So I’m currently roasting in Tuscany on the Sram XX launch, but the opportunity of shade and internet access is too good to turn down. So here’s the speil and my first thoughts on Sram’s new offering.
So Sram XX is Sram’s first groupset consisting of Gears, Brakes and suspension. Fast shifting and saving weight are obviously the aim of a race orientated groupset and XX see’s the introduction of 2×10 to loose overlapping gears.
A nice touch is the use of Torx T25 bolts throughout making trailside adjustments simple.
Weights are:
Trigger shifter – 183g
Rear Derailleur – 181g
Cassette 208g
Cranks – 694g
Brakes – 291.5g
Cranks are available in either Pressfit 30 or GXP, with a Q factor of 165mm, and you can choose from 26-39/ 28-42 or 30-45 chainring combinations. The XX cassette has the option of 11-32 or 11-36. All that can be matched to a choice of Sid XX, Reba XX or Revelation XX with the addition of X-Loc hydraulic lockout that integrates into the lever using Sram’s MatchMaker X adapters.
At least there’s only a short walk to the Tech truck..
Rotor is six bolt with a DTSwiss XX adapter
So how does it ride?
Well we’ve just been out for a two and a half hour ride with plenty of ups and down in both fireroad and singletrack flavours. On rollercoaster sections and rocky climbs the gears have been flawless and I have to say that even for the non racer semi-reformed singlespeeder the spread of gears and ease of shifting make a lot of sense. There’s much less need to be cross shifiting front and back to maintain cadence on climbs and the shifting under pressure seems very good.
Obviously the conditions here aren’t to Britiain’s special standard and it’ll be interesting to see how the cutaway cassette copes and lasts in typical claggy conditions, but for now I’m in the convert camp. It makes sense.
Comments (34)
Comments Closed
i already know i cant afford it and i work in a bike shop 🙁
Grocer’s apostrophe’s.
xx integrated – didn’t work for shimano (sti), why should it work for sram ???
Its not like the shimano integrated where the shifter and lever is one piece. All it is is a single clamp for the shifter and the brake lever…and the fork controls.
SRAM already make a clamp that you can attach all the bits (X9 & X0)
I quite like it.
10 speed!
just a step closer to waving total farewell to good old relaible 7spd 🙁
10 speed. NO! Too many bad things. Not enough good!
I don’t see what issues people have with 9 speed. 10 speed should be fine- I already runa closer ratio block so the difference between gears at the back is tighter and less of a crude jump so a 10 speed with smaller jumps and more accurate gearing over a normal range can only be a good thing.
Pity it’s sram and is made up of lots of ideas stolen from XTR when it got it’s big overhaul in 2003.
I’ve run ten speed on my cross bikes for three seasons in far muddier conditions than I’d ‘want’ to ride my MTB in and can honestly say I’ve never missed a gear.
silly, silly, whats the point?
silly, silly, whats the point?
Marketing, progress, evolution.. a cynic would say it’s just to sell groupsets, and that’s a fair point.. but I remember a similar “what’s the point” fuss from 7 to 8 speed and from 8 to 9.
It’s pretty kit, it’s bling, it’s expensive, it gets the brand known and lusted after and I really, really like the look of those cranks 🙂
Evolution seems on the money.
I’m liking the ease of climbs with 2×10, seems like an obvious choice that loses a lot of front/back shifting to maintain pace/rhythm.
If anyone’s got any questions they want asking, fire away. I’ll be checking again before dinner tonight.
Is the chain narrower, or the freehub wider?
T25 to make trailside adjustments simple?
Sounds like an extra tool to carry to me.
Many multitools these days have a T25 on them.
Dave, is that a push-button Pop Loc then?
Put me down for a gruppo please. 🙂
It’s a hydraulic lockout, there’s photos floating around of forks with one fitted.
The00: the freehub’s the same, it’s closer spaced cassettes, like on the road.
As most multi-tools come with allen keys (not all come with T25 adapter) – it doesn’t really make trailside repairs easy…in fact I don’t use a T25 on any bits on my bike so I’d be stuffed (although I’m not convinced of 10-spd in use – the idea is great, but an even wider spread of gears at the back (unless it takes up the same space as an 8- or 9-speed block is still going to rely on serious chain bending in the extremes). Like the idea just not sold on the practical aspects of it.
Oh just read njee20’s reply…so it is the same spread, which means a narrower/thinner chain and even more ease of bending/snapping…unless it was bone dry I’m really not convinced about 10-spd for MTBing…
Right, I’m off back to my rock…
I missed the debate around nine speed when it came out (how did i cope without internet?) but surely ten speed kit will only wear faster again than nine speed?
Fine for the racers, but for those of us that prefer to spend our time winching up and down mountains, will anyone develop an 11-34, 8speed groupo with the same quality shifting/weight etc as current XT/XTR but the added durability afforded by wider cogs and chain?
Or would it last too long and annoy the stockholders…
I don’t see that the thinner chain should wear faster surely it’s overlap that causes wear ? Anyway I remember when 9 spd first came out and the main reason it wasn’t that good was that manufacturers were cobbling all kinds of chains and cassettes together mixed with gripshift that had an overshift so you could make it 9spd. The next years bikes worked fine and no none complained any more….
Funnily enough I’ve been thinking of running a 32t with a bashguard with the new 9spd Shimano 11-36 2hich there bringing out for nine speed bikes- at the end of the day there’s soem real advantages to being able to run less chainrings on your crankset.
Why is is all going to wear out/fall apart at the first sign of mud? That cassette looks to have some big holes in it to let the mud through, better than any other I’ve seen.
Surley design/manufacturing/materials have evolved so a 10 speed chain can be as strong as a 9 speed one.
“All that can be matched to a choice of Sid XX, Reba XX or Revelation XX ”
SID for racers, okay fine
Reba, perhaps for racer that wanted a maxle or 120mm?
Revelation XX 140mm. Why?
Aren’t they making SL, race and team (blackbox) versions of the revelation next year as well? That’ll be 4 different models of a fork that isn’t used in any top level racing?
Just seen on the forum thread someone say the 36t at the back is Ally is that right?
Is it possible to just use the shifter (not the brakes too)? is there a bracket for that and could you get a picture please.
I like the idea of only two rings up front. I’ve got to say I think all of the XX parts look awful really awful, give me some xtr bling. Also woulnd’t a 2×10 save some weight for the racers?
Was there any mention of compatibility with the SRAM road groupsets?
All ten gears fit on a 9 speed hub, so narrower chain and cogs. The 36 tooth cog is going to last a lot longer than your middle chainring.
Brakes and shifters can also be run seperately with their own clamps, X loc needs either the XX or and Elixir CR with MatchMaker X
Chainline is fine at either extreme of the smallring/big cog or big ring/small cog.
Revelation XX so it will all go on bikes such as the Scott Genius.
Hydraulic X-loc has floodgate control up by the bars, lighter and works differently to poploc.
The cassette is a thing of beauty, it looks like it’ll clear crud better than existing offerings. Hang on and I’ll run another story with more pictures.
Sram road groupsets are compatible.
T25 torx head drivers are supplied with SRAM Brake sets so the T25 driver will beincluded in the groupset. Problem solved..
10-speed is fine, been running a 1070 12-28 cassette with 10speed double tap flat bar shifters for nearly a year and no problems in mud or with longevity.
36T rear sprocket is aluminium, will last a long time. Who uses granny anyway (besides grandpa that is…)
Shimano Integration was a brilliant concept, shot down by know it alls on internet forums who don;t get out enough. The Integration approach for XX is excellent. The ergonomics is excellent.
XX brakes are massively powerful. I could probably get away with a 140mm rotor on the front wheel of my XC bike.
what are the upgrades over X.0? Looks like (not saying it is) elxir brakes,a tweaked noir crankset, the existing top-end forks and is that mech stil a prototype?
Always fancied bodgeing a groupset form a 11-28 10s cassette, ultegra shifter, 26t trials ring and 38t DMR shift-r. Kinda like a more hardcore XX.
T25 torx head drivers are supplied with SRAM Brake sets so the T25 driver will beincluded in the groupset. Problem solved..
One being supplied doesn’t actually solve the “extra tool to carry” problem.
Why do so many have a problem with technological advances – its called progress. Its the equivalent of saying I’d rather drive around in an Austin 7 than a modern car. I know which I prefer.
The extra sprocket gives real advantages (just like the Campy 11 speed on the road, which is a huge leap forward) and the rest of the gruppo will all be better than anything else currently offered.
The Luddites amongst us are more than welcome to stick with their outdated and out-moded 6-7-8-9 speed kit. I for one, know what I’ll be putting on my next bike.