Does anyone run with the XT groupset?

[Robofleeds]

Hi, I’m thinking of buying a Supercharger and this looked like a good place to get some honest opionion. I live in Switzerland, I’ve always ridden bikes and currently have 4 (no ebikes but a full suspension MTB, hardtail, touring rig and a road bike). I love cycling.

I’m looking for an e bike that will do my 17km to work commute (so I don’t arrive sweaty), get me up into the mountains at weekends (It’s a two hour slog up a 1000 meters at the moment) and then 3 or 4 times a year a long weekend or week tour.

My question is this, all the talk on this forum seems to center around Rohloff or Enviolo, but does anyone run with the XT groupset? I love to hear some feedback from anyone running with this.

The XT groupset has a range of 420% versus the Rohloff of 510%, does this make a difference?

I’m looking at getting a speed version (45kmh) and will the XT low gears manage the mountains?

Manual changing of gears, rather than the E14, is this a pain on an e-bike? (I notice that by habit on my normal bikes I automatically change down when stopping so I’m ready to set off again)

Thanks for any feedback

 

[dadanka]

Hi! I own a Supercharger GT Touring (not HS, so limited to 25 Km/h) with Shimano Deore XT. I'm super happy with it!
I never tried a Rohloff or a Nuvinci version but, looking for a big tour all over europe i preferred to have a standard gear shift, whatever can happen I can fix my bike in every bike shop. Not the same for wonderful but more complicated gear groupset like rohloff.
I live on italian Lake Maggiore side, very close to Switzerland, so a zone with a lot of climbs and mountain trails, Deore XT cassette is 11-46, I still have not found a climb where bosch cx and shimano Deore XT make things too hard for me, and I have faced several climbs, usually with an average of 7-12% and peaks also of 17-18%.
Majority of ebikes use standard gear groupset so it is absolutely not a 'pain on ebikes'. If you want more info, just ask and if you are close to Lake Maggiore you can come and try my bike

 

[Robofleeds]

Thanks for the reply Dadanka, looks like I am on safe ground with the XT as you have similar landscape to me.

Do you, or anyone else, know why on the Rohloff you get less torque in Turbo mode? 63nm on the XT and only 50nm with the Rohloff?

Thanks

 

[steve mercier]

Thanks for the reply Dadanka, looks like I am on safe ground with the XT as you have similar landscape to me.



Thanks

yup I have 1000 km on my Charger GT Tour now and so far the only hill it would not climb was because the Super moto x tires started slipping on a very very steep gravel path ,in the rain , covered in wet leaves. Nevertheless I am sure I could have made it with knobbies. The XT is really great!

 

[Alaskan]

I have a Cube Touring Hybrid with Bosch CX and the XT with a Speedbox RS speed delimiter. I changed the front chain sprocket to one with two more teeth to give me a higher overdrive gear for speed. The bike originally came with a 11-42 cassette, which I changed out for a 11-46 to regain the steep hill climbing first gear that was diminished by the larger front chain sprocket. It is a really well balanced set up now.

I mainly ride a Riese & Muller Homage Rohloff HS. Not modifications were needed as it is a billy-goat on hills and 14th gear at a cadence of 90 going down hill pushes me at 32 mph. I must confess that the Rohloff has spoiled me. I find the Cube to be awkward and clunky in it shifting by comparison. It works fine but now I have to think about it more when I ride the Cube.

 

[Hompie]

I also have 4 other regular bikes and choose the NuVinci for the carbon belt so that maintenance is less on a daily commuter.
Don’t mind cleaning the MTBs Chain after a weekend ride, but dient want to have to do it after every muddy commune.

 

[steve mercier]

speaking of climbing steep stuff...

 

[Dmitri]

I have bikes with both the XT rear derailleur and Rohloff. Interestingly, the latest fatbike I got has an XT derailleur coupled with an 11-46 SLX rear sprocket.

In terms of shifting, the XT shifter is the best, period, way better than SRAM and miles away from the awful non-electronic Rohloff twist shifter. The ability to drop 5 and raise 2 gears is priceless even if you're not the racing type. It just comes naturally to raise gears in 2s after a steep climb, you get used to it and wonder why SRAM didn't implement this (not even on Eagle groupsets).

SRAM make the ebike-specific EX1 set. It's very expensive because it's machined from a single piece of aluminum, but it's essentially an 11-48 8-speed cassette and the associated shifter. I'm going to try it out at some point because honestly with an ebike you don't need the granularity of 11 (let alone 12) gears and, having a mid-drive, I'd rather prefer to have an 8-speed chain for extra comfort (whether or not it significantly helps is open to question though, I'm still experimenting).

On a side note, I think having 46 or more teeth on the largest cog is completely unnecessary unless you're climbing like 30° cliffs. I've never used even the 42-teeth sprocket because while I do plenty of country riding there's never a hill that steep, and even with 250W power you can climb on reasonably high gears. Also, my son has a kids' Haibike and he has no problem climbing hills even though his rear cassette is effectively DH (11-34, I think).

Manual change of gears isn't a particular pain point though of course the advantage of E-14 is the 'return to low gear' feature which I think is priceless. But the reason why it's priceless is because Bosch motors are not good at starting up in high gear. Yamaha motors don't have this problem, they very flexibly spin up even if you're starting in high gear, so this feature is basically a stop-gap solution to something that could have been worked out in firmware.

 

[Alaskan]

@Dmitri After adding a Bikespeed RS speed delimiter to my Cube Touring Hybrid, I found that with the 11 tooth highest gear, I was spinning out at 25mph. To remedy this I changed out the front chain sprocket from a 15 tooth to a 17 tooth. Living near the top of a hill with very steep grades (18%), the 43 tooth lowest gear was now too high for an easy climb home. This was why I changed out the cassette for the 11-46 which restored a solid low gear. I might even go with the 18 tooth front sprocket.

I too am curious about the SRAM EX1 and look forward to your comments on it.

 

[Dmitri]

@Dmitri After adding a Bikespeed RS speed delimiter to my Cube Touring Hybrid, I found that with the 11 tooth highest gear, I was spinning out at 25mph. To remedy this I changed out the front chain sprocket from a 15 tooth to a 17 tooth. Living near the top of a hill with very steep grades (18%), the 43 tooth lowest gear was now too high for an easy climb home. This was why I changed out the cassette for the 11-46 which restored a solid low gear. I might even go with the 18 tooth front sprocket.

I too am curious about the SRAM EX1 and look forward to your comments on it.

Interesting. I've never experienced this problem because my Bosch mid-drive is 22T and of course the Yamaha ones are 38T.
I'll try the EX1 but first I have to wear out both the 11-46 SLX cassette as well as the Box Components (rebranded SunRace) 11-46 cassette that I also bought for no particular reason.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

...
The XT groupset has a range of 420% versus the Rohloff of 510%, does this make a difference?

Yes, and it will matter more if you are carrying a lot (or are riding a heavy bike or are a heavy person) and if you are riding up steep hills.

Changing gears on an e-bike is no more difficult than on a regular bike, and you certainly have mastered that skill.

On the Rohloff hubs, my personal opinion is that they are awesome. I have a few bike touring friends who swear by them who have traveled all over the world and ridden in atrocious conditions without a single problem with them (the Rohloff hub). As long as you service them properly and don't immerse them in water (especially in salt water) they are unlikely to fail you.