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I think I've been spending far too much time trying to stay alive recently as this has kind of whizzed past me. Mates are talking about it and I thought they were talking road groupsets so off I went on to the Internet and behold! Sram XX!
According to reports from America, a compact chainset and 11-36 tooth cassette is way better than the triple ring and 11-32 currently in use.
Again, maybe I'm slow on the uptake or just a philistine but if you get the same range of gears, how is it 'better'?
I suppose if it's on the new bike you're buying then fair enough but some are suggesting it's worth ditching (well, selling) the current set up to go with the compact mountain bike system currently being marketed by Sram as XX.
I'm aware that the road groupsets in triple and compact give slightly different ratios but from what I can garner, the mountain bike set up gives exactly the same top and bottom ratios as standard triple and 11-32 and the same gears all the way through.
Is this a case of less is more (even though it's actually not)?
You have a lighter cranksset, no granny to get stuck in/out off and smoother running d.t more teeth but at a big big cost! Don't know whether loads of mud with make it shift worse than a standard 9 sp triple set esp in winter ! 🙂
Generally the biggest advantage is chainline. the rings are closer inboard so that improves the chainline. the range of gears hardly changes as do you really spin out 44/11 or ever use 22/34? why have 3 when 2 will do?
[i]do you really spin out 44/11 or ever use 22/34?[/i]
Not so much the first but definitely the second!
I think I'd take all the money that a SRAM XX groupset costs, buy a nice mix of XT and XTR and spend the change on a new set of forks.
10 speed cassette [therefore narrower gauge] in the uk winter.........lol
[i]10 speed cassette [therefore narrower gauge] in the uk winter.........lol [/i]
See everyone said that about 8sp when that first came out then 9sp. There were articles & letters in in every mag banging on about how cycling as we knew it would fall apart with bikes stranded at the first sign of mud.
Loads of people use 10sp road groupsets on cyclocross bikes and they often put up with far worse conditions.
Ditto C-L - saying it won't work is just cressers style doom-mongering.
A couple of threads of mine about 2x9 and 2x10
[url] http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/experiences-from-other-2x9-and-no-bashring-users [/url]
[url] http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/2x10-on-the-cheap-my-musings [/url]
I'm very happy with 2x9 - not sure that I'd ever change back now unless I was doing an event with a lot of road in it.
Would anyone buy a new bike with XX at the moment? When you wear out the cassette, the only thing that you can buy is another XX at £560!!!! At least if I buy an XTR bike then when I wear out bits I can replace with XT or SLX if I'm broke and keep riding the bike.
Let's face it, no one other than sponsored riders and the silly rich will buy XX just yet but if it works and there's demand it'll eventually become X9/7/etc options.
Besides, the RRPs won't probably reflect the actual sale price. Check out the full RRP on SRAM or Shimano stuff currently and compare to what you can actually get them for.
Yes, I'm considering buying a the XX front mech, to see if a mech designed to work with a double set up really makes a big difference. But I'll wait until they're a bit cheaper first.
RealMan - Why not try the SLX double front mech? Designed to work with up to 14 tooth difference between the front two rings.
Funny but I was wondering about that RealMan - a double specific mech is the only think that's missing from making my 2x9 perfect (the elastomer bodge I mentioned seems to work though)
+1 the SLX is fine with a double setup
I can't see past a double and bash with a 11-32 myself. Low enough for anything I do, don't miss the high gears, robust with the bash, shifts well, short cage mech has obvious benefits with clearance and snappy shifting, short chain......
Having a low geared 10spd cassette might be handy on the roadie though, if you wanted lowered gears for a very steep ride/touring etc.
SRAM do a 10 Speed "Double Tap" flat bar shifter too so a none XX SRAM 2x10 is possible.
In fact Steve Worland wrote an article in an ish of WMB last year when the XX rumour mill started turning.