While the Stay Home order has delayed my upgrade story, I can still share some details of 10-tooth cogs with the eTap AXS Eagle combo I’m running. Throughout the evolution of multi-speed road bikes, the cogs on the small end of the cassette have been shrinking.
And, for good reason. With SRAM, that number is now down to 10 teeth with 50 teeth on the other side when using the Eagle cassette. That expanded gear range of 500% equals a 2×11 drivetrain. The jumps are smaller too, so it feels much more like traditional road gearing. Up front is a 40-tooth ring that works for me.
I’m not spinning up a hill anyhow or sprinting to a finish. Instead, getting a full gear range with no front chain ring. Even though I live in a very hilly area, I’m most often in the middle cog. The servo-controlled derailleur completes the shift under power too.
The way I configured my brown bike as an AXS eTap Eagle drivetrain definitely refines the 1x hack mechanics have been attempting for decades. Think of it as a 50T bailout gear added to the 10–42T cassette of the original XX1 combined with a very sophisticated chain construction from their road 1x.
Do it All
Built up on a do-everything gravel bike.
It is easy to think that SRAM released electronic 1×12 because they can’t make competitive front derailleurs. It is more accurate to say that rather than being inept at front shifting, they’ve just always been one step behind Shimano in that arena. With electronic 1×12 (AXS eTap), SRAM has made front derailleurs irrelevant. Sure, we can say that Shimano 2×10 and 2×11 drivetrains work great, and tell ourselves that SRAM is painting themselves in a corner by abandoning MTB and road front derailleurs. Instead, 1×12 is the natural corollary to saturating the rear cluster with 12 cogs.
The smallest one having 10 teeth.
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