It used to be the more gears you had, the better. Now it seems evolution is going in the other directions, with less gears the way forward. 2×10 has become very popular over the past couple of years, but some people have taken things a step further, going 1×10.
The new wider range cassettes has helped make this possible, along with people realising they probably didn’t need all those gears anyway. SRAM has recognised the popularity of 1×10 and gone a step further with their new groupset.
SRAM has released only a few details about XX1, preferring instead to wait until July to give us the full fat press release. For now we’ll only know the following:
New 1X MTB drivetrain
Designed for Enduro and XC racing
Innovative chain management technology including TYPE 2
Grip Shift and trigger shifter
Widest range cassette available
Will it be 10-speed? Or 11?
What it doesn’t state is whether the new groupset will be 1×10, or something else. The safest prediction is that it will be 1×10. But the line about the “widest range cassette available” suggests that perhaps they’re ready to launch an 11-speed setup.
But given we’ve not yet seen any 11-speed offerings in the mountain bike world, and SRAM haven’t even gone down that route on their road groupsets, it would be a brave step indeed.
So now you know as much as us. More details soon.
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