I don’t get ‘sold’ very often when it comes to mountain bikes. Well, to clarify, I sell myself on ideas all the time, that’s why I’m currently running i25 rims on my single speed instead of i40s, but it’s rare that I experience an outside argument that drives me to consider a complete 180°, the king’s to you Bri.
This all started with my search for a 9-speed SRAM shifter in good condition. My plan was to mate it a clutched Shimano Zee 11-speed derailleur to drive a chain up and down a 6-7 speed cassette on Claire’s next mountain bicycle. It would be a notable shifting quality upgrade, with the de-tuneable clutch, compared to the BOX drivetrain she’s on now, while still quietly keeping the 1x drivetrain in gear.
Crash Test Kevin came up with an X9 shifter in surprisingly un-CTK’d condition and that was that. I just need a pair of cranks and we’re fully drivetrained.
My friend Bri, Mr. Lungtastic, threw a pair of Knipex parallel pliers straight into the works when he showed up one day with a 9-speed X0 shifter and derailleur and the pitch that I should at least give the clutchless beauty a shot. After all, plenty of DH racers and Rampage rippers used this shifting setup before clutches came around.
I wanted to argue that they had fully enclosed chain guides but the truth of it is that Claire’s NSB narrow-wide ring probably isn’t giving up her chain anyways, so as long as the X0 derailleur’s cage spring is stiff enough to keep the chain on a given cog as she’s bumping down the trail, Bri’s on to something. And that something is much, much, lighter feeling shifting than any clutched system delivers.
My most recent good clutch-free drivetrain experience was running a 9-speed XTR Shadow derailleur, with a Saint super-short cage, on my flat-bar road bike, and for that application it was awesome. The XTR has a similarly firm spring to this X0 derailleur and the shifting feel is beautiful.
My most recent bad clutch-free drivetrain experience was the basic Shimano setup on the Growler 20 I tested for NSMB. After bumping down any sort of descent I had to soft-pedal the drivetrain back into gear before I could put any power down.
The second Claire ditches a chain or finds herself out of gear transitioning into a climb, or I start hearing her chain smash around on her frame, this derailleur will be back in a box and my original Shimano Zee plan will be implemented but I’m not being too hasty.
Housekeeping, and hedging, for folks I’ve had conversations with about kids’ bikes. Yes, definitely still buy the bike with a clutched rear derailleur. The shifts on more basic clutched systems can be a bit sticky, at least Claire finds that with the BOX setup, but compared to the super-light action non-clutch derailleurs that are the alternative the difference in experience is massive.
If you’ve got a high-end non-clutch derailleur with a big-bad cage spring like a 9-or-10 speed XTR setup or a SRAM X0 then maybe, maybe, depending on how fast your kid is chunking down trails, that system, mated to a quality N/W ring, will deliver the right amount of chain retention along with much nicer shifting. Maybe.
I’m certainly not ditching the, de-tuned when Shimano, clutch systems on my own mountain bike. I like my multi-speed bike experiences to be as close as silent to my single speed as possible. I also tend to use a lot of my drivetrain, including gears that are under less tension, on the trail where Claire stays in the lower end of the cassette stack all the time.
But we’re going to give Bri the benefit of the doubt on this one and report back. I’m cautiously optimistic that he’s on to something for my 7-year-old’s 24″ mountain bike experience and that that something is awesome shifting.
Cheers for the shifter and derailleur Mr. Lungtastic.