12 speed chain on 1x11

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jromano89
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by jromano89

My bike has GRX 1x11 and it's just a tad noisy while using the bigger gears in the back. I'm due for a new chain and wondering if it's worth trying a thinner Campagnalo 12 speed chain for reduced noise, or if I should stick to a Shimano 11 speed chain. Does anyone have experience trying this setup?

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Marin
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by Marin

I read that a Shimano 12s chain works well on 11s

ooo
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by ooo

Yes, you can use it with 12-speed pulleys from Ultegra/XT on GRX RD:

for RD-RX817/RD-RX812 (1x11, 11-40, 11-42) you need:
12-speed 11T top pulley from Ultegra RD-R8150
12-speed 11T bottom pulley from Ultegra RD-R8150

for RD-RX815/RD-RX810 (2x11, 1x11, 11-34) you need:
12-speed 11T top pulley from Ultegra RD-R8150 (link - ali: not available yet)
12-speed 13T bottom pulley from XT RD-M8100 (link - ali: €11/$12)
'

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robbosmans
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by robbosmans

You can’t use shimano 12s chains on normal narrow wide chainrings you need specific hyperglide 12s chainrings for that, sram and campy should work

tomtom
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by tomtom

robbosmans wrote:
Fri Dec 31, 2021 8:28 pm
You can’t use shimano 12s chains on normal narrow wide chainrings you need specific hyperglide 12s chainrings for that, sram and campy should work
Of couse you can and it will work better and it's less noisy as 11 speed. It works (very well) on cranks with 2 blades and also the non Shimano ones; Rotor Qrings for example. There are a lot of posts on this in the road section
Last edited by tomtom on Sun Jan 02, 2022 2:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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ooo
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by ooo

2x11 shimano chain rings are compatible with 12s chain,
but that doesn't mean that 1x11 shimano chain rings are compatible with 12s chain

1x11 chainrings are wider and have specific tooth shape that makes them less compatible with 12-speed hyperglide+ DCE+ specific chains
(12-speed shimano chain spec = DCE+ hyperglide+; 12-speed chimano cassette spec = hyperglide+; 1x12 shimano chainring spec = DCE+)

some 1x11/1x12 narrow-wide non DCE+ specific (non DYNAMIC CHAIN ENGAGEMENT+ specific) chainrings:
works with 12-speed shimano chain with kmc quick link, but doesn't work with shimano 12-speed quick link
'

tomtom
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by tomtom

ooo wrote:
Sun Jan 02, 2022 1:25 pm
2x11 shimano chain rings are compatible with 12s chain,
but that doesn't mean that 1x11 shimano chain rings are compatible with 12s chain

1x11 chainrings are wider and have specific tooth shape that makes them less compatible with 12-speed hyperglide+ DCE+ specific chains
(12-speed shimano chain spec = DCE+ hyperglide+; 12-speed chimano cassette spec = hyperglide+; 1x12 shimano chainring spec = DCE+)

some 1x11/1x12 narrow-wide non DCE+ specific (non DYNAMIC CHAIN ENGAGEMENT+ specific) chainrings:
works with 12-speed shimano chain with kmc quick link, but doesn't work with shimano 12-speed quick link
Ok thanks.....did not know that. I stand corrected :mrgreen: ! Quite complex....is GRX 1x compatible with a Shimano 12 chain?
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robbosmans
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by robbosmans

tomtom wrote: Of couse you can and it will work better and it's less noisy as 11 speed. It works (very well) on cranks with 2 blades and also the non Shimano ones; Rotor Qrings for example. There are a lot of posts on this in the road section
You misunderstood, we’re talking about 1x narrow wide chainrings

ooo
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by ooo

tomtom wrote:
Sun Jan 02, 2022 2:00 pm
is GRX 1x compatible with a Shimano 12 chain?
Yes, new pulleys recommended, new chainring required:

GRX rear derailleur ⇒ 12s pulleys ⇒ see post #3
GRX crankset ⇒ 12s DCE+ chainring ⇒ https://www.garbaruk.com/grx-round.html
'

jromano89
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by jromano89

Good info in this thread. So a Shimano 12s chain will work with GRX 1x IF the chainring is swapped for one with a compatible tooth profile. To clarify, does the mean SRAM / Campy 12s chains will work well without any component changes?

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by ico

Does Campy 12s chain work on Rotor Aero Qrings 11s for Campagnolo?

robertbb
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by robertbb

I've found KMC chains work better than any other for 1x systems because they have specific chamfering on all four corners of the outer plates. It genuinely helps avoid noise and chain suck at extreme chain angles. It's really good stuff.

I use KMC x11 on my 1x11 setup (XT m8000) and KMCx10 on my gf's' 1x10 setup (shimano 10 speed road flat bar shifters, 9 speed Altus MTB rear derailleur - long story but Shimano 10 speed road pull ratio works perfectly with 9sp MTB rear derailleurs). I tried an x11 chain on her 1x10 and it worked fine (though not obviously any better than x10).

Anyway, I wouldn't look anywhere other than KMC for 1x setups. Never tried an x12 chain but IF your narrow wide chainring is compatible it might work fine on 1x11.

Edit: There's lots of KMC fakes around. Buy from a reputable store.

jromano89
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by jromano89

My Campagnalo 12spd chain came in today, and I can confirm it fits the GRX chainring and derailleur pulleys without any interference. However, the shifting performance is noticeably poorer than using a Shimano 11spd chain. More derailleur tension is needed for the thinner chain to catch the shift ramps, especially on the smaller cogs. This results in unwanted contact in the larger cogs, and is noiser overall than before.

Back to the Shimano chain for now. For the next test, I'll look into the KMC X11 chains mentioned by robertbb since it seems like those should work pretty well with 1x drivetrains.

spdntrxi
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by spdntrxi

Marin wrote:
Fri Dec 31, 2021 3:08 pm
I read that a Shimano 12s chain works well on 11s
I had skipping with a few gears on my red cassette.. FD worked alright. The skipping was under power mostly it was annoying so I went back to 11sp chain
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PoorCyclist
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by PoorCyclist

I had installed the wolf tooth chainring onto GRX crank (very easy). It has a lot chains it can go with below (although not Shimano 12 speed)

"Use Drop-Stop B for all 9, 10, and 11spd chains or 12spd SRAM Eagle, SRAM Flattop, Campagnolo, KMC, Connex or Wippermann chains"

It also hold the chain better,when cleaning sometimes I get a small piece of paper towel onto the GRX chainring it wants to skip and derail and the wolf tooth is not affected.

Also if you want to, get a smaller chain ring then you don't have to use the largest cog in the back which has very high friction and noise.

I am running KMC 11 speed chain. I didn't think running 12 speed chain I am afraid the thinner chain will break because it sees many 17% climbs.

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