Caldera - what new cassettes will fit on my old XT hub?

[Devenhill]

Hi all,

Apologies that my first post here is soliciting help. A younger work colleague of mine who's been obsessed with buying up retro kit for the last couple of years pointed me this way.

20 years ago I was similarly into MTBs, and today I've had a look around this site and I know it's going to feature in my daily life. What an amazing resource this place is.

After an injury a long time ago I sold off all my bikes, keeping just one Kona Caldera as a singlespeed. This summer I've been experimenting with its geometry to see what my body can handle, and I'm pretty optimistic I can get biking again. But as I've been so long away from the technology (I think the last bike I bought was before the internet could show video), I need a bit of help.

I think I want to add gears back to my Caldera. The rear hub is a Shimano XT FH-M752.

Can you tell me which current Shimano cassettes or speeds - 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.... would fit onto this hub without any issues? I'm keen to try it out with new tech, at which point if it works for me, I'll probably buy a whole new bike and revert this one to near-original.

So, what Shimano groupset will work with this hub? I'm not bothered about disc brakes - I'm happy to stay with Vs on this. Which cassette/rear mech/shifters should I buy? I'd like to buy XT level stuff, but would that fit?

Many thanks,

Devenhill

 

[Markybeau]

9 speed shimano. Depending on budget will reflect on quality. I might have a lightly used hg70 9 speed - light fair weather rider - that would likely fit. HG90 was the highest quality then 70, 50, 40 30.

Any Shimano of that era will generally work but aim higher end for quality/durability.

 

[ishaw]

The hub is from the 9sp era, but you can get away with 10sp I think, maybe even 11sp,

The current trend is 1x and as you've been running your bike as single speed, I'd stick with that. You could simply get an appropriate narrow wide ring for your existing cranks, shifter, rear mech, cassette and chain in 10sp (or 11 if you can get confirmation it will fit your freehub) and you'll have a bike with soul, history and modern ISH gearing.

There is science behind chainring and cassette sizing, that's beyond me though.

Xt 10sp won't cost you too much, cassettes and chains can be had more cheaply if you don't mind non-shimano.

Good luck with your choices, I hope you get over your old injuries and out on your modified bike.

 

[eshew]

Any Shimano mountain cassette 8-11 speed will work. Shimano road cassettes had different spacing.

Which to buy? Depends, if you want original equipment 9 speed XTR M95X l, XT M97X will be standard.

If you want new stuff, Shimano M8000 11 speed with a 1x or 2x would be as modern as you could go.

XT 10 speed would be splitting the difference.

 

[Tootyred]

As for kit. Xt m750 is pretty cheap at the moment and still reasonable quality. Really you can mix and match pretty much as you like provided the shifters match the cassette.

Don't overlook LX kit, it very solid, especially the mid 90s stuff and dirt cheap as everyone seems to push for xt....