MicroSHIFT ADVENT X £134.98 (mech, shifter & cassette)
With one more gear than Box’s Prime 9 system, the ADVENT X drivetrain has an 11-48t cassette, the idea similarly being that fewer gears mean better shifting. It fits on a standard freehub body, so you won’t need to upgrade your wheels. The brand don’t make a chain or chainring, but almost all 10-speed offerings are compatible. Installation and set-up were relatively simple, although the inner cable passes over the mech’s limit screws, making them fiddly to access. The shifter bar clamp isn’t hinged or Matchmaker/I-SPEC-compatible, necessitating the removal of the grip and brake lever to fit it.
The mech has an adjustable ratchet-and-pawl clutch with an on/off lever, and the factory-set tension gave great chain security with no skipping while pedalling under power. It didn’t interfere with shift feel either, and we had no mechrelated misshifts. Although the shifter feel was positive and impressively light, even when changing gear under power, the ADVENT X set-up lacked the crispness of Shimano XT. The lever ergonomics are spot-on though, with the short paddles working best when the shifter was mounted next to the grip. Both are thumb-operated, and the lower, cable-pull trigger has a silicone covering for enhanced grip. This lever has more travel than most before it engages a gear, which caused some misshifts until we got used to it. The wide-range cassette’s gear ratios are predictable with manageable changes in cadence. However, with a 48t largest sprocket it’s best paired with a 30t, rather than 32t, chainring to help you up steeper climbs. Overall, ADVENT X’s performance is akin to that of significantly more expensive drivetrains. www.hotlines-uk.com