>>2021272essa is an 8-speed. that is the problem. 8sp mtb was always the butt monkey of the range- there are more good 7-speed components around because of all the classic bikes with narrow freehubs, and there are way, WAY more good 9-speed components around because it was the humble but capable standard with massive demand for ages, on top of being a top dog standard for quite a long time. there are modern-ish slx-tier 9-speed components, with clutched derailleurs and everything. the last 8-speed deore line was maybe 15 years ago and it was ass.
chinks generally skip 8-speed too because if you can put an 8-speed casette on it, you can put a 9-speed casette on it.
it's a very calculated move. make it technically compatible with *an* old standard, but at the same time pick the standard that was never really alive in the first place, while killing people's champion 9-speed sis.
>>2021300other than having to run mismatched shifters and all the faff with replacing the cranks, nothing technically stops you from tossing a triple on it. but that is the root of the problem- to do that, you will have to replace the cranks. you'll have to replace the cranks even if you want to change the ratios, because the chainring is riveted in. and the ratios are picked very well too- 32t front is too fast for proper mtbs, 40t front is too slow for road. and it's square taper, so unless you go for used or chinese, you're also in for a bb job because, guess what, cues is hollowtech.
it's a very carefully, disgustingly precisely concieved "budget" drivetrain that pushes you to toss every single bit of it away and get a full cues groupo because precisely nothing is compatible with cues. for now you can toss a 9-speed sis casette, a used/chink 9-speed shifter and a non-garbo crank, and, depending on how competent essa shifter is, get a decent bike, but things will dry up as time goes, used sis parts get rarer as people hold onto them, and chinks switch to aping the new hot shit.
