SRAM’s new 11-36 cassette goes to eleven!

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Budget-minded 11s for XC race, touring, and ‘cross builds using standard freehub

SRAM PG-1170 36t 2Intended to be part of their XX1-inspired Force CX1 group, SRAM’s forthcoming PX-1170 cassette brings mountain gearing to the road… or a sensibly-priced eleven cogs to the dirt.  While it won’t work with many existing mountain bike setups, this new offering will work as a narrower-range option for XX1, X01, or X1 drivetrains.  On the tarmac and gravel, the single 11-36 has the ability to cover a wider range than a traditional 53-39×12-27 or mid-compact 52-36×12-27- without overlapping ratios or the need for a front derailleur or shifter.  Virtually all road wheelsets now provide for the wider road-11 cogs, as do the latest mountain models from American Classic, White Industries, Mavic, and others.

While there’s little immediate indication that SRAM intends to make still lower gears available for the road-11 standard, the dependence on pricey XD cassettes and dedicated freehubs certainly hasn’t helped 1×11 adoption.  Though switching with the existing standard road would rule out a 10t top cog, the tradeoff could be acceptable for anyone whose wheels don’t yet need replacing. It also means more options for 11s XTR (and the XT, SLX, and Deore groups that will inevitably follow).

Because of the biggest cog’s bigness, drop bar users will need to run a CX1 mech- or any of SRAM’s 10s Exact Actuation mountain derailleurs, any of which will work just fine with 11s brifters.  Drop-bar, hydraulic-disc adventure machine, anyone?

Availability is slated for January and pricing should be in line with the 11-32t model’s £90.

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