here also can't tell the difference to the original which would be a Garbaruk I guess. Thanks for the video!
ummmm nooo those cassettes are baad, at least the "light" cassettes they sell are trash; are made from aluminium alloy so they last like 400 KM, maaybe if you are talking about the ones made from steel, they are like ok
There are pure steel versions ,there is also steel plus aluminum, steel for lower gear and aluminum on higher gear,if you want a sure durable with hyperglide try Shimano cues cogs,it's just heavy also shifting is delayed
Im riding sunrace casette with sram xx1 deraileur (and shifter) and pcx1130 chain and i must say that without any load its perfect, but one (just one!) gear when im riding rattles. Im a little bit OCD so it makes me furious. I tried all the extremes cable tensions, cleaned the chain twice, lubricated, nothing seems to fix it. I wonder if its the cassette, chainline, offset, or maybe even wrong chain... So many variables to eliminate to troubleshoot the issue.
There is an issue, you say the cassette is 199g 2:25 in reality the cassette is 237g so depending on which teeth you have, you are missing a lock in the weight too.
Dang, that's super light for steel. Are you sure they didn't pull one over on you? Did you check with a magnet? I've seen monoblock aluminum cassettes on AliExpress for half the price of the steel one you're promoting. Are those worth anything?
Hi Luke! Can you confirm how is backpedaling on 28t cog and small chainring? Does chain remain stable or drops on sprocket below? I would appreciate your kind confirmation! Cheers! 🥖
I've got a low end SRAM cassette on my 1x setup and I think I'm going to try SROAD when it wears out because a 11-36 is pretty heavy in traditional form. 🥖🥖
I wish you released this video before I ended up buying my ultegra groupset. I was going to buy the ztto mono block but thought to myself is there a compromise given it’s so much lighter? Kicking myself now I spent more money and could have had a cracking product from ztto.
Whether or not the freehub gets chewed is down to the hardness of the metal of the freehub body. Many watts wont hurt as long as the freehub is a harder material than the cassette. I had a no name carbon wheelset (cheeeap) and i had to knock the freehub off with a heavy tool because it was so embedded in the freehub. *knock the cassette backwards to ge itt to disengage the freehub, not knock it straight off while its stuck.
🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖 baguettes-a-go go! Hi Luke, i hope alls well and good to see two most excellent "Trace Velo" vids appear unexpectedly!! Im ashamed to say i pulled the trigger on a 12spd 11/32 ZTTO cassette for my soon to arrive Giant Defy SL! Also another Zeus 3d printed saddle as they are way more comfortable and better than Giant stock!!! All based on your recommendations buddy! Its fatal watching one of your videos Luke!!😂😂😂😂😂🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖 Btw how is your little Girl, all good i hope??? I expect the wife must be terrified of possible changes in mind for your daughters buggy im sure there are light weight tubeless carbon buggy wheels and handlebars on Aliexpress somewhere!😂😂😂😂
I think it takes me a year and ~8000km to nuke 2 chains, aluminum SRAM cassette and rings. I do ride a year round. Even when there is light frost or some rain going. I think ZTTO is real game changer for me. I wish SRAM had a design where we can disassemble a cassette and replace worn down rings.
Tooth profile on those aliexpress cassettes are far from shimano which results in smoothness of shifting. It is like going back way before hyperglide...
Ordered the cassette the other day come super fast. Not bought form Aliexpress before so was surprised how fast it came. Any tips of a road bike seat post.
so that dont have the issue the sroad have with shimano rd, like you mention in the other video, cuz just bought a light riro cassette (162gr 32t) and the shifting its rubbish most of the time only have 10 of the 11s
On our local market, the DA cassettes is about 150 USD, we won't buy the shimano spares & parts by the fully retail price. And the local shimano staff is a little angry about we won't buy the parts from the official store. LOL
Maaaaan…. I ordered one of those 3 d printed saddles you recommended. It’s been about 4 days since I ordered it. Every time I go to the email to track the package it’s says this site isn’t valid anymore… 🙄😤🥺
@TraceVelo found a cool French company (I think) making them for 100quid. 150grams. Still cheaper than top of the range mainstream stuff and a whole lot light
I appreciate all of your videos, including this one, but I'll stick with my Shimano Ultegra 11 speed cassette for $55. Sure, it's about 150g heavier than that one, but I don't race my bike so I'm just looking for the best value. I've ridden these Ultegra cassettes for years, and I like them. Heck, if I was going to change from the Ultegra cassette, I'd go to the 105 cassette for $43. 105 is a hell of a work horse group set.
Fair points. Aside from the weight difference, how's the shifting performance on your 11 speed between Ultegra and 105? I thought I heard 105 doesn't shift as nicely. Cheers
@@ivanyhtang I switched from 105 on my last bike to Ultegra on this one and I don't notice any difference. The only reason I have Ultegra now is that is what the bike came with and I got it brand new in the box for 50% off the retail price because the sporting goods store I bought it from was getting out of the bike business and they sold everything cheap just to get rid of it.
🥖I own ztto cassette similar to the one you showed on the end of the clip and it is absolute garbage - impossible to set the shifting correctly on the two smallest cogs on mechanic ultegra rear deraileur. Watching this video I was thinking it is the same you presented but seems not the case. I might give it a try. Is there really no skips and works flawlessy on shimano mechanical groupset?
RIRO Cassettes are fvcking amazing, CRAZY light like 150g for an 11s HG 11/28…!! They even do a 12s version now, up to 11/34! If only they did a XD version for Sram! 10/34 come on RIRO DO IT!!
Similar to the ones in the bonus clip, just much more expensive and not lasting as some sprockets are from aluminium. Better stay with Lukes recommendations.
@@tomalbert3299 nonono, you are confused, RIRO cassettes are made from chromoly, and they are faaar better quality compared to the sroad and similar cassettes, the only downside is the price, RIRO cassettes are as expensive as original shimano/sram cassettes
The largest two cogs are made from aluminum alloy. So that's 2/11 or 2/12 of your cassette... and unless you're spending lots of time in those two larger cogs, it could be an ok way to save weight. Assuming you only use those cogs when in your smaller chainrings at the front, the larger articulation angle of the chain of those larger cogs means that they won't wear as fast as if you had, for example, your middle cogs made of aluminum. Then again, the 50g difference between a Riro and a goldix/ZTTO cassette is (only) worth around 2-4 seconds up the Stelvio... be we all just WANT a sub-150g cassette at a decent price, right?! As for price, wait for Prime day or one of the big AE sales and a RIRO cassette can be had for £60-70 before tax.
u know ur so worth a membership , i dont have any but, I building a new bike right now its only cost me 780 us , that's very much because of u sir , thank you .
parts?
@@kl6336 doesn't matter coupons sales , change the price so much ie the ltwoo hydro r9/rx is 240 today on the 1st when I bought it I got it for 117 it was on sale for 145 , I save more with coins and a 80 off 499 spent there are 3 sales every month , and you can collect coin discounts , and coupons once a month to go with the sale on the 31-8th or so every month , and its not just on bike stuff , THEY KILL AMAZON u can by a small city generator or a house , WITH NO EXARATION
Second this, Built my 500$ dtc frame, most of Luke’s suggestions too. I now have almost a bike under 1500, yes it is a gravel bike, but built it up mostly from parts that I already have. 😅
Just built a Milani ICON from Italy , cost £10,000 but will last 50 years not 12 months if it was Chinese Tech for 10 dollar .....Never buy CCP products ....
@@curtisducati u sound simply stupid , i hope you enjoy it
I just bought ENT elite wheels last week and have been looking at new cassette for my old wheels (putting gravel tires on them) and you just keep putting out the right content. I hope you realize how valuable your videos have been to all of us just trying to do what we love while saving money for family and some extra bike adventures. Thanks!
I've used the cheap superlight cassette in the last bonus clip in 20+ different bikes from mechanical 105 to dura-ace di2, mostly ultegra di2, without any skipping or durability issues. It takes a tiny bit more time to adjust the derailleurs, especially the B screw, to make it work but ~$45USD for dura-ace weight is a no-brainer for me for every single build. I've recently even tried it on a SRAM build, also works flawlessly.
Been using an sroad cassette on my gravel bike for over a year, on your recommendation. Super happy with it
I stick to cassettes like the 105 for a simple reason. I spend most of my time using the same gears which wear out far quicker than the others. When they're worn out, I change 1 or 2 sprockets instead of a single monoblock-cassette, spending ~10 bucks for essentially having the same performance as a brand new cassette. I do not throw away perfectly fine working parts. The money saved on this is so much that I don't care about the weight.
No one outside of competitions should care about a cassette being 200g or 400g, it's just ridiculous. Buy a decent 10 speed cassette for 50€ and be happy riding.
@mazahaka3691 1 kg is worth about 3.5 watts for an average [watts and weight] amateur going at their FTP on a steep climb. To pay REGULARLY twice more for a 100 g lighter cassette, gaining 0,35 W... is weight weenie territory. :)
The 11-40T 11 sp otoh is heavier than Shimano SLX, and more than half the price (27 vs 43.-)
I suggest to get a set of Rockwell hardness test files. Alloy composition and heat treatment play a big part in the cassettes durability long-term. In my experience the longer lasting ones had a higher hardness. Alloy composition isn't that easy to test.
Good point! But shifting performance is equally important and hard to evaluate objectively.
I agree. I think ideal cassette should have a design when the body is made from carbon but cogs from hardened steel.
Swapped out for my ultegra 11-34. Shifts better than expected with a 3/4 turn on the barrel adjustment.
Came for the content, end up giving some love on a shape of baguettes 🥖🥖 Thanks for the video and review
Luke really do be edging us with the Wheeltop group set. Jokes aside, I think Cassettes and Wheelsets really do determine how heavy a bike can be. Great video as always!🥖🥖🥖🥖
I recently got the Ztto 11-34t it’s been so good so far.
I expect the aluminium cogs to wear out sooner but I calculated that it should last 2 years for the amount I ride. So worth it for my scenario
My original Shimano 105 cassette was replaced after 7 years.
just make sure your shifting is set up perfect, and you don't shift under heavy load. I snapped 2 teeth off of my aluminum cassette that way.
Ztto is good ,better than 105 or ultegra ,so smooth and light
@@Cosmos009 it’s definitely not as smooth but it’s smooth enough for the average enthusiast.
I’ve had some issues shifting under mild loads.
OMG, just got myself a DuraAce 11~34 12s cassette. Was too concerned about the switching under load and the wear marks. Didn't know how wide the contact points are, thought they would be even slimmer but they look decent in your vid.
Great video by the way, definitely earned some 🥖 🥖 🥖🥖
When I bought my 12-speed Dura-Ace groupset back in December 2021, it came with a 11-30T cassette. 11-34T Dura-Ace cassette could not be found anywhere so I ordered a 12-speed ZTTO 11-34T cassette from Aliexpress. That rainbow color ZTTO was incredibly light at 232g but its shifting was absolutely awful. I could adjust the rear derailleur to kind of shift from the biggest cog to the smallest, but then it won't shift back properly from small to big. If I adjusted the RD to allow it to shift from the smallest cog to the largest, it would have issue shifting from big to small. Initially, i thought it was perhaps due to how I had set up the rear derailleur. When I finally got my hands on a 11-34T Dura-Ace cassette, there was zero problem shifting from big to small, and in reverse. As soon as I replaced the Dura-Ace cassette with the ZTTO, the shifting issue I encountered before returned. So don't waste your money on the 12-speed 11-34T ZTTO cassette.
I reckon you need the derailleur hangar to be 100% aligned with the generic cassettes as they don't have the hyperglide level of shifting
@@glennoc8585 I checked the derailleurs hanger. It was straight.
The Shimano cassette is HG+, the ZTTO ramp profile is just a copy of older individual HG cogs in whatever gearing ZTTO wants.
The price of Dura-ace is about 3~4 times that of ZTTO, so it makes no sense to compare the two. Compared to the Ultegra, which is closer in price, the Ultegra has smoother shifting performance, but is heavier (11-34 t is 345 g). The shifting performance of the ZTTO has decreased, but the weight is light (11-34 t is 259 g, 75% of Ultegra).
Funny I have DA9100 paired with the ZTTO for the same reason that I need 11-34, it been 3 years now and I have no problem.
i tried to change out my shimano 11-32T to ZTTO 11-32T but the shifting is miserable for the first 4 gears. couldnt get it to shift properly. Had to use back my old shimano casette and it works fine
Aluminium makes no sense anywhere near the wearable parts, those few hundreds grams less dont make any difference that is worth it to buy stuff that lasts 1/3 of distance at best. Chainrings made of it are the most ridiculous imo, you cant even find any narrow wide ones made of steel because they would literally last forever being that thick
Prowheel makes 2x steel chainrings. Not the best shifting mixed with kmc chain, but they are cheap.
I found a 48 narrow/wide on AE. It's a solid 4cm ring of steel and feels (and weighs) like a friggin' tank.
@@RenghisKhan can you post the shop name?
Sram makes (made?) steel narrow-wide chainrings. I have them on my mtb for years now, the things last forever. For road or gravel I´m not so sure if they are available. I don´t do gravel, but the aluminium chainrings for my roadbike last a long time.
As for NW chainrings, I've been using aluminium ones from a brand calledWuzei. I have them on three bikes. One of the chainrings has clocked several thousand kilometers in all weather conditions (winter bike) and it still looks good, so signs of significant wear. One of the bike mechanics also recommend me chainrings from brand Ekfan.
Been waiting for someone to do a review about this monoblock CNC cassette, but couldn't find any on Chinese websites. So eventually I put the budget on my commute gravel bike. Great video, thanks!
Ever had issues with the difference in gearings from Shimano Brands and ZTTO. I currently run a ZTTO 11-32 Casette and the middle gears are different from the known brands nad sometimes it takes awhile to click into gear
I tend to stick with Shimano cassettes. The shifting performance just seems better to me, but YMMV
I have an Xt 12 speed cassette and a Sunshine 12 on my other bike. The xt shifts way better. Wasnt that expensive on Aliexpress either.
Thanks looking for new cassette, My shra-crap... That came on my bike really stinks. Started buying things of A.E. Been major satisfied... Thanks again great great channel
I run through at least 1-2 of the ZTTO cassettes annually. They are easy to know when their lifespan is pretty much up when the gears started to skip or mis-shift.
Currently using the 11-30T which is an Ultegra equivalent ratio since February with EDS-TX. So far they have worked together properly once the calibration is spot on.
I also have one of those SROAD 11-28 and started to fail a little bit + makes a lot of noise. I may give ZTTO a try
For years I've been using a torque wrench to tighten the lock nut up to the specified 40 nm and this did not prevent my freehubs from getting bite marks. The problem is with this is more about the aluminium alloy whicg most of freehubs are made today and it is simply softer compared to steel sprockets of the cassette. For comparison, for years I've beem riding mavic ksyrium equipe wheels which had a steel freehub and guess what - apart from slight surface rusty stains, no bite marks at all.
When tightened to the same 40Nm, does a alloy lock ring press tighter on the cassette? I ask because the steel lock ring has those deep knurls that binds on the sprocket, and therefore it seems to need more torque to achieve the same tension force than a smoother alloy lock ring.
I mostly use alloy lock rings when possible and tighten to 40Nm, so far I've not had deep gouges on my hubs but I'm not very powerful.
I wonder why steel inserts on the alloy cassette body are not commonly adopted, it's not complicated nor expensive to make. Only some Taiwanese hub markers such as Novatec/Bitex/Hubsmith use that kind of design.
@@wrcompositi I used lock rings both with these knurls and without and it did not make any difference. As for the steel inserts for the alloy freehub splines, I have a wheelset from a polish brand Dandy Horse which has their own branded hubs (probably bitex) and the freehub had these inserts which were absolutely rubbish - not only did they not prevented bite marks, but quickly they became loose and fell out as they were attched to the splines by means of simple pins going inside the splines just with tight fit.
Shimano wheels always had steel freehubs, i assume they still do. My understanding is that Shimano know that the fine splines on the free hub would be susceptible to bite marks if made from alloy so they accepted the weight penalty and stuck with steel.
I've had two of those SRoad cassettes fail. The spider failed on both where it's pinned to the steel cassette body.
I just got 11speed 11-34t Goldix cassette.
Shifting is very good at higher Ts, but is terrible at lower Ts. I use shimano GRx rear derailleur.
I checked my setting miltiple times..
I got the GOLDIX 12 speeds, and I'm unable to index it properly. If it's quiet at the top range, then it shift poorly in the low range. Going back to shimano cassette for now.
Sram made these hollow casettes 15 years ago too, you can find them aswell. Theyre usually cheaper than a new one, at similsr performance
Glad I watched the bonus clip I would agree, I had ZTTO light weight 12 speed and honestly didn't last very long before the skipping started and it was worn out. I did purchase off the back of a lightweight 11 speed that had very good wear. In the end the 12 speed one got replaced with a heavier steel one. (Sunrace i think) that came in group set package and it's still going strong 3 years on.
I bought a monoblock ZTTO Cassette on a 105 di2 but shifting is really really awful. Upshift is going great, but downshift doesn’t work for a bit. It’s skipping sprockets and I can’t get it to index right.
been using over 2 years without problem and the shifting still smooth like butter under load
3:50 actually the reason freehubs get damaged is because the individual steel cogs on shimano is very thin and this will act like a knife cutting through butter but if the contact area is wider the chance of this leaving a mark on the freehub is much much lower
The problem with the comments is that very specify if they have tried the 11 speeds or the 12 speeds. It seems like tolerance are much smaller on the 12 speeds which might cause problem with aftermarket parts. So that might explain the mixed experience. (I tried the 12 speeds it's impossible to adjust)
In ztto 11-32 12speed the 14t has a faulty profile and chain skips if you push over some torque. From the very first ride with new chain.
With a monoblock cassette, you always trade the low weight for the fact that it is harder to adjust and significantly louder.
This is because it is a single block. Chain noises are directly transmitted through the freewheel of the wheel to the axle and frame.
Even SRAM had to realize this and added rubber spacers between the sprockets on the Force cassette.
Ive been running a rainbow ztto 11-32 cassette since October went for it because of weight, price and the reduced wear on the freehub
I’ve put like 100-150kms a week on it and the shifting started degrading significantly around mid April (so like 6 months of use) and mid May I went back to a Shimano cassette and the shifting quality is day and night
I double checked and I do have the all steel version I really hoped this would last more but I think a single Shimano cassette could outlast at least 4 of this mono blocks
mine shimano 105 11-28t cassette is still ok after 20k kilometers. replaced it with dura-ace 11-30t last winter just because i got a great deal for it, it was 80eur with around 1000 km in it, it is titanium and steel and it will last for thousands and thousands kilometers
I've been riding the SROAD cassettes for a couple of years now and just bought a ZTTO one for my SRAM AXS bike. Shifting seems to be the same as on my Shimano and SRAM cassettes.
Will you recommend ZTTO over SROAD?
@@wrcompositi I bought the ZTTO as it was the only one compatible with my AXS hub. Both seem to work well, get the one that suits your requirements.
cheers, got one, there is 1 of 20 shifts that is a harder clunk, no idea why that one shift, its always the same, like 4 to 3. But other than that every other gear is perfect. Don't miss hyper glide at all with Di2. And my one didn't have the small contact area.
What a great video, Luke! Now, let’s see the video haha
Should do an aliexpress tt/triathlon bike build
Just bought one. Thanks for the head up Luke 😊
Purchased!! Another great video Luke
Riding the ZTTO MTB casette that you showed (not exactly the oil slique, mine is just silver:D) but im putting massive watts in it and it shifts like a charm and is a pleasure to ride... absolute bonkers...!
I'm still running Campagnolo, so no inexpensive AliExpress cassette for me 😕
Campagnolo is for Campagnolo
Took delivery of the 11-30 version of this today. The same item is also sold branded Goldix and is about £10 cheaper. Great to hear it gets the Trace Velo seal of approval, excited to try it out 🥖 🥖 🥖
I now have ZTTO cassettes on all my wheels (x3). All off the back off one of your reviews. I have the same 50th and it's crazy light (Think Sram equivalent was £300+).
My Ztto cassette had horrible shifting :S the 9 to 42 mtb cassette
This is great info. I’ve long balked at the prices of lightweight cassettes.
I've been using the ztto alloy/steel for some time now and the weight is very good for the money. You really wont the derailleur to be aligned and tuned in as they aren't as good as Shimano imo. I only had a bit of rough shifting when the b screw was wound out too much. The full steel woukd be my next buy just for longevity
Mmh I have mtb casettes from ztto, sunshine and meroca.
The only problem that i have is that the screws (like on the last you show) that hold the smallest tooth rings in place will go lose with the time.
That only is to view when remove from the hub.
I prefer cassettes with the smalles 3-5 gears lose and not on the cassette body
I buy ZTTO products for years now and they have a over all absolute decent quality including the bike tools to.
I bought a trw one (the same thing)for my lightweight bike. But some of the sprockets aren't parralell to one another which results in awful shifting. Since then I've only bought Shimano ones.
Would be so grateful for a clothing episode. I’ve found some BOMB socks. But knicks would be epic.
those mountain bike cassettes have competition btw! the microshift advent X 11-48 is very light (can't remember but lighter than XT and GX), and can be had for DIRT cheap, I bought a bunch from wiggle for 25 pounds!
Hope the ztto ones are better than the sroad ones. Had two or three sroad cassettes and shifting went off pretty quick - thats with sram etap, it just struggled to shift mid block as though it was a badly adjusted cable set up
I've ordered that Goldix cassette last week, can't wait to use it. Hope it is solid one
and?
1. Don’t grease your freehub splines, lest you enjoy Road grit and grime sticking to it and turning into a nice grinding paste 2. 40nm is fuck all and 3. 4:32 the lock ring is not what transmits the torque to the freehub, its merely to stop them falling off and it’s not like a tapered BB axle so it makes no difference how tight it is. It’s the splines themselves taking the load and the bite marks happen when running a cassette block made of individual steel sprockets bolted together, on an aluminium freehub body, as steel is harder than aluminium and the load is concentrated through each sprocket, instead of distributed over a wider area, like when multiple sprockets are riveted to an aluminium carrier. To avoid this: only use steel splined sprockets on steel freehubs and alloy on alloy.
@TraceVelo I am really enjoying the "Sunshine" mtb/gravel cassettes that have the largest cogs (3 or 4 depending if it's 10, 11 or 12 speed) machined from a block of aluminium. Yes, the aluminium gears will wear faster, but since it's only the largest cogs (used less frequently and for shorter periods of time) I expect to get decent life out of them.
It's more the sheer number of teeth those high cogs have to share the load.
sadly you miss out on hyperglide+ with chinese 12 speed cassettes, which might not be worth it. But for 11s its a solid option 🥖
Exactly! I’d love to see a comparison of shifting quality vs Shimano HG+ cassette
Might have to try one out along with a 3D printed saddle!
I think it would only be appropriate to compare them if you've ridden both.
But I also have a ztto 11s 11-50 on my gravel bike which has worked absolutely fine but it has only 200k on the clock and there are already some teeth not looking good anymore.
But the difference from 200 Euro to 80 is probably worth it. Here also can't tell the difference to the original which would be a Garbaruk I guess.
Thanks for the video!
Try sunshine cassette,they said has hyperglide ,its the one mostly used here in Philippines
Hyperglide is really what I miss the most with these chinese rip offs
ummmm nooo those cassettes are baad, at least the "light" cassettes they sell are trash; are made from aluminium alloy so they last like 400 KM, maaybe if you are talking about the ones made from steel, they are like ok
There are pure steel versions ,there is also steel plus aluminum, steel for lower gear and aluminum on higher gear,if you want a sure durable with hyperglide try Shimano cues cogs,it's just heavy also shifting is delayed
Im riding sunrace casette with sram xx1 deraileur (and shifter) and pcx1130 chain and i must say that without any load its perfect, but one (just one!) gear when im riding rattles. Im a little bit OCD so it makes me furious. I tried all the extremes cable tensions, cleaned the chain twice, lubricated, nothing seems to fix it. I wonder if its the cassette, chainline, offset, or maybe even wrong chain... So many variables to eliminate to troubleshoot the issue.
There is an issue, you say the cassette is 199g 2:25 in reality the cassette is 237g so depending on which teeth you have, you are missing a lock in the weight too.
Oh oooo I have the bonus clip one currently installed 😅 thx for indicating the difference 🎉
all my 4 bikes have Ztto cassettes. 3 of them have Ztto hubs. they're great! used them since 2021
Dang, that's super light for steel. Are you sure they didn't pull one over on you? Did you check with a magnet? I've seen monoblock aluminum cassettes on AliExpress for half the price of the steel one you're promoting. Are those worth anything?
Hi Luke!
Can you confirm how is backpedaling on 28t cog and small chainring? Does chain remain stable or drops on sprocket below?
I would appreciate your kind confirmation!
Cheers! 🥖
The XD ztto cassete for mtb has a very fragile interface with the removal tool. I wish they would fix that
I've got a low end SRAM cassette on my 1x setup and I think I'm going to try SROAD when it wears out because a 11-36 is pretty heavy in traditional form. 🥖🥖
I wish you released this video before I ended up buying my ultegra groupset. I was going to buy the ztto mono block but thought to myself is there a compromise given it’s so much lighter? Kicking myself now I spent more money and could have had a cracking product from ztto.
Whether or not the freehub gets chewed is down to the hardness of the metal of the freehub body. Many watts wont hurt as long as the freehub is a harder material than the cassette. I had a no name carbon wheelset (cheeeap) and i had to knock the freehub off with a heavy tool because it was so embedded in the freehub. *knock the cassette backwards to ge itt to disengage the freehub, not knock it straight off while its stuck.
🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖 baguettes-a-go go! Hi Luke, i hope alls well and good to see two most excellent "Trace Velo" vids appear unexpectedly!! Im ashamed to say i pulled the trigger on a 12spd 11/32 ZTTO cassette for my soon to arrive Giant Defy SL! Also another Zeus 3d printed saddle as they are way more comfortable and better than Giant stock!!! All based on your recommendations buddy! Its fatal watching one of your videos Luke!!😂😂😂😂😂🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖
Btw how is your little Girl, all good i hope??? I expect the wife must be terrified of possible changes in mind for your daughters buggy im sure there are light weight tubeless carbon buggy wheels and handlebars on Aliexpress somewhere!😂😂😂😂
Any chance for testing the xdr aliexpress cassettes? There are lightwell as well and nice alternative for people with xdr freehubs
I think it takes me a year and ~8000km to nuke 2 chains, aluminum SRAM cassette and rings. I do ride a year round. Even when there is light frost or some rain going. I think ZTTO is real game changer for me. I wish SRAM had a design where we can disassemble a cassette and replace worn down rings.
Is there a cassette like this but for sram rival etap axs groupset? I currently have 10-36
Tooth profile on those aliexpress cassettes are far from shimano which results in smoothness of shifting. It is like going back way before hyperglide...
Shimano cassettes shift beautifully for years. I love Dura Ace, but no need on cassettes, brakes or pedals - 105 or Ultegra is fine
I don't like the black coating, but if these prove to be better than Sroad/Spedao in the long term, I will definitely get one.
Ordered the cassette the other day come super fast. Not bought form Aliexpress before so was surprised how fast it came. Any tips of a road bike seat post.
Got the 12 Speed 11-34 version. Bad skips between 11->12 and very bad 12->11 (will not shift). Rest is perfect.
Great review. Gonna try on for my MTB.
I did the deed, dropped the like, watched the vid👍. Haven't been riding for along while hope to start again
What happened to the follow-up on the Wheeltop groupset? All the reviewers went silent since the original release. Very suspicious.
Great info. Are you running sram chain as well? I run xo shifter and deralier ?
I’m not ashamed to say I have a few of the ztto bits across my bike . No complaints so far , especially for the dang for buck .
so that dont have the issue the sroad have with shimano rd, like you mention in the other video, cuz just bought a light riro cassette (162gr 32t) and the shifting its rubbish most of the time only have 10 of the 11s
Great video Luke!
On the ones that are part aluminium, i assume thats because youre meant to "use" those gears less, so the wear/weight trade makes sense?
On our local market, the DA cassettes is about 150 USD, we won't buy the shimano spares & parts by the fully retail price. And the local shimano staff is a little angry about we won't buy the parts from the official store. LOL
When are you going to review the wheel set you have on your bike?
Does anyone know if it shifts like Hyper Glide Plus cassettes? If so, is it recommended to have a Hyper Glide Plus chain also?
I have the ztto on both of my MTB, I have the cheap heavy version and the 'expensive' light one. Both are working flawlessly, Thanks god for china.
Maaaaan…. I ordered one of those 3 d printed saddles you recommended. It’s been about 4 days since I ordered it. Every time I go to the email to track the package it’s says this site isn’t valid anymore… 🙄😤🥺
Any alternative for Cannondale spider crankset? Thank you!
Hello trace. Do you know of any Chinese monoblock cassettes suitable for 10spd?
Unfortunately not, not for a decent price anyway. All of the lightweight bike parts are 11 or 12 speed.
@TraceVelo found a cool French company (I think) making them for 100quid. 150grams. Still cheaper than top of the range mainstream stuff and a whole lot light
Luke, great video as always, Do any of the chinese, Ali express , make campag compatable cassetts?
Is there a 12 sp ztto cassette for Shimano on the market?
I appreciate all of your videos, including this one, but I'll stick with my Shimano Ultegra 11 speed cassette for $55. Sure, it's about 150g heavier than that one, but I don't race my bike so I'm just looking for the best value. I've ridden these Ultegra cassettes for years, and I like them. Heck, if I was going to change from the Ultegra cassette, I'd go to the 105 cassette for $43. 105 is a hell of a work horse group set.
That’s a good price…I guess you are in US. Here in UK we get ripped off and pay a lot more than that 😢
@@stevegeek I’d feel bad for you, but you get free healthcare, so you’re still way ahead of the game.
@@shepshape2585 Haha…true, we do have the NHS, although it’s struggling to meet demand currently, so best not get sick! 😉
Fair points. Aside from the weight difference, how's the shifting performance on your 11 speed between Ultegra and 105? I thought I heard 105 doesn't shift as nicely. Cheers
@@ivanyhtang I switched from 105 on my last bike to Ultegra on this one and I don't notice any difference. The only reason I have Ultegra now is that is what the bike came with and I got it brand new in the box for 50% off the retail price because the sporting goods store I bought it from was getting out of the bike business and they sold everything cheap just to get rid of it.
🥖I own ztto cassette similar to the one you showed on the end of the clip and it is absolute garbage - impossible to set the shifting correctly on the two smallest cogs on mechanic ultegra rear deraileur. Watching this video I was thinking it is the same you presented but seems not the case. I might give it a try.
Is there really no skips and works flawlessy on shimano mechanical groupset?
My mang using freedom numbers with the metric system is blowing my mind
I don't like the looks of the blue lock ring. Could I use a ZTTO cassette with a shimano 11t lock ring instead?
RIRO Cassettes are fvcking amazing, CRAZY light like 150g for an 11s HG 11/28…!! They even do a 12s version now, up to 11/34! If only they did a XD version for Sram! 10/34 come on RIRO DO IT!!
Similar to the ones in the bonus clip, just much more expensive and not lasting as some sprockets are from aluminium. Better stay with Lukes recommendations.
@@tomalbert3299 much lighter.
@@tomalbert3299 nonono, you are confused, RIRO cassettes are made from chromoly, and they are faaar better quality compared to the sroad and similar cassettes, the only downside is the price, RIRO cassettes are as expensive as original shimano/sram cassettes
The largest two cogs are made from aluminum alloy. So that's 2/11 or 2/12 of your cassette... and unless you're spending lots of time in those two larger cogs, it could be an ok way to save weight. Assuming you only use those cogs when in your smaller chainrings at the front, the larger articulation angle of the chain of those larger cogs means that they won't wear as fast as if you had, for example, your middle cogs made of aluminum. Then again, the 50g difference between a Riro and a goldix/ZTTO cassette is (only) worth around 2-4 seconds up the Stelvio... be we all just WANT a sub-150g cassette at a decent price, right?! As for price, wait for Prime day or one of the big AE sales and a RIRO cassette can be had for £60-70 before tax.
@@josecamilojimenez2784 no they’re not as expensive as the top end Dura ace & Shimano!! Got my 11s 11/33 180g for 110€