Rotor 11-39 12sp Cassette with AXS Eagle or Force Experience ?

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gSporco
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by gSporco

Hey all,

I am currently running a Eagle AXS RD with eThirteen 9-46 with a 44t CR 1X. 2 minor issues with this.. 1. The 9 cog is to high and i really dont need to go that fast. 2. 46 is abit to low.. Honestly never use it.. 3. The big one, I miss the smooth cadence of the 1 tooth jumps of the standard Force/Red AXS Cassette.

So I am thinking of going with a Rotor 11-39.. Whats your experience with it?

Is it smooth?
Are you running an Eagle or a Force/Red with a longer cage?
Are you using a KMC or YBN Chain?

Thanks!
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kundica
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by kundica

I ran the 11-39 for a while. It works but it's not smooth like a SRAM 12 Speed Eagle cassette. I also tried it with the Force AXS derailleur with the new Garbaruk cage. Shifting is clean but the Garbaruk cage rattles a bit. I finally caved and now I'm a 2x config with the 10-36. I used a KMC chain with the Rotor cassette, it's also what Rotor recommends.

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gSporco
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by gSporco

kundica wrote:
Wed Jul 22, 2020 6:17 am
I ran the 11-39 for a while. It works but it's not smooth like a SRAM 12 Speed Eagle cassette. I also tried it with the Force AXS derailleur with the new Garbaruk cage. Shifting is clean but the Garbaruk cage rattles a bit. I finally caved and now I'm a 2x config with the 10-36. I used a KMC chain with the Rotor cassette, it's also what Rotor recommends.

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Darn I was hoping for positive experience :)

Better I am informed before I go down expensive rabbit holes

Come on Sram release a 39t cassette that will work with AXs wide or the Eagle :)
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whyamihere
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by whyamihere

The new 10-36 Force cassette has a slightly wider range than the 11-39 Rotor cassette, and is designed to work perfectly with the rest of the Force AXS drivetrain. I've just bought one to go 1x on my winter bike, just waiting on one of the levers to come into stock before I can fit it and try it out.

gSporco
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by gSporco

whyamihere wrote:
Wed Jul 22, 2020 12:55 pm
The new 10-36 Force cassette has a slightly wider range than the 11-39 Rotor cassette, and is designed to work perfectly with the rest of the Force AXS drivetrain. I've just bought one to go 1x on my winter bike, just waiting on one of the levers to come into stock before I can fit it and try it out.
Thats what i had and it was smooth as butter but 36 wasn't enough for my hillier rides unfortunately
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MayhemSWE
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by MayhemSWE

gSporco wrote:
Wed Jul 22, 2020 2:54 pm
Thats what i had and it was smooth as butter but 36 wasn't enough for my hillier rides unfortunately
So why not get smaller chainrings up front? Unless already at the limit of what your BCD will allow of course.

gSporco
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by gSporco

MayhemSWE wrote:
Wed Jul 22, 2020 3:01 pm
gSporco wrote:
Wed Jul 22, 2020 2:54 pm
Thats what i had and it was smooth as butter but 36 wasn't enough for my hillier rides unfortunately
So why not get smaller chainrings up front? Unless already at the limit of what your BCD will allow of course.
A 40T CR x 36Cog rolls 2.39 Meters per crank revolution
A 44T CR x 36Cog rolls 2.63 Meters per crank revolution

So yeah I may even be able to get away with my current 44T with a 36 on my climbs.. and 40T can always be a swapable option
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stannymenza
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by stannymenza

I just installed a Rotor 11-39 with an Eagle AXS RD on my set of road/light gravel wheels, initial testing seems to be good. Maybe slightly noisier changes than the SRAM 10-50 cassette but not dramatically. I'm trying this theory that the Eagle RD works better with a slightly longer chain, since the offset upper pulley will stay closer to the cassette with a longer chain. So I took 1 outer link (2 rollers) off from the length I'm using for the 10-50 (I think that makes it 1 outer link longer than if measured with the large-large method). After (only) the B-tension adjustment (2 turns out) it seems to shift pretty good! I'm using a KMC x12 chain.

I did have to use a (non-included) 2.5mm spacer behind the cassette, and the placement of the cassette on the freehub splines is not exactly intuitive, but at least Rotor support was really quick replying to my questions. The manual you get with the cassette is very very brief and there's no real info on the Rotor website, something which could be improved. I'll report back after a few rides!

As an aside, Garbaruk apparently are also working on some gravel-range 12speed XDR cassettes, 10-39 and 10-42, which would be an even more attractive range for me.

kundica
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by kundica

stannymenza wrote:
Wed Jul 29, 2020 8:05 pm
As an aside, Garbaruk apparently are also working on some gravel-range 12speed XDR cassettes, 10-39 and 10-42, which would be an even more attractive range for me.
I wonder what the gear spacing will be like on those.

Nefarious86
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by Nefarious86

10-36 with a 42 sounds like it will solve most of your issues..



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gSporco
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by gSporco

Nefarious86 wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 5:50 am
10-36 with a 42 sounds like it will solve most of your issues..



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That would be perfect.. Unfortunetly Wolftooth only makes 40t and 44t for the Dub series 8 bolt cranks.. I could go with the 42T Sram Axs Spider but its chunky
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whyamihere
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by whyamihere

gSporco wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 6:32 am
Nefarious86 wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 5:50 am
10-36 with a 42 sounds like it will solve most of your issues..
That would be perfect.. Unfortunetly Wolftooth only makes 40t and 44t for the Dub series 8 bolt cranks.. I could go with the 42T Sram Axs Spider but its chunky
Garbaruk make a 42t ring which fits the 8 bolt cranks: https://r2-bike.com/GARBARUK-Chainring- ... th-black_1

A 42t ring with the 10-36 cassette is what I'll be trying.

gSporco
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by gSporco

whyamihere wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 2:16 pm
gSporco wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 6:32 am
Nefarious86 wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 5:50 am
10-36 with a 42 sounds like it will solve most of your issues..
That would be perfect.. Unfortunetly Wolftooth only makes 40t and 44t for the Dub series 8 bolt cranks.. I could go with the 42T Sram Axs Spider but its chunky
Garbaruk make a 42t ring which fits the 8 bolt cranks: https://r2-bike.com/GARBARUK-Chainring- ... th-black_1

A 42t ring with the 10-36 cassette is what I'll be trying.
Ill have to contact them to see if it supports the AXS chainline
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NLC86
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by NLC86

stannymenza wrote:
Wed Jul 29, 2020 8:05 pm
I just installed a Rotor 11-39 with an Eagle AXS RD on my set of road/light gravel wheels, initial testing seems to be good. Maybe slightly noisier changes than the SRAM 10-50 cassette but not dramatically. I'm trying this theory that the Eagle RD works better with a slightly longer chain, since the offset upper pulley will stay closer to the cassette with a longer chain. So I took 1 outer link (2 rollers) off from the length I'm using for the 10-50 (I think that makes it 1 outer link longer than if measured with the large-large method). After (only) the B-tension adjustment (2 turns out) it seems to shift pretty good! I'm using a KMC x12 chain.

I did have to use a (non-included) 2.5mm spacer behind the cassette, and the placement of the cassette on the freehub splines is not exactly intuitive, but at least Rotor support was really quick replying to my questions. The manual you get with the cassette is very very brief and there's no real info on the Rotor website, something which could be improved. I'll report back after a few rides!

As an aside, Garbaruk apparently are also working on some gravel-range 12speed XDR cassettes, 10-39 and 10-42, which would be an even more attractive range for me.
Did I understand correctly?
Did you use a 2.5mm spacer with the Rotor 11-39 on a Shimano 11s freehub?
It should work without spacers, am I missing something?

stannymenza
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun May 24, 2020 8:03 pm

by stannymenza

NLC86 wrote:
Sat Nov 07, 2020 11:12 pm
Did I understand correctly?
Did you use a 2.5mm spacer with the Rotor 11-39 on a Shimano 11s freehub?
It should work without spacers, am I missing something?
The problem is that the inner spider of the cassette does not go all the way to the base of the freehub as it is. So if you would not use a spacer you would only clamp the cassette on the outer end of the freehub with the lockring. If you use a spacer the load is spread more on the freehub (the teeth interfacing the freehub splines are also quite narrow, which could damage freehubs in soft material I think).

Overall the cassette shifts ok, less well than the stock 10-50 but definitely not a big issue. Support for mounting the cassette and the engineering around the splines (the cassette can rotate a few degrees without the lockring) should be better.

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