Anyone who feels they could justify the need for 1x12, 50 tooth cassette, especially with the current price, needs to simply ride a bike more and eat some damn protein or something after a climb.
@bohns1: Haha...I know people who plan to buy it ASAP for their plus size hard tails with 28 tooth chain rings. Can anyone even fathom how slow you'd have to be going to constantly be engaged with a 28 tooth and 50 tooth?!?! I love SRAM and innovation and etc, this is definitely unnecessary in practical terms, but business wise, damn right it'll sell.
@bohns1: especially those whom like 1×11 but want to go up size in front but still need some serious gear for the steeps(theres always the 1up shark too)...laguna beach
Insert, I ride everything I want on my 1x9. All day. #f*ckboost #26aintdead #freeridelives #enduroisjustmountainbiking #wishtransitionstillmadethebottlerocket #norbsgotrobbed
@Freerideguy14: It depends where you live. When I lived in San Diego I could pedal a 36 chain ring with a 11-34 cassette. Moved to SF Bay and pedaling a 34 chain ring with 10-42 cassette is still not enough some times.
@Freerideguy14: Yeah the price is silly, but not everyone is a sick climber like you. Nothing wrong with increased range, especially as you get older and the knees get creaky (you'll get there eventually). I'm fine with my 1x10 30t 11-42 for now but can see moving up to more range eventually. I've moved on from 2x so more range in a 1x is fine. As always 1x12 sounds rediculous initially and has a race-only pricepoint.
I won't buy this, but many are missing the point. It isn't ALL about the super low gear. It's really about the ability to run a larger front ring and still have the same range as a ring two teeth smaller. Again, I won't be buying one, but if SRAM makes it, someone buys them, who really cares?
@jackalope: Yup, I can do 98% of my climbs fine as is, and actually don't mind hiking it when need be, plus it gets circulation going again in the nether regions.
@moefosho: @moefosho: 4 way stops are totally f*cking stupid, THAT'S WHY!!! Add to the fact that people are stupid too, you have a scenario where almost no one knows the rules which are totally useless anyway because it's often an unclear judgement call who got there first & what if all 4 appeared to get there first? Then everyone's got someone on the right. STUUUUUUUPID!!! They're a waste of time & energy. The least busy road should yield to the other & that's it. If the busiest can't be determined then flip a fvcking coin & be done with it.
@Trials-FTW: Trials-FTW for President 2016! I think we in the US can waive the residency requirements since you are in Canada. Let's make it happen! Ha!!
@Freerideguy14: You obviously missed the point of the 1x12. For those that do 4 plus hour long rides with a lot of climbing are typically on 1x11 w/ 32t chain rings. Now they can go up to 34 or 36 up front. For the average trail rider out for 2 hour rides...yea probably not that practical...and most 1x10 configs are fine those people.
So like most people, I get the whole expanded range angle, but in the 4 hour ride scenario you described, are people spinning out on the downhills because they have a 32 instead of a 34? Just anecdotal experience on my part, but almost all the "big mountain" stuff I ride doesn't really require any meaningful pedaling once Sir Issac Netwon starts working in your favor. Its more of a brake management/not overcooking corners issue at that point.
And like bman33 said, I don't have to buy one and don't really care if someone else does, but that is provided Sram doesn't stop investing in 11 speed gear and making improvements to this product line.
SRAM videos are like hollywood cliche movies. A lot of drama and cool images to show a... drivetrain. It's like they try to make you emotional about a cassette.
@passwordpinkbike: this is true of any industry. SRAM just does it better. There are an abundance of poorly made ones that try to make you emotional about...surge protectors, or laundry detergent, or escrow services.
Cool video, but claiming it is the lightest, stiffest, and strongest crankset in the world? Stiffest and strongest are debatable but the next sl g4 definitely weighs less.
I don't mid all the new technology and I wish I could try out most of it to have an educated opinion on whether it works or not instead of just reading about it. Don't know if anyone else feels the same way. I just can't afford a lot of the stuff that is reviewed here, so I just take reviewer's word for it and hopefully sometime down the road I will own a bike with the semi-new technology.
All I know is I love mountain biking and i'm happy with my current set-up. However I would not mind the latest and greatest, such as Eagle 1x12
@abzillah: Wait until it trickles down to 1/2 price with only a 1% drop in performance (eg. GX). A cheaper version will be specced on your next bike.... or your next, next bike. No worries just good to see what's coming down the pipeline.
XX1 was revolutionary in many ways. A first dedicated single ring drivetrain. Eagle on another hand looks like something for someone who should rather use a front mech...
Is it my imagination or have we simply moved the complexity of the front shifting to the rear in order to sell more shit ? Granted we lost the front mech but...
Your comment just made me realize something. All else equal, gear range in particular, a bike with a triple drivetrain will have better-performing rear suspension than a bike with 1x due to lower unsprung weight. Interesting how that works out.
@bman33: I run 1x as well but it's not quite good enough here in Crested Butte for the long steeps and spinning, need an E13 or deal with a 28 up front.
@teocalli: I live on the front range. At times I would like a 2X system for the straight up portions. However, my main bike, a Bronson, I ride like and XC bike at times, others times almost like a mini DH bike. It also doubles as my Enduro bike for the few races I do a year. Two years ago I dropped/wedged a chain in my front derr and it made mess of things during a race. Never again with that. I am currently running X01 with a 30t on the front, carbon MRP guide on it. I have thought about going back to a 2X on my hardtail though.
@Bluefire: Not necessarily. Bike designers can design suspension differently because the chainring sizes being used fall into a smaller range, so they don't have to worry about how a bike will pedal in a 24t or 42t chainring. Some bikes with triples feel funny to pedal when you're not in the middle ring, and a 1x system solves this. It also allows them to tuck the rear wheel in further, as the rear wheel and front mech often compete for space.
Mountain bikers are worse about gearing than roadies. Do we really need to be able to have 12 gears in the back? What's the point? So you can find your perfect cadence up some tech climb...ok
The idea behind that is so that when the clutch is worn, rocks can just take over. The other thinking on it is that it allows your chain to physically collect dirt in order to wear your cassette out faster, so they can make an extortionate amount out of you again faster! Ideal!
This is the point where things need to shift to a gearbox or internally geared hub. The bigger that cluster gets the more I gravitate to the idea. Or just simply go back to a front derailleur...
Your derailleur is tougher, but not tough enough & it never will be. No you don't need a dinner plate sized cog & a looney sized one that probably slips, skips & jumps more than Atwill, Brannigan & Makken combined, the last of which doesn't even use a multi-gear derailleur system because they're so f*cking unreliable. There's another much better way to get that range too, plus a shit ton of other benefits, yet it lacks the resources to make it happen because the people who really care about mountain biking are the ones that don't have a shit ton of money & don't care to exploit it for that. Too bad you're committed to 1x instead of committed to building the best drivetrains possible & making MTB the best it can be, or you'd be doing gearboxes long ago, using all those resources you have to evolve them to the point where they do to the derailleur what disc brakes did to rim brakes. The point where the derailleur is now, which is as far as it can go. Your clunky concraption has seen just about 100% of its potential, while the better way has barely gotten started. Can't make perpetual money off stuff that don't break. MTB needs an Elon Musk to come in here with a big fat middle f*cking finger for you & $hitmano.
"In a world where shifting was too much work, When deciding between pushing the front shift lever, or the rear could be the same as life and death, a hero was born to take back belonged to us,
And that hero was..
EAGLE!!!"
See Sram? That's how you blow smoke up a tail pipe, Also I will take more points off the marketing team for not working metric shocks into the propaganda as well.
Imagine you enter a bike shop, ask for assistance and when the shop assistant mentions this Eagle drivetrain, he switches to this voice and this kind of talk. Hugely entertaining.
@miff actually where i live most mountainbikers have biked at that altitude. The highest altitude i have biked is at 5500m above sea level. And it aint only About climbing its about not spinning out on descents as well. See some bikes dont have provisions for a front derailleur. So does that mean they should just stick with a 11x42 and a tiny 28 tooth ring whilst spinning out on descents. No one is forcing you to buy it. Stop bitching. All i see is complaining and whining. If companies stopped innovating just because people bitched all the time we would still be riding rigid bikes with cantilever brakes.
I think the hard feelings come from knowing that companies are just milking this cow (the derailleur) for as long as they can while still remaining competitive with the *other* company. Someone recently posted that Shimano patent for a 14-speed gear cluster from like 1995!?! Then SRAM come out with this release video using phrases like "new technology" and "innovation," acting like they've had some think-tank of engineering wizards brainstorming since 1996 how to add one more cog and they finally worked it out just now. So when the derailleur is milked as absolutely as dry as economically possible (not practically or mechanically possible, *economically possible*), they will switch to something else that they already know today is a better system. If we're this frustrated with it...imagine the job satisfaction of the engineering intern tasked with adding the 12th cog to the same old system when all the cool kids get to work on how to make the first version of that really awesome new thing work only just a tiny bit better then derailleur systems...
People on here keep saying things like "nobody needs a 50t ring" and "nobody needs 12sp." The argument comes down to what is the cost/benefit of running 1x11/1x12/2x10...etc. I like having sram 1x11 (32 front 10-42 rear with 27.5 wheels) for simplicity sake (while running up a OneUp bashguide) but I have been in xc races where I have thought having a wider gearing could benefit me.
So why all the hate on new technology? SRAM is just leading the market and things will trickle down later. I guess all you 3x9 26" hardtail guys might have to start your own website or something...
I'm not going out to buy the new eagle stuff, but I am excited to see new developments.
It's not "new technology!!!" It's elementary arithmetic...11 + 1 = 12 . The hate is because those competent in elementary math know that 8 + 4 also = 12, but that math didn't happen because it doesn't cost enough. Also....Shimano engineers aren't idiots who can't figure out one-by or wide range and are now trailing behind SRAM innovation...their product managers are just squeezing that udder a little harder because their math suggests they can do so while still remaining competitive.
I had a customer that bet me $500 dollars that I couldn't do a super steep climb pushing a 34t in front... soooo ill just get this on my bike and win some money... Ill break even on the cassette lol.
@miff: I ran a 11-42 with a 34t on my 650b enduro could climb a lot of shit on that bike... We have sand and the super super steep stuff we all struggle on... My boss wants to match that as well... So I could come up on a $1000 lol
I thought I'd be fine with XX1 when I bought my Nomad but I found myself switching chainrings depending on the day. If I'm honest with myself it's nice to have a little extra room on the low end for the long steep slogs and still have a high end. I'm looking forward to continuing life without a FD and still having the range that suits my riding better.
lets put the cassette in the cranks and have a busy front derailleur. one by in the rear haaaaaaaaa now my g factor is equal to my football scissors legs
The existence of this pretty much means sram isn't making a 44t+ on 11x. I have the e13 and its not the smoothest shifting in one spot. I have the X11 on another bike. It is very smooth. I got deal on the X11 for ~200.00 However X11 + Oneup adapter is too expensive to do both. I kind of wish Shimano would do a 44t or greater Xtr. Shimano XT in 50T form is a boat anchor.
Same complaints when 36t became available and 42t cogs. All new bikes will be built with this kit and if you don't build your own bike you will be buying into it if Shimano isn't offered.
You don't have to buy it, it's coming to your next bike regardless. Talking with a SRAM rep, 1x11 will be gone in a few years. It's the next inevitable.
I don't plan on ever having a bigger cassette sprocket than my chainring, my lowest gear has been 1:1 for the last 15 years and I've never found a hill I couldn't get up. The only good thing about this is that hopefully 36t+ chainrings will be more common.
People bitchin cause they cant afford it. If this was a hundred bucks iam sure everyone on here would buy this instead of 1x11. And for those saying run a front derailleur. Some bikes dont have provisions for one. 3yrs from now all bikes will be 1x12. No one is forcing you to buy it either. Acusing sram for wanting money. Isnt that the point of having a buisness? To make money? If companies never inovated we would still be using shit technology.
@Freerideguy14 just because you have no need for it doesnt mean others dont. You try pedaling at 4000m above sea level and i guarantee youll be wishing for that 50t. And plus its not only about climbing it increases range at both ends of the casette.
I don't know too many cities in the US and Canada (bulk users of Pinkbike) that even sit at around 2000m. Then you'd have to assume a lot of us weekend warriors, hobbyists, whatever you please to call us, are climbing over 2000m. Not extremely common. And no I don't think I'd ever really want a bigger ring than 42T. I've gladly pedaled my single speed P.slope up our local mountains passing people on 1x11s.
Sure it increases the overall range of the gears, you can run a bigger front ring and blah blah blah. There's a slim few that will utilize the benefits of this product over a traditional 10-42 1x11. Let's face it, the majority of people will keep their 32T, MAYBE go to a 34T, and crawl up their local hill in their 32T and 50T on weekends.
I'm absolutely not denying the benefits of this product, but it will be very under utilized by a vast majority of buyers. But you know what, that is OKAY, after all, we're all riding bikes and we all are guilty of wanting to have the newest stuff.
Trump manufactures his own shit in China, while complaining about the strength of China's economy over that of his own country. Letterman pointed it out on his show years ago, right in Trump's goofy orangutan face.
Not exactly a spring chicken or super fit guy myself, but I would say that if you can't ascend something with a 30 X 42, just get off and hike it.
So like most people, I get the whole expanded range angle, but in the 4 hour ride scenario you described, are people spinning out on the downhills because they have a 32 instead of a 34? Just anecdotal experience on my part, but almost all the "big mountain" stuff I ride doesn't really require any meaningful pedaling once Sir Issac Netwon starts working in your favor. Its more of a brake management/not overcooking corners issue at that point.
And like bman33 said, I don't have to buy one and don't really care if someone else does, but that is provided Sram doesn't stop investing in 11 speed gear and making improvements to this product line.
Then how come I can still buy a SRAM FD? Seems like an oversight from the marketing department.
Granted we lost the front mech but...
And that hero was..
EAGLE!!!"
See Sram? That's how you blow smoke up a tail pipe, Also I will take more points off the marketing team for not working metric shocks into the propaganda as well.
So why all the hate on new technology? SRAM is just leading the market and things will trickle down later. I guess all you 3x9 26" hardtail guys might have to start your own website or something...
I'm not going out to buy the new eagle stuff, but I am excited to see new developments.
Shimano XT in 50T form is a boat anchor.
The only good thing about this is that hopefully 36t+ chainrings will be more common.
Sure it increases the overall range of the gears, you can run a bigger front ring and blah blah blah. There's a slim few that will utilize the benefits of this product over a traditional 10-42 1x11. Let's face it, the majority of people will keep their 32T, MAYBE go to a 34T, and crawl up their local hill in their 32T and 50T on weekends.
I'm absolutely not denying the benefits of this product, but it will be very under utilized by a vast majority of buyers. But you know what, that is OKAY, after all, we're all riding bikes and we all are guilty of wanting to have the newest stuff.