Vado SL 4.0 Deore drivetrain upgrade suggestions

[LazyJ]

'21 model with 4,400 miles, battery 100%. The Deore 10s developed stiction in the clutch which chewed up two tension wheels before I figured out what was going on. Tinkered with the clutch and got disgusted, I want to retire it and hopefully upgrade.

Help a snowbound Arkansan here - HG driver, 10 or 11s, 11/42t higher maybe but no 10t, model preference GX, XT, NX

NX 11 with the SunRace 11-42t appears to be pnp (please confirm) since Spec used this on some models and I do consider NX an upgrade, but shouldn't that same SunRace work with GX 11 mech? If not, any other options within criteria?

 

[stompandgo]

Can your HG freehub handle 12s?

 

[LazyJ]

Can your HG freehub handle 12s?

There might be a wildcat 12s that would work on HG? but would likely include 1 or 2 big cogs I'd never use so I haven't looked in that direction yet. I just found a Shimano M8000 11s 11-42t exists so I'm going to study that option also.

 

[stompandgo]

Most 11s HG hubs can handle 12s, you don't need that funky HG L2 freehub. The reason I'm asking is that you wanted to upgrade, and if that's the case, go 12s now. You can get a 10-51 with M8100 or M8200, mechanical or Di2, which can be wired to your main battery.

 

[LazyJ]

11s in XT or GX will be a huge upgrade for bike and myself, lol. 11-42/44 Shimano M8000-11 cassettes have my attention, assuming that works ez with no shims or filing to whatever HG thats on a 10s Vado SL?

 

[BlackHand]

Most 11s HG hubs can handle 12s, you don't need that funky HG L2 freehub. The reason I'm asking is that you wanted to upgrade, and if that's the case, go 12s now. You can get a 10-51 with M8100 or M8200, mechanical or Di2, which can be wired to your main battery.

Does Shimano make 12s cassettes that fit regular HG for 1x drivetrains? I think the only HG 12s they offer are road bike range, so OP would be limited to 11-36, and maybe a spacer?, unless he changes out his hub for microspline. Possibly complicated by the fact that his bike uses road boost sizing I think...

There might be a wildcat 12s that would work on HG? but would likely include 1 or 2 big cogs I'd never use so I haven't looked in that direction yet. I just found a Shimano M8000 11s 11-42t exists so I'm going to study that option also.

I run the M8000 on both my bikes. The XT derailleur has been good up to 15000 miles, but the clutch it's starting to get sticky and the tension wheel needs replaced. Over 15300 on it and a lot of wet mucky commuting and gritty summer gravel rides, so no complaints here.

I like the M8000 cassettes better than the SLC M7000. A little lighter and can be found on sale for not much more $. Personally, I like the 11-42: I never used the 46t when I had the 11-46. The 11-40 is nice, but every once in a while I found myself wishing for a bit of a taller gear.

I think you'll need a new shifter too because the pull pull from a 10s shifter would be wrong for 11s I think. At that point, you should consider the jump to 12s if you are already on the hook for a cassette, derailleur, and shifter. But again, not sure what's involved in converting your hub to microspline.

 

[stompandgo]

Yes, you are correct. The mountain 12s cassettes all went to Microspline. So maybe going with a Deore M5100 RD and 11-51 cassette and staying with 11s is best.

 

[BlackHand]

Hard to argue with that value for $160, though the 11-51 wouldn't work for me personally. I think a XT/SLX combo could be put together al la carte from Jenson for about $70 more.

Shimano Deore M5100 Mountain Bike Groupset (Black) (1 x 11 Speed)

Shimano Deore M5100 Mountain Bike Groupset Description: Looking for an affordable and modern upgrade to your mountain bike? Look no... SHIMANODEM5100GRP1-BDL

www.performancebike.com

 

[Stefan Mikes]

So maybe going with a Deore M5100 RD and 11-51 cassette and staying with 11s is best.

Hard to argue with that value for $160, though the 11-51 wouldn't work for me personally. I think a XT/SLX combo could be put together al la carte from Jenson for about $70 more.

Shimano Deore M5100 Mountain Bike Groupset (Black) (1 x 11 Speed)

Shimano Deore M5100 Mountain Bike Groupset Description: Looking for an affordable and modern upgrade to your mountain bike? Look no... SHIMANODEM5100GRP1-BDL

www.performancebike.com

I didn't feel I liked participating in this thread until I saw the posts from you, Chris and Steve.
What I did to my Vado SL with the 10-speed Deore was exactly this. Replacing the drivetrain with a Shimano CS-M5100 11-speed 11-51T cassette, the derailleur being replaced with the RD-M5100, and the shifter swapped for SL-M5100, right hand side, 11-speed. The cost was equivalent to USD163 in 2024. Additionally, I installed a smaller 38T chainring and a new chain.

Could not be any happier. The cassette fit the HG freehub body ideally.

 

[stompandgo]

I'm glad it worked out for you.

 

[LazyJ]

Blackhand, thanks for confirming the M8000 is indeed an option, gets me exactly where I want to be.