Hey everyone how's it going?
Even though most of us choose the 10 to 51T cassette for Shimano 12 speed
remember that they also have this 10 to 45 tooth cassette.
Actually if you look at their sponsored Shimano riders on the UCI circuit
you'll see that most of them use this 10-45 tooth cassette.
I have an SLX in front of me today, why don't we check it out!
This 10-45T only exists as an SLX, you see the one aluminum cog over here,
as an XT with two aluminum cogs and obviously the XTR would have 3 aluminum cogs.
There is no cheaper version than this, the Deore M6100 only comes as a 10-51 tooth so wide range cassette.
So the more expensive cassettes come in what's called the wide range and the rhythm step, 10-51T or 10-45T.
They're for Trail, Cross Country and Enduro, they all provide the Hyperglide Plus,
they're 12 speed with an aluminum carrier and they all require the newly introduced freehub body, the Micro Spline.
Shimano believes that this 10-45T cassette gives you the perfect gear steps between the 12 cogs,
just like the 11-40T or 11-42T cassettes provided you with the perfect gear steps here on 11 speed.
That also means that the 10-51 tooth cassettes that we seem to prefer for Shimano 12 speed are a compromise.
Are these all that different?
The size of it - this is a 160 mm disc, and that 10-45T is almost as big.
The 10-51T is larger than an 180 mm by that much, so if I put a 160 or if you plan to have 160 in the rear
you can see how the cassette it's going to dwarf that disc.
The big dinner plate? Yep, that's the 10-51T.
The construction of these cassettes is very similar.
The beam spider, which is this aluminum carrier, is used on both, they are similar but not identical.
The 10-45T seems to be using a larger spider.
On the last cog you can see the branding - CS-M7100 12 s,
this is made in Japan just like all the other 12 speed components from Shimano.
SLX is on this other side, and aside from that, the only thing you're gonna see
is the 40 Nm needed to tighten up this lock ring.
You have five loose cogs here at the end of your cassette,
everything else is bolted down onto this carrier.
The 10-51T is built slightly different, the way these bigger cogs are bolted onto each other is different,
the same branding here on the back and the same 5 loose cogs followed by the 7 cog cluster.
So the five loose cogs are the same,
the two different sizes washers or spacers here are the same.
In reality all the cogs are the same up until the last four here.
Because that is where the 10-51 goes 33, 39, 45, and 51, as opposed to 32, 36, 40, and 45.
And if you were to look at the bicycle gear calculator,
you're gonna see how everything is the same same same same up until here
where the 10-45T keeps this close gear steps and the 10-51T starts to get bigger steps.
Now most of us prefer the 10-51T because of the range
and I would argue that these bigger gear steps here
are not that big of a deal for weekend warriors like you and me.
I'm not a big fan of the way these new cassettes get installed on the Micro Spline
but I do have this in detail on a different video, make sure you check that out for an installation step by step.
Is the weight difference a reason to go for 10-45?
This one is 522 grams, the wide range cassette comes up to 534 g.
So we're talking 12 grams difference between the two, these are with the plastic tube installed.
10-45T by itself is 516 grams which is about 60 grams heavier thana SRAM Eagle GX.
As you guys probably know, for Hyperglade Plus you're gonna need the Shimano cassette and chain.
This 10-45T is no different and by the way I read an article online where they tested different chains,
and the Shimano XTR and XT were some of the best when it came to longevity plus low friction.
However the Eagle X01 and XX1 excelled when it came to longevity, they were unbeatable.
For shifter you can use any shifter in the Shimano 12 speed lineup, from Deore all the way to XTR
and I do have a video giving you the details or the pros and cons on using one versus the other.
And that brings me to the derailleurs: can I use a 1x derailleur with this cassettes? What about a 2x derailleurs?
I have the two SLX derailleurs here, the 1x M7100 and the 2x M7120.
I do have a full video talking about the differences between these two, make sure you check it out!
But let's just say that the 2x derailleur works perfectly fine with a 10-45T cassette,
whether that's a 1x or 2x drivetrain.
The 1x derailleur, the M7100, has a slightly shorter cage, even though it's still called SGS,
and this is recommended for the 10-51T so wide range cassette as a 1x.
This also works fine with a 10-45T cassette only as a 1x drivetrain.
Okay so here it is, it works just fine, surprise surprise!
But one thing that bothers me, especially on 27.5 wheels, see how close to the ground this is?
Well, you have 2 options, well actually 3!
Number one, buy a whole bunch of these derailleurs, have them as spares.
Yeah, I know, funny guy...
Option 2 would be to go for the uber expensive XTR GS.
XTR has this shorter version, shorter cage version of their derailleur, the GS,
and I bet that would be a perfect derailleur for this drivetrain.
But again, that would be pretty expensive.
Option number 3 would be to use an 11 speed GS derailleur like this one
with my 12 speed drivetrain and 10-45T cassette.
Let me get that installed and if it works this would be actually awesome!
Not only that the cage is shorter on this, but it works with a shorter chain as well.
So I'm gonna do big-to-big plus 2 links, one inner one outer.
And here is installed guys, so shorter chain, so less chain slap, also shorter cage and less bulky derailleur.
I gained about 1.5 inch here, from 4 inches now I am at 5.5 inches clearance from the ground.
But how is the shifting? That's the most important part.
I'm doing this with an Eagle chain, an older Eagle chain because I didn't want to cut my expensive XT for this test.
Let's give it a try!
So what do you guys think?
I believe the SRAM chain doesn't mesh that nicely with the cassette
but otherwise the derailleur can take that range, the pull ratio is the same,
so I don't see any reasons not to use an 11 speed GS with a 10-45T cassette.
This is also amazing amazing news for bikes that have a Direct Mount derailleur like you see this GIANT.
It means that I can install a 12 speed Shimano on this bike
just by using the 10-45T cassette and the 11 speed GS derailleur.
And if you look at the gear steps on this cassette,
I would argue that is a lot, a lot better than one Shimano gave us with this 11-46T cassette.
None of the 12 speed Shimano derailleurs are compatible with the Direct Mount anymore,
so this would be your only option.
So what do you guys think about the 10 to 45 tooth cassette from Shimano?
What do you think about this ability to use the 11 speed GS derailleur with it?
I don't know about you but I am pretty excited about this.
But if you found this useful don't forget to like, subscribe, keep an eye on social media,
and until next time, I hope to see you folks on the trails.
Cheers guys, cheers!