Review: MicroSHIFT's New $125 Advent Drivetrain
SRAM and Shimano currently rule the drivetrain world, but we're starting to see more and more viable options from other manufacturers hit the market. Taiwanese brand, MicroSHIFT, have entered into the ring with their Advent 9-speed derailleur, shifter, and cassette combo. In the past, MicroSHIFT has been more focused on making OEM spec components. Creating specific products to cater to the exact needs of a brand is a good niche to be in and while it may not be the most glamorous, it seems to have done pretty well for them.
MicroSHIFT's Advent drivetrain marks the first time the brand has truly approached a product from the development standpoint. Advent was developed to be functional, durable, and inexpensive. According to the team at MicroSHIFT, the goal with Advent was to give consumers an option that worked well enough you don't think about it while riding while still being pricepoint conscious.
MicroSHIFT's Advent drivetrain marks the first time the brand has truly approached a product from the development standpoint. Advent was developed to be functional, durable, and inexpensive. According to the team at MicroSHIFT, the goal with Advent was to give consumers an option that worked well enough you don't think about it while riding while still being pricepoint conscious.
Advent Details
• 9-speed
• 11-42t cassette
• 11-13-15-18-21-24-28-34-42
• Clutch rear derailleur - medium cage
• Trigger style shifter
• Weight: Derailleur - 379g, Cassette - 450g, Shifter - 114g
• MSRP: Derailleur: $59.99, Cassette: $39.99, Shifter: $24.99 USD
• www.microshift.com
• 9-speed
• 11-42t cassette
• 11-13-15-18-21-24-28-34-42
• Clutch rear derailleur - medium cage
• Trigger style shifter
• Weight: Derailleur - 379g, Cassette - 450g, Shifter - 114g
• MSRP: Derailleur: $59.99, Cassette: $39.99, Shifter: $24.99 USD
• www.microshift.com
The Advent derailleur, shifter, and 9-speed, 11-42 tooth cassette all together will run you about $125 USD.
The trigger shifter is basic but it feels solid and performs well.
The rear derailleur has a clutch that is easily switched off for wheel removal.
Construction
Advent is composed of a shifter, cassette, and derailleur. There currently isn't a crank or chain, and it is chain agnostic - meaning it will work with any 9-speed chain. One challenge with drivetrains, in general, is that the big Red and Blue S's have a lot of patents that must be navigated around, especially when it comes to the rear derailleur.
The Advent rear derailleur doesn't look all that different than any other standard unit at a glance, but its internals are what set it apart. There's a clutch system that can be disengaged for removing the wheel by a switch on the body of the derailleur. It uses a ratchet and pawl system, just like most hubs, but it's different from other major clutch systems which use a friction sleeve. The tension of the Advent's clutch is managed by a friction washer stack that is tightened by a single torx bolt. It's quick to adjust and it's also simple to take apart if it ever needs to be cleaned or repaired.
The shifter is no frills. It's a thumb shift to get into an easier gear and then the trigger shifts into a higher gear. There are sealed bearings in the mechanism to make the shifting smoother and to help ensure shifting with the clutch rear derailleur is easy.
The cassette has an 11-42 range and mates to a standard HG style freehub body. The mass of the gearing is forged steel and the large 42 tooth cog is alloy to help save weight. This cassette is a few teeth shy of the gearing we're seeing from Shimano and SRAM in their high-end systems, but the team at MicroSHIFT claim that they tested out a variety of different options, and while it could be done, the jumps in gear ranges were too big and the quality of shifting with those jumps was compromised once they got above 42-teeth.
The system works with any standard 9-speed chain, something that will run you $15-25 at the most at the local bike shop or online. It's also compatible with any chainring that works with 9-speed chains which is almost everything that's out there right now, bringing your total price in, sans cranks, comfortably under $150 USD.
For sake of comparison, you can find a SRAM X5 9-speed system, which is nowhere near as robust and doesn't have a clutch on the derailleur, for about $115 depending on where you look... pretty comparable in price, not so much in performance. If you were to buy SRAM's 11-speed NX? It's more modern and made for a 1x set up and would run you $196. Shimano's most comparable system, SLX, would be closer at about $170, but it's still a percentage higher.
The 9-speed cassette has a range of 11-42 with the largest cog being alloy to save weight.
If I had paid to replace the X01 derailleur and cassette I trashed, I would have spent $225 on a derailleur and $385 on a cassette, plus a $60 chain...$670.
Performance
I would say there's no better way to get some contrast than bolting on the drivetrain to the fanciest test bike I had on hand, so that's exactly what I did. I put the 9-speed Advent on the SB130, complete with those new I9 wheels.
Installing the drivetrain was as straightforward as it could have possibly been. If anything, it was easier to dial in than high-end 11- or 12-speed gearing. One thing worth noting is that the shifter clamp is as basic as it gets. There's no Matchmaker-style compatibility, so I did have to do a bit of finagling and swapping things around to get brakes and shifting where I wanted. Not a big deal, just worth noting. Also worth keeping in mind is that if you have to run a standard HG freehub body.
The first time I went on a ride with the Advent drivetrain, I wasn't sure what to expect. After all, it's a $125 9-speed drivetrain, a far cry from the $670 worth of 12-speed SRAM X01 that I had just taken off the bike but then again, I had tweaked that derailleur and somehow broken a few teeth on the cassette in a bit of a violent and unplanned dismount a few weeks back and it wasn't shifting all that well itself.
I also had some trepidation on running a smaller range in the cassette. I wasn't as much concerned about the jumps between teeth as I was going from the 50 to 42-tooth at the low end of the cassette. I kept in mind that 10 years back we were running what now would be janky 1x set-ups with 34 tooth cassettes and thought nothing of it.
On the trail, I was surprised and impressed with how solid and precise the shifting on the system was. It didn't feel cheap, in fact, each shift felt rock solid. The shifting was smooth and crisp. The trigger shifter took a bit of getting used to, as dropping into a more difficult gear takes a trigger pull - it can't be pushed with the thumb as a Shimano or SRAM shifter can be. I found that the jumps in the 9-speed cassette, larger than we're used to with 11 and 12-speed, were barely noticeable and while there were a couple of times having an easier gear than the 42t would have been nice, it was quite alright.
Descending, there was minimal chain slap or noise. No more than any top dollar drivetrain out there. The clutch seems to do a good job of keeping things quiet. I also didn't experience any dropped chains, and even with the 9-speed chain on the 12-speed Eagle chainring, things were smooth as could be. I'd wager that someone at an S-brand would likely claim this wouldn't be advised/compatible/recommended in staying "brand compliant" but hey, I'm here to tell you that it works fine and doesn't matter.
I've been riding the system for a couple of months now and really haven't taken care of it. I can count on one hand how many times I've lubed the chain and I know that I've done double that many rides in wet conditions. There are minimal signs of wear and everything works just as well as it did when I first installed it.
Shifting, even with a dry chain covered in filth is pretty darn smooth. Volume up for that I9 hub sound that's been asked for.
Is It For You?
The Advent drivetrain fills a previously open spot and meets a need that I think a lot of people have; it's affordable and functional. It is a few dollar tiers below either of the main competitors' most functional entry-level drivetrains, the closest of which I would compare it to is SRAM's 11-speed NX or Shimano's SLX systems. Both of those are a bit more expensive, and while they do have more gearing, I wouldn't say they perform any better when it comes to the smoothness of shifting. The Advent system also seems more robust and capable of handling a little more abuse than either of those systems as well.
If you're a racer or aficionado looking for the lightest set-up, 12 gears, or the crispest shifting you can get, this isn't for you. However, if you're on a budget and are having to debate between new tires and a new drivetrain, you blew all of your money on a fancy bike then ripped the derailleur off on your first ride, or you'd rather go on a trip and have a drivetrain than have to choose one or the other, Advent could be your fix. It's not the lightest setup, and it doesn't have as many gears as some other systems, but it works. It will get you out on your bike and it isn't just a band-aid you'll want to replace when you get a bit more money saved up.
Pinkbike's Take
 | The most value-oriented drivetrains tend to get overlooked, but they do something well – they get you out and riding. I thought that I would be eager to pull this off of my bike and get back to 12-speed, but two months later I've proved myself wrong. Advent works better than it should given its price. It's functional, inexpensive, and bombproof. It's the best option I've ridden for a drivetrain on a budget. |
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www.sram.com/sram/mountain/products/xg-899-e-block-cassette
I hate the price of the sram stuff; I go through a drivetrain in entirety per year. Before you comment on how your's has lasted 25 years-I don't care! I am a 6'2" , 200lb former grass roots racer who puts big miles on from rides on the steeps of BC year round.
For the following: Steep ascend, normal ascend, flat trail, downhill, downhill fast.
I never use the other 5 or more gears normally.
@fartymarty: Once you're in gear the efficiency difference between single speed and anything else is negligible. That's one of the beauties of a chain drive that gearboxes will never be able to mimic.
I think you two are confusing performance differences between hard tails and full suspensions with drive train differences maybe.
This is in $AUD. The microshift has a clutch but my bike's suspension wasn't designed for a clutch derailleur. So add $25 eBay minimal chain guide and ghetto chain tensioner.
i rode 7500km, with this config... perfect!! Climb and dh
Your comment gets me feeling nostalgic about those good old days reading sheldonbrown.com
Everything else can be some level of compromise.
You can get an ADVENT group from your local bike shop for this price, and you get our 4 year warranty to boot.
New Saint is going to be DH/eBike dual duty I've heard. Nine speed, two cassettes, one wide spread with a medium cage and one narrow spread with a short cage.
Bringing back the nine speed chains for mountain bikers is the way to go. Going through the comments it's pretty clear a lot of people care more about reliability than the size of the jumps between gears. 9 speed 10-50 would be sweet. I don't know about you guys but I've been using eleven speed since XT M8000 came out and last year I broke two chains - one on the MTB and one on the road bike. That's never happened to me with 7, 8, 9 or 10 speed.
Then ten speed came out and messed it all up. And now look at the fine mess we're in!
Jokes aside I think eleven speed is pretty reliable, except for the chains. I wonder if we will get to answeet spot in terms of number of gears and then work backwards. Will Eagle be ten speed in 2030?
This drivetrain though, the loaner bike will always be good to go now AND I can help friends new to riding keep cost down when they smack rocks with their derailleurs. Super sick that this option exists.
@jaame: ah, those good old days when your short cage Saint broke and you can slap Sora from your trainer road bike
Box Two-E 9s $280
Sunrace M9
Microshif Advent $125
2019 is the year of 9 speed!
So I’d like to introduce the “BroDuro SIX” speed group! Less is more people! We are finally freeing our selves from roadie geometry and the improvement is undeniable. Let’s free our selves from roadie gearing as well.
Just think of the benifits. We take a 12 speed cassette and remove half the cogs. It’s half as wide. The chain line will be much more consistent. The derailleur could stay tucked in closer to the wheel. Less weight and rotational mass. A simpler smaller shifter. Super boost will make even less sense than it already does.
Down sides? Roadie wantabe mtn bikers will cry about the gear spacing. I personally see that as a plus. Selling less is more to the masses can be complicated. This Is easily solved by marketing it as a group for (HardCore) riders only. This will alienate most sheeple and they will buy it anyway. This is the group that every real mtn biker needs. No it’s not going to be for everyone but for those of us who ride more than we do anything else it will be the best thing since the front derailleur died.
Who wants BroDuro?
You can't help but feel that the exponential rise in the cost of decent bikes has been fulled by Sram and Shimano's strangle hold on the original equipment market (Fox and Rockshox too, actually). It's nice to see smaller companies come up with products that are reasonably priced and perform well. Good job MicroShift! I look froward to trying this setup. I hope some bike builders start putting these on their base models.4000$ bikes with Sram NX and Rock shock Yari? no thanks.
@Gus-At-microSHIFT - yes it would hurt you. World is full of nicer folks who will post the crap out of behind bars photos and tag you into oblivion for getting 30% off your product while those who don't have to wait until October sales to get the discount on CRC. You'll be just fine
The smaller cassette will save those stupid things you name "grams"
*cough cough ex1 cough*
no but for real this sounds really nice. I just spent like 200$ on a gx 1x10 with a 42t cassette and the only reason I went for 10 speeds was the clutch, I'm glad to see more systems hitting the market with less focus on the number of gears. kinda wishing I'd waited now...
I don't mean to judge or anything, but with a little bit of research I found a 1x11 GX for the same price (It was like 210)
Another option is SLX 1x11 for only 175$ ??? It also has the bigger casette which has 11-46 range. (HG body tough)
Both of these have a clutch and lets be honest if you can get a 10 speed or 11 speed for the same price or even less, its no brainer because both of the sram driveterrains will have the exact same range (10-42), but the jumps in teeth numbers will be much smaller, therefore smoother shifting, better lifespan and less time needing to adjust it.
Online prices are subject to online availability limitations. Thomas is in the USA... and thus is limited to sources that will ship to the USA, or perhaps he needed things QUICKLY and thus was limited to what was available from retail shops near him. If you're using CRC as your reference, be aware they are NO LONGER ALLOWED to ship Shimano components to North America.
If I need something IMMEDIATELY for my bike to be rideable, damn right I'll go with the faster shipping options. I don't order anything from amazon unless it qualifies for the free next-day delivery that being an Amazon Prime member gets me. It also is going to help me and others in this area in the future as Amazon is building one of their supply/distribution centers about 25 mins drive east of me. The buildng itself is complete last I drove past it and now they're in the process of filling it with goods and training up staff.
I have fond memories of the 9s X0 drivetrain. Tough and reliable. Like Daniel here, I also like to remember how pedaling up on the ol‘ SX Trail and 1x9s worked out quite well!
I happen to like your actual shimano 10/11 speed dyna sys compatible shifters, could you not have at least used the same cable-pull geometry as the 10 speed Dyna Sys for this 9 speed setup ? Because the "don't pull enough" cable bit doesn't really hold water. Sunrace offers a wide range 9 speed cassette and it works fine with shimano 9 speed shifters and derailleurs. The tooth size of the cog in the granny position has nothing to do with the cable pull of the shifter and whether its compatible or not. Its the upper pulley clearance to the cog that determines the max cog size. A low end shimano Altus rear derailleur works just fine with a 40T cog for example, with no modifications to the derailleur at all.
When you use Altus with the SunRace 11-40 cassette, the guide pulley does not stay that close to the smallest cogs in the range, because it's designed to follow the angles of an 11-32 or 11-36 cassette. In my testing that setup doesn't shift very well under load in the smaller cogs.
If you look closely at how our parallelogram moves versus Altus, you'll notice that ours moves more vertical distance -- that keeps the guide pulley close to the cogs through the whole gear range. To do that smoothly, we need a longer overall cable pull than existing Shimano 9-speed shifters and derailleurs are designed for.
Our goal for this group wasn't to match the shifting quality of Altus -- we wanted it to work a lot better than that. I think we succeeded, but I'm also very biased.
Yes, my definition is that of someone actually using it on customer bikes and my own. Its also apparently the definition of many brands who are also using that exact same setup on several of their 2019 models. Rocky Mountain has the 11-40 sunrace cassette with shimano altus rear derailleur combo on more than a half dozen models this year.
Your definition is that of a company employee trying to convince people to buy an entirely new derailleur and shifter arrangement just to have a clutch with 9 speeds.
ADVENT will start showing up on OE bikes at some point -- when it does, just give it a ride and see what you think. Worst case scenario is you still think I'm an idiot!
So what is it? What is the actual pull ratio? If Gus isn't allowed to say, who has one and can measure? Are we talking 1:1? Because if so, it's compatible with 8 and 9 speed SRAM shifters as well as 10-speed Shimano Dyna-Sys shifters and 11-speed SRAM X-Actuation shifters. Which would be freaking awesome. That's why my SRAMano setup (10 speed Zee shifter with 9-speed SRAM RD) works.
When I get around to trying the set I ordered, I shall use the advent derailleur with a shimano 10 speed dyna sys shifter (and 10 speed wide range cassette) as well as a SRAM 9 speed 1:1 shifter with the advent cassette and see how they go.
I really wish buddy had just told me the cable pull/derailleur ratio. One lightly used Advent derailleur for sale.
I am currently binning the entire thing and "downgrading" to shimano XT 11sp - stuff that doesn't cost a fortune and just works.
Thinking now, I almost wish I'd gone the 10 speed route..... I ran 1x9 a few years ago with a 34 cassette and managed just fine! A good 1x 9 or 10 with an even spread of 11-42 ish would meet 95% of peoples needs?
www.aliexpress.com/item/ZTTO-MTB-Mountain-Bike-9-Speed-Freewheel-11-42T-Wide-Ratio-Cassette-Sprockets-Derailleur-For-M430/32839912919.html
I installed mine to upgrade from a 36t on a 2014 Commencal Meta HT witha Sram X5.
I also went to a bike show in Kortrijk in January, where I talked to the dutch importer of Sunrace, he was saying their cassettes were being "cloned" (whatever that means) by a chinese company, Sunshine.
I also for 9sp, some 50T starts to show up:
www.aliexpress.com/item/SUNSHINE-SZ-9-Speed-Cassette-11-50T-Mountain-Bike-Wide-Ratio-MTB-Bicycle-9S-Freewheel-Compatible/32908926266.html
11/50 9speed @25usd?
a 34/32up front and I've found my new tranny, that won't need to be double or triple shift to move forward!!!
If not, I imagine it probably can do an 11-46?
These guys will probably be bought ASAP and shut down before the ink dries on the deal. Gotta kill the competition one way or another.
ACTUAL weights are 130 grams for shifter including gear cable, 385 grams for the derailleur and 474 grams for the cassette. The fit and finish on the cassette and shifter are acceptable for the price but the derailleur seems a lot cheaper looking/feeling than a Shimano Deore 10speed shadow+, which as others have pointed out, can generally be bought cheaper. I can get an entire Deore M6000 derailleur, chain, cassette and shifter setup shipped to Canada for $18USD less than this Microshift Advent did (without a chain).
Reason? It´s cheap, cheap to replace, it works, it has pretty short cage which means shorter chain. I hate long chains rattling all around, long chain brings pain. Yep I don´t need to climb a wall on my bike
Recycling bikes as kids grow out of them, the drivetrain is always the part that hurts the most to upgrade. Being able to toss this on that perfectly good 26" hardtail mom or dad no longer rides...freaking turns it into a modern, clutch derailleur pinner & climber.
ein Lichtlein brennt.
Erst ein, dann zwei,
dann drei, dann vier,
dann steht das Christkind vor der Tür.
Einige Kinder ergänzen:
Und wenn die fünfte Kerze brennt,
dann hast du Weihnachten verpennt!
And my favorite shifting so far is still XTR 980 10-speed 11-36 cassette
curious about compatibility with other cassettes like 11/28 or 11/32
1. This competes with Shimano Deore drivetrains (9x or 10x), and i'm not convinced it will come out on top. But nice first attempt anyway.
2. " I kept in mind that 10 years back we were running what now would be janky 1x set-ups with 34 tooth cassettes and thought nothing of it." ---- Are you sure this was actually "Mountain"-biking you were doing back then? Pedaling a 1x9 setup with something like 30x34 up steep mountains is strictly the reserve of people with first names like Lance or Nino.