Any aftermarket/3rd party cassette more like 10-30 for 12 speed AXS? 10-33 with a 48/35 is overkill on the low end.
10-33 jumps in the end: 21-24-28-33
Jump I can think of with a 11-30: 21-24-27-30 (much more balanced).
From my research so far no one has a cassette that works with road AXS because the roller size of the chain is different. You’re only option is the AXS cassettes for now.
1 Like
Wait a second, when did people start wanting less gear range?? Getting a huge lowest gear is amazing for long climbs (muscling up a long climb at 60 RPM is such a bummer) and 12 speed maintains the tooth spacing of (basically) a shimano 11-28, which is the de facto standard at all levels of racing now.
1 Like
Perhaps in the future there will be third-party cassette manufacturers, but right now I’d simply err on the side of larger range. For most people, that is the correct choice, and I’d rather spin a few rpms faster than grinding up a hill.
Besides, even if you can scale a hill at high power in a larger gear, keep in mind that if you should bonk or you are on a training run where you are supposed to relax at 60 % FTP, you might need that gear.
I don’t think this is more balanced: SRAM and Rotor are deliberately going for ever larger gaps the larger the cogs are. That is because you actually need larger jumps between the gears when you are climbing.
SRAM’s 10-28 cassette is essentially a 10-33 cassette where the 33 cog becomes a 16 cog, giving you 2 more gears at the top end that are 1 cog apart. So you still have a 17 % jump (24 —> 28) at the end.
1 Like
Maybe you’re right.
Im simple terms, what rotor did was to move the small front ring to the back. Not exactly the course that SRAM followed. Rotor needed that due to the lack of the small front ring. For SRAM I’m not saying they should “kill” the 10-33, just saying it would be nice to have the 10-30T option. I would like it and the jumps would be slightly smaller.
In the future some 3rd party will fill that gap if they see a market for it.
@Pedro_Prego What I think might be missing in your “large gap” comment(s) between the cog sizes in the AXS cassette is that the mechanical advantage between gear combos is smaller than you might think. This is due to the fact that there is only a 13-tooth differential between the big and small chain rings.
I’ve been riding the AXS for 3+ months now so it has been about 4 months since I did a deep dive spreadsheet analysis of all gear combos (mechanical advantage calculations) comparing it to my Di2, but from my recollection, I was able to better achieve a smoother increments plus get the advantage of either one higher gear range or one lower one depending on which chain ring combo I chose. I chose the lower and it has been a fantastic choice (e.g. able to stay seated longer).
My 2cents on your idea is that there is/may be a market for a 10-30, 10-28, 10-26, etc. However, it is likely to be very small at this time and very expensive to fill due to the engineering involved to build the cassette and small addressable market. You’d also face the risk of, if you are correct and there becomes such a market opportunity, that SRAM will fill it.
1 Like
The gearing of SRAM’s 10-33 and Rotor’s 10-39 cassette are identical — with the former missing the 13th 39 cog sprocket, obviously. So yes, Rotor and SRAM have settled on the exact same strategy to distribute their gears. Rotor was actually first and beat everyone to the punch, though. Even their 11-speed 11-28 cassette was designed with that same philosophy in mind.
Anyone having problems with the latest firmware update using the phone app?
Found a solution to my firmware update problem. Had to disconnect from the app, then reconnect the front derailleur only and update the firmware, then connect the rear and do the update. With prior attempts the rear derailleur was connected first as the master and it would not update.
2 Likes
Let me start by saying i don’t know enough about gearing…i just like to ride hard! I’m wanting to go with SRAM Force AXS but i run Shimano 53/39 and 11/28 generally but 11/25 for Crits. Is it possible to get similar gearing to a 53/39 with the 48/35? I like the idea of a 50/37 for the extra top end speed but i don’t want to drop that much money on the RED AXS. Does anyone know if you can mix and match between sets? For example: run a 50/37 Red crankset with the Force groupset?
All AXS cassettes have a 10t small cog.
53/11 = 4.82
48/10 = 4.80
So practically the same ratio at top gear.
The big cog on the three AXS cassettes are 26t, 28t, and 33t.
39/28 = 1.39
35/26 = 1.35
35/28 = 1.25
35/33 = 1.06
So all three AXS cassettes have a lower low gear than what you’re currently running.
2 Likes
can you run an eTap AXS crankset with the Force group? Is that even recommended or supported?
Sure you can, it’s all compatible. But it won’t be cheap.
Red and Force AXS are 12 speed groupsets.
While you can probably use a 48/35 Force AXS crankset with an 11-speed mechanical Force groupset, I’m not sure what the benefit would be over using a standard compact 50/34 crankset.
I want to run a RED AXS 50/37 with the Force AXS group to save money but get the top end speed.
That’ll work fine.
They claim longer chainring lifespans, and i am sure it helps stiffness/lightness. And finally, you get a discount on a replacement, i forget the amount.
But i agree it is silly. I have one of the axs removable spider based quark power meters on order. Too bad it does not come with 50/36. That up front with 10-32 in the rear is a nice combo.
Interesting article Bigger chainrings for Trek-Segafredo, but not for the usual reasons - CyclingTips
It looks like the pros are treating AXS like a standard 11s group. Running big chainrings and ignoring the 10T, possibly to avoid the extra drag.
1 Like
Makes sense given the wattage loss. Even if you assume a linear relationship for the sprint (250w = 6w loss multiplied by 6 for the expected sprint), that’s a pretty large downside 36w. Might even be closer to 50w.
Anecdotally, I’ve also heard of top MTB riders running the biggest chainring they can, not just out of raw power, but also to keep the chain closer to the middle of the cassette.
2 Likes
Trek are negating the watts lost with the 10t by pretty much ignoring it! Still think an aftermarket cassette would sell enough to warrant someone making them, maybe Miche so can build a perfect range.