Big boy SRAM AXS chain rings launched today

Equipment
1

Harness your inner pro
52/39, 54/41, and 56/43 all available on Red AXS

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Any links?

Sram website still only lists 50/37 as far as I can see.

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Embargo was 2pm, I guess the public site will be updated soon?

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Nice, I need that 56 for taking downhill KOMs in 30mph tailwinds :relaxed:

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back when I was younger and full of vinegar in Florida I ran a 54-44 front and a 12-21 8 speed in the rearā€¦

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On the 56/43 the inner ring is almost as big as the outer ring that ships on most SRAM builds (46/33) !

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As reported by cycling weekly, SRAM is releasing 3 new chainrings of ā€žRedā€œ Level, all of which are equipped with Quarq PM.
They are absolutely massive at
52/39, 54/41 and 56/43.
The latter is probably only for TT use, but that is very interesting as well, with no TT ring available so far!

I have not seen them available yet!

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It is as big as the Wide ring (43/30)

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It requires a new FD and I have yet to hear anything about new cassettesā€¦ 11-34 anyone?

First product I was able to find:

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Im still waiting to see the nickel plated force cassettes that were announced a while ago. theyre on the sram website but havent seen anywhere selling them

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Since when is a 52 ā€œabsolutely massiveā€?

Heck, even the 54 is only 1 tooth more than what used to be the standard.

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I guess when paired with a 10 tooth cog theyā€™re massive. But otherwise I agree. I run a 52-36 and definitely wouldnā€™t consider myself anything close to a pro.

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thats florida where overpasses count as HC :slight_smile:

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When commenting on what makes a gear big or not, you should understand first, that gears always work in pairs
A 200tooth chainring would look huge! But if you have a 300 tooth cog, it is still a tiny gearā€¦

The SRAM cassettes are basically 1 fewer tooth for each comparable cog, compared to a 11s or 12s (Campa) cassette.
So, if you ride in the 4th highest gear (4th smallest cog), a gear that has a very good chainline with the big ring, you will have a 14 tooth cog for all other cassettes, and a 13 for a SRAM AXS cassette. 52/13 is a 4:1 gear ratio. Compare that to a 14 tooth cog, that would mean a 56 tooth chainring, which is bigger than Shimanoā€˜s biggest consumer chainring for time trialing only.
Do the same with a 54 tooth chainring, the gear ratio is bigger than a 58 tooth on an 11s Shimano or SRAM /12s Campagnolo

So, since gears work in pairs, Iā€˜d argue that a 52 is massive, and a 54 and 56 enormous! Change my mind.

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Gears work in pairs. The equivalent of your Semi-Compact 11s is a 48/35 on SRAM AXS. The smallest of chainring of the new AXS Pro chainrings is a 52/39, which is 8.3% larger gears than a Semi Compact.
That would be bigger than a 56/40 on your Cassette, does that sound pro?

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Good, the 46 or whatever is on there now is silly small. Max out at like 38mph. I think my gravel bike with ultegra has a higher top end.

Do I really have to buy a new front derailleur though?

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So even though ā€œgears work in pairsā€, youā€™re willing to declare a 52 ā€œmassiveā€ without any regard to the cog size. Makes a lot of sense. :roll_eyes:

The only thing I think one can conclude from your post is that youā€™re a relative newbie to cycling. Those who have been around for more than a couple years remember when 53/39 were the standard chainring sizes, and that you couldnā€™t go any smaller than 39 without using a compact crank (or a TA 38 tooth chainring). Only in the past half-decade or so have chainring and cog sizes started to shrink (resulting in more friction).

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I think all SRAM AXS Chainrings have their place. 43/30 is Gravel only, 46/33 works great for gravel, but can be a great road ring if you are not the strongest rider and your goal is getting up the biggest and baddest climbs (many participants of La Marmotte or Maratona would benefit from that, rather than having to stand all the time in their smallest gear at 51 RPM).
All the other ones are absolutely fine for Road. 50/37 is great for racingā€¦

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The cogs are given. This is a SRAM AXS Chainring that is ONLY COMPATIBLE WITH 10 tooth 12s AXS cassettes.
So yes, it makes sense!

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I donā€˜t know what else we will see. My 54T 1x 10-33 maxes out the current chain. Idk if weā€˜ll see a longer chain for example. Donā€™t know about cassettes either.

I see these as:

  • 52/39 for mountainous days, when you donā€˜t have the steepest of climbs (it is the go to Cassette of Porte and Nibali)
  • 54/41 for flatter races with very high average speed (Mads Pedersen, Jasper Stuyven etc have used these for their respective recent wins)
  • 56/43 for Timetrials, when it is not pan flat. In that case, a 1x would probably be the go to.