u/BrainDamage2029

Alright always have ridden MTB in flats and love the grippy Velcro feel you get with a good set of pins digging into a good shoe. Don’t like I suck at foot placement and am always readjusting. Really like trying the clips (not calling them clipless it’s stupid) off my gravel bike for a few rides and am upgrading to a real clip and shoe setup.

It’s not that I don’t want **any** float at all but I am looking for that “dig in” feeling you get with pins. Tried HT pedals and they honestly feel no different that my gravel shoes?

Just for the sake of relative argument assume you ride the major trail systems/locations about equally plus a trip to Santa Cruz when you have the time a few times a year. Ignore road trips to the lift served parks in the sierras.

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I have previously used a little fanny pack that’d carry food and tools that’d thread through my some of the belt loops on my pants or shorts. I don’t like it going over clothes or it sliding around my skin.

Now I’ve moved to a bike that only allows one bottle in the frame so I need something that’ll carry water.

I think this new Shimano cassette offering kinda flew under the radar. First is just because the sport got stuck in a "more big teeth on sprocket" war between SRAM and Shimano (50t then 51 then 52t). But because of how gearing works, 1t less in smallest sprocket is a bigger range jump than 1t more in the biggest. So the cassette is still 500% range even if it loses 6 teeth on the big sprocket. All you have to do is go down in chainring size to make up for it, like a 30t or 28t.

The second reason is also because Shimano only "offered" this for XTdi2 and XTRdi2 derailleurs. FYI they don't always explain their cross compatibility but any medium cage derailleur (GS) from their previous cable lineup also works. And Shimano hasn't changed cages in forever. You can just buy the GS cage as a standalone part for like $20 to convert. I did this for a cabled XT derailleur I had.

Advantages I've noticed

- Significantly less chain slap. The fact the cage is shorter means the clutch just has less leverage working on it. And the chain length you need is shorter. So it keeps the chain more consistently taut. I've very much noticed this.

- More clearance: less cage sticking out = less chance to snag. Haven't noticed it yet but its hard to notice the derailleur impacts you don't take.

- more consistent and faster shifting into and out of the highest gear. The chain isn't so god awful long and so tight to get up to that biggest sprocket. Its noticeably faster and smother.

- less total weight. I think I notice but it isn't a crazy amount. The cassette is lighter, you lose a little bit with the smaller chainring and a little more with a shorter chain. They add up on my scale to 70g less over the same XT setup 10-51t.

Downsides:

- cost: you aren't just buying a cassette, you'd almost certainly need a new chain ring too. And maybe a new derailleur or at least the cage part. Oh and a new cassette lock tool, Shimano uses a slightly different one to make it fit.

- slightly less range. Its only 500% vs 510 but its just enough to be noticeable. I went to a 28t chainring, chosing to spin out ever so slightly sooner rather than lose granny gear inches.

- 9t will wear a little faster than a 10t but not really a downside considering I always wear out cassettes in the largest (aluminum) gear.