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I have this group set on my Trek Checkmate SLR 9. Shifting is not slow like T Type I have on my Supercaliber. Shimano has really dropped the ball with no 1x12 Di2 MTB or gravel group set.
Great input, I appreciate it! I have the group ready to go on one of our new bikes but waiting for it to be finished. I am excited to hear that it shifts fast and not like transmission.
I think they go hand in hand. If your chain is bouncing off the cassette and not engaged in a gear, then you can't mash massive power out while shifting. I have never had a chain bounce off the cassette or skip teeth unless I was trying to shift in the middle of mashing. I will have to train my brain that I can mash while shifting now. 20 years of letting off to shift will be hard to let go.
I pulled my EKAR off and put on XPLR, 10-44. So far I’m finding the spread across the smaller cogs much more in line with what I want for road demands, including throwdown group riding on hilly terrain. Ekar got annoying, as the 1T jumps were whacky after the 13. Curious what sort of circumstances you’ve found the XPLR annoying. Great video, as always!
The new ekar 10-48 cassette goes 10,11,12,13,14, then 16 so it has more close gears. Your XPLR goes 10,11,13,15. It really depends on your terrain and pedaling style. The higher the speeds for flatter terrain, the closer you want the gears If it is hilly, the close gears can get annoying because you have to shift twice to get to the preferred cadence. If I run a cassette that has super close gears on MTB trails, it gets very annoying because it doesn't feel like there is enough change between gears. For my terrain when on super fast group road rides, we are cruising around 24-28 mph on the flats so the closer gears help tremendously.
I do wonder if Sram will let this rear mech do both 12 and 13 speed. Not 100% sure who would want that, but plenty of people have 12 speed XLPR stuff already so letting you have both would be nice. Surely the mech is smart enough to move a few mm less.
Coming from decade plus on 2x10 sram canti/vbrake cx bikes. First disc brake 1x11 42t max rear cog cable shift/brake still getting use it on a cx bike takes up to 40mm depending on tread in rear with no FD cable routing. Not sure finding a older 2x11 speed grx di2 setup for the range. Going for 2x12speed either grx di2 or sram axs. Or wait for this sram 1x13 to go public.
@@thedownunderverse That would be ideal if Shimano did that. They need to do something because Sram is coming out with more and more refinements. Yes Sram has more issues usually but they are getting better and better. Also Shimano business model with bike shops is horrible so it is harder to deal with them on the business front while sram is much easier to work with.
@@Lenser Yeah the rear derailleur with the AXS system determines the number of gears and the spacing, not the shifters. That is why when you pair the MTB AXS rear derailleur with the road shifters, you are supposed to use the MTB cassettes and chain. So this rear derailleur should pair with all previous shifters and blips. So if you already have previous AXS shifters then you can probably just get the derailleur and cassette and be good. Yes your frame will have to have the UDH style hanger unless they are offering one without the UDH, which I would find hard to believe if they offered that.
@@Lenser Exactly, That is a major bummer in my opinion. I think UDH is moving in the right direction but sucks when new stuff wont work with older frames.
Honestly this is more like a mtb groupset for roadies. I agree, depending on your terrain, MTBs have not suffered from the large jumps between cogs bc the speeds are so drastically different. As far as chain wear, surprisingly the newer chains are getting better and better with wear according to Zero friction cycling tests. That isnt to say these arent going to be bashed up good though, requiring maintenance.
@@williamhudgens2917 Thanks. I just can't understand why SRAM would limit their offering to a minimum 38 teeth. Of course the other issue is you will need a new bike to be able to install the UDH derailleur.
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I have this group set on my Trek Checkmate SLR 9. Shifting is not slow like T Type I have on my Supercaliber. Shimano has really dropped the ball with no 1x12 Di2 MTB or gravel group set.
Great input, I appreciate it! I have the group ready to go on one of our new bikes but waiting for it to be finished. I am excited to hear that it shifts fast and not like transmission.
I believe that narrow/wide rings are more for chain retention through rough terrain rather than shifting under load.
I think they go hand in hand. If your chain is bouncing off the cassette and not engaged in a gear, then you can't mash massive power out while shifting. I have never had a chain bounce off the cassette or skip teeth unless I was trying to shift in the middle of mashing. I will have to train my brain that I can mash while shifting now. 20 years of letting off to shift will be hard to let go.
I pulled my EKAR off and put on XPLR, 10-44. So far I’m finding the spread across the smaller cogs much more in line with what I want for road demands, including throwdown group riding on hilly terrain. Ekar got annoying, as the 1T jumps were whacky after the 13. Curious what sort of circumstances you’ve found the XPLR annoying. Great video, as always!
The new ekar 10-48 cassette goes 10,11,12,13,14, then 16 so it has more close gears. Your XPLR goes 10,11,13,15. It really depends on your terrain and pedaling style. The higher the speeds for flatter terrain, the closer you want the gears
If it is hilly, the close gears can get annoying because you have to shift twice to get to the preferred cadence. If I run a cassette that has super close gears on MTB trails, it gets very annoying because it doesn't feel like there is enough change between gears. For my terrain when on super fast group road rides, we are cruising around 24-28 mph on the flats so the closer gears help tremendously.
I want 1x13. I don’t want DOT fluid. I’d get this on a flat bar bike with pod shifter and run different brakes.
You could actually use trp hylex brakes and install some blips somewhere on it. I actually did that to one of my ti bikes. It's on my Instagram.
I do wonder if Sram will let this rear mech do both 12 and 13 speed. Not 100% sure who would want that, but plenty of people have 12 speed XLPR stuff already so letting you have both would be nice. Surely the mech is smart enough to move a few mm less.
That would be epic if they did that but I don't see them doing it. Would love to have a cheaper 12 speed cassette for training rides.
The gear jumps sound promising.
Yeah they are much more in line with Ekar. Not quite as close as Ekar in the small cogs but better than the previous XPLR.
Coming from decade plus on 2x10 sram canti/vbrake cx bikes. First disc brake 1x11 42t max rear cog cable shift/brake still getting use it on a cx bike takes up to 40mm depending on tread in rear with no FD cable routing. Not sure finding a older 2x11 speed grx di2 setup for the range. Going for 2x12speed either grx di2 or sram axs. Or wait for this sram 1x13 to go public.
Am more excited about shimano finally releasing a 1x di2 gravel drivetrain
Except it’ll be 1x13
@@thedownunderverse That would be ideal if Shimano did that. They need to do something because Sram is coming out with more and more refinements. Yes Sram has more issues usually but they are getting better and better. Also Shimano business model with bike shops is horrible so it is harder to deal with them on the business front while sram is much easier to work with.
1x13 makes more sense for road for smaller gear jumps.
Exactly! I wonder if we will see this on any of the Pro Teams bikes for certain stages. Get rid of that horrible Sram front mech.
@@BlackWaterCyclisthope 13 speed works with 12 speed shifters. Is UDH absolutely necessary?
@@Lenser Yeah the rear derailleur with the AXS system determines the number of gears and the spacing, not the shifters. That is why when you pair the MTB AXS rear derailleur with the road shifters, you are supposed to use the MTB cassettes and chain.
So this rear derailleur should pair with all previous shifters and blips. So if you already have previous AXS shifters then you can probably just get the derailleur and cassette and be good.
Yes your frame will have to have the UDH style hanger unless they are offering one without the UDH, which I would find hard to believe if they offered that.
@@BlackWaterCyclistsadly with older frames without UDH it will not be possible to go Sram 13 speed.
@@Lenser Exactly, That is a major bummer in my opinion. I think UDH is moving in the right direction but sucks when new stuff wont work with older frames.
Are the SRAM Eagle transmission derailleur and XPLR 10-44 cassette compatible? I wonder.
13 speed for mtb? Okay.. i'm gonna fix loads more in the shop 😂🎉🎉🎉
I have no idea why anyone would want more gears for MTB. The only time my MTB gets shifted in the top cogs is in the work stand.
Honestly this is more like a mtb groupset for roadies. I agree, depending on your terrain, MTBs have not suffered from the large jumps between cogs bc the speeds are so drastically different. As far as chain wear, surprisingly the newer chains are getting better and better with wear according to Zero friction cycling tests. That isnt to say these arent going to be bashed up good though, requiring maintenance.
Does look cool but probably damn expensive. I will stick to XT 12 speed.
It probably won't be much highe4 than 12sp and Force and Rival will come soon since there's 12sp Apex now
How are you running XT 12 speed with drop bars?
@@thedownunderverse Probably Di2.
@@BlackWaterCyclist there is no 12 sp mtb di2. Its ebike only
@@thedownunderversenew mech GRX supports up to 10-51 XT cassettes
The gearing is terrible. The smallest chain ring has 38 teeth which severely limits your ability to spin up a steep hill.
There are plenty of chainring options from other companies that will allow you to run smaller chainrings.
@@williamhudgens2917 Thanks. I just can't understand why SRAM would limit their offering to a minimum 38 teeth. Of course the other issue is you will need a new bike to be able to install the UDH derailleur.