Best Value 11 Speed XD Cassette?

[Shredden]

Hi guys,

I'm giving a mates bike (2019 YT Capra) a bit of a service. The cassette, chain, and chainring are all fucked. It's running 11-speed with a mix of XX and GX (using an XD freehub driver).

I'm looking for a cassette but SRAM prices are extortionate. He doesn't need or want the best of the best, just a reliable option. Something at like an SLX level would be great (under $100?).

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good option here? Something in a wide range (46ish tooth big ring) would be ideal.

Cheers!

 

[rangersac]

Gonna struggle to get a cheap one with that XD freehub, but the good thing about that, and the fact that the chainring is fucked is you could potentially size down the chainring and go for a lower top tooth big ring cassette without any loss in overall range, because you can have a 9 or 10 tooth small cog on the cassette. ZTTO from aliexpress probably your best bet. I've used a 9-42 ZTTO cassette paired with a 30T ring with no dramas.

 

[Jpez]

I’ve got a couple thousand on a ZTTO cassette. It’s not quite as smooth as my other eye wateringly expensive cassettes and Moorey didn’t like it but I really rate it. I just got a new one recently and it looks like they’ve improved some of the ramping and lockring so I expect it to be pretty good.

 

[RealizE]

Another ZTTO fan with few thou on the cassette. A little wear on the big dog but the other gears are still mint and shifting perfectly. This is the 9-50 "Ult" version; there used to a cheaper/shittier version that was about half the price and not as good.

 

[rangersac]

I'm about to give a ZTTO 11-46 UTL version a crack on the gravel bike, so good to hear the 9-50 unit is holding up

 

[frenchman]

Go a new freehub and deore level cassette?

 

[DougalStrachan]

Yeah the ZTTO 9-42 XD ones are pretty bullet proof, the larger range ones seem to have a a higher fromage percent and YMMV

 

[Shredden]

Thanks guys, I've actually found an old Giant road hub in my parts bin, with a HG driver on it that uses the DT star ratchet internals.

The hub on my mates bike is a 370 so has a regular pawl drive system... but I've got access to the tools to remove the pawl drive ring and install the star ratchet one.

So, fingers crossed I can make the HG driver work, then just pop an SLX cassette on there (which I believe will play fine with the 11sp SRAM derailleur and shifter?).

Otherwise it sounds like ZTTO will be the go!

 

[Mattyp]

Curious to hear how you go, I had a wheel with a Giant branded "DT" HUB and the star ratchet was a different size to the normal DTswiss one...only noticed when i went to replace the bearings.

 

[Shredden]

Interesting, I've got a pair of regular DT 18t ratchet rings out of a 350 here I will check in the Giant hub first!