I thought a 10 speed cassette would be quite good for a single front ring setup, until I saw the price…

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=42785

XX was a global effort. Working across ten locations in six countries with an amazing team of engineers and designers, we collaborated to build the new standard of lightweight MTB performance. Driven and tested by our global teams of athletes, XX became a reality.

all it is is a narrower gauge with loads of weight saving bits cut out of it surely.
well done, if theyve managed to make it as strong as 9 or 8 spd, but hardly worthy of a build up like that mefinks, just cause they source their staff from 6 different countries?

"all it is is a narrower gauge with loads of weight saving bits cut out of it surely."

Nope. The entire thing is milled out of one block of steel. A lot of machine time needed, on expensive machines.

9 hours isn't it?
had a look at one at the Bike Show and it's a thing of beauty, too expensive to put on a bike though

I'll hopefully have a big box of XX arriving soon :o)

11-36 is 208g, lighter than a 11-32 9speed XT. I wonder if they will make a version which is cheaper and heavier at any point? i.e. XT quality and 300g or so.

I have to say, I'd buy one in a moment, and convert to 10 speed, if I didn't suspect that the XX cassette would have even worse noise amplification qualities to its road cousin.
For that reason, I'll wait for 10s XTR; anyone have an ETA?

The entire thing is milled out of one block of steel.

why?

and why do I care?

(not being rude, just wondering why someone would pay 300 euros for it)

I have to say, I'd buy one in a moment

and again why?

It's been designed with no consideration to cost (ok within some reason) to give the best performance they reckon they can do. The machining from a single block aparently achieves that.

Some people will reckon it's worthwhile and buy it. Others won't and won't. Where's the problem?

Kipper, it won't be noisy like the red cassette because it's open rather that a hollow block like the red.

I didn't hear any noise when I was riding it.
why?

and why do I care?

You don't have to HTH.

not made of one block of steel iirc – 2 cogs are alu i think

The revolutionary machined design of the XX Cassette uses the same grueling manufacturing techniques that produced the PowerDome road cassette. With X-Dome, eight of the cogs are CNC-machined together out of a single block of billet steel, creating an incredibly lightweight, precise, and strong cassette. It’s a process that takes nine hours per cassette! The aluminum large cog can be replaced as needed. You have never seen a cassette that looks like this. The open design aids in mud clearance, giving you cleaner shifting performance and longer component life.

"I'll hopefully have a big box of XX arriving soon :o)"

"Escort", "Razzle" and "Readers Wives" for me please….

Address via forum…..

It is quite an amazing design but I am rather concerned if it really takes 9 hours to machine. If that was true then it would actually be quite 'cheap'

I imagine there is an awful lot of waste material from machining it? It seems a bit senseless and profligate for a consumable part like a cassette.