I have a 2020 Rockhopper Comp 1x bike that came with a MicroShift Advent 1x9 drivetrain. That drivetrain was a workhorse and just plain worked. Never needed an adjustment, never missed a shift, never dropped a chain. Just solid in 9 months of riding. So instead of getting a new bike this year, I decided to do 2 things...upgrade the driev=train and upgrade the fork. The fork is to come, but I wanted to get a bigger gear for climbing and without replacing my rear hub my options were the SRAM 1x12 NX Eagle, Shimano 1x11 Deore (not out yet), Box One 1x11, and the Microshift Advent X 1x10. I have heard too many negative things about the SRAM so I removed it from the list...the Deore 5100 11 speed system isn't shipping yet and may not be for another month or 2. So that leaves the MicroShift and the Box One. Reviews of the Box One were good and finding one for half off the regular price pushed me over the edge...that and a lifetime warranty..even if you break it, and its a local company and I took the plunge. Worse case scenario I can sell the Box One system probably for close to what I paid for it and buy the Deore 5100 in a few months if I REALLY hate it.
Bought it from Velomine. GREAT customer service and fast shipping. For $200 I got the 11-50 11 speed Cassette, the Box One Shifter, the Box One Chain, and the Triple Clutch Box One Derailleur. Got it on a Friday, installed it that night and while adjusting the RD the shifter jammed. Uh oh...Is this going to be how this system is? The reviews said the worst part of the system was the shifter. Its completely Shimano compatible so if I wanna upgrade that part I can get the 11 speed Shimano shifter of my choice.
Velomine sent me another shifter and Box actually had me open the shifter and we figured out what was jamming it and I got that one working. So Today was my first ride.
I did one of my normal rides that has a pretty technical single track area thats steep, rocky, and grueling for about a mile or so. The 42 on the 1x9 system made me stop ALOT going up for a breather. I was hoping the 50 would allow me to stop less and get up that section faster.
First lets talk about the shifting. SMOOTH. Buttery and precise. This system feels ALOT more refined than the MicroShift system. While the MicroSHift just worked like a good no frills economy car, the Box One system feels like a higher end product. I noticed that I was hearing the tires and not the drivetrain AT ALL. That may be the nicer chain, but drivetrain noise was nonexistent. A few times I had to look down and physically check to see if it shifted because the spacing of the gears was closer and it was so fast and smooth I didnt notice it shifting. The only issue I had with the shifts was in one of the middle gears it would sometimes drop to a lower gear. I think that had more to do with my lack of experience in adjusting it than the system.
The gearing is great. The difference between the Box and the Deore 5100 is the actual gearing. The Deore was similar to my 1-8 gears of the MicroShift Advent 11-42 but they go 39, 45, and 51. So I was leaning towards that because I get the same 1-8 that I was used to and TWO more climbing gears. The Box adds a 36 and 50. So a midrange gear and a granny gear. I wasn't sure I was going to like it but that one extra midrange gear was nice to have and then of course having the 50 granny gear was great.
All in All its a great system, and Box was actually great to work with on the support side as well.
I'm gonna now try and get it dialed in as well as the MicroShift was and enjoy the new gearing.
