Bike Build Story: The drivetrain, shifters, derailleur, cassette. As explained in Part One , we're trying to build a bike "Made in Europe." I'm not quite managing that with the drivetrain. Rohloff and Pinion don't fit the bike or the overall concept. To keep things interesting, I opted for parts from Box Components. Box parts also come from the Far East, but not from one of the industry giants.
As just mentioned, not made in Germany, but at least from the "small" manufacturer and thus a contribution to the variety on the market. From an ideological point of view, I did a lot of things right, but I can't hide the fact that I still wasn't happy with my decision. The Box Components circuit – I installed the shifter, cassette and rear derailleur – was two-thirds convincing. A third was a total failure. More on that later.
Box Components Circuit - The Facts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4wKveX3uz4
Box Components One rear derailleur: This 11-speed rear derailleur is compatible with Box and Shimano 11-speed shifters. The "Cam Clutch" technology is designed to minimize cage movement and thus chain slap. "Pivot Tech" technology allows the derailleur to pivot backward in the event of contact with an obstacle, preventing damage to the derailleur itself or the derailleur hanger. It weighs approximately 270 grams and costs around €180.
Box Components One Shifter: This shifter features a push-push mechanism. It has a single lever that can be pushed forward like a conventional thumb shifter to shift to easier gears or towards the center of the handlebar to shift to harder gears. Up to four gears can be shifted down with a single action. The aluminum and plastic lever, including the aluminum clamp, weighs approximately 120 grams. It costs around €100 and is compatible with all BOX and Shimano 11-speed derailleurs.
Box Components Two Cassette: This cassette fits Shimano freehubs and, with its 11-46 tooth range, offers a gear range of 418 percent, comparable to a SRAM 11-speed groupset with 420 percent. At 480 grams, it's relatively heavy. The price of around €120 is somewhat high for what it offers. Visually and in terms of construction, the cassette strongly resembles its counterpart from SunRace.
Box Components Shifting – On the Trail
The box gear shift parts from the One series are no longer available, they spent a good year on our bikes. The shift lever is now offered in a different design, it comes with two levers, the "push-push" technology is passe. The rear derailleurs now come with a forged upper parallelogram link and a revised clutch. The makers don't leave the MTB community out in the rain and promise accommodating solutions even in the event of problems.
I find the switch to a traditional shifter a shame, because after a bit of getting used to it, the Box Components Shifter has grown on me. I like the shifting mechanism and will probably drive it to the bitter end. The cassette does its job without any abnormalities, the shift quality is impeccable. Only the rear derailleur got on my nerves. The "cam clutch" effect is hardly noticeable. In addition, there was the fact that two rear derailleurs each got play and rattled within a short time.
Our durability problems were not isolated and Box Components have made improvements: The rear derailleur has been revised in a few places. In the meantime, a Shimano XT rear derailleur does its job on our bike with absolute confidence. As already mentioned, there is not much to complain about either the shifter or the cassette. The extra weight of the cassette doesn't particularly bother me, but sometimes I would wish for a larger translation range.
The shift lever is great, a small blemish is the fact that it doesn't harmonize perfectly with every brake lever, you don't always find the perfect positioning. But this also happens with other shift lever-brake combinations. It remains to be seen whether the Box Components rear derailleur will be more durable in the future. Above all, we would also like to see a stronger damping of the cage...
