palesaint

... And I'm not talking vintage 12 speed.

I actually did a search for discussion here about the inevitable 12 speed road bike drivetrain with few results. I thought the extra cog was a ways away until I got an email from Cambria (bike parts website) that they had a limited supply of SRAM 12 speed components in stock.

Only catch? It's currently just for mountain bikes, geared specifically for the no-front-derailleur setup. 1x11 now becomes 1x12.

SO, who do you think will be the first to break into road bikes with 12 speed? I mean, the components all are out there now and ready to go. Will electronic groupsets get the first iteration or will they have to wait?

SRAM 12-speed: XX1 and X01 Eagle first ride review - BikeRadar USA

Curious on thoughts.

redlude97

it'll come to gravel and cross specific setups first

rpenmanparker 

How light is it?

palesaint

Looks like 87 grams more than the XX1. For the extra pie-pan-sized 50tooth cog.

palesaint

As a new groupset, or will they slap this "X01 Eagle" setup on a cross bike? If it's a new groupset will they keep it 1x12 or add an extra crankset gear?

rpenmanparker 

Sorry. It was a joke.

WhyFi

If it requires widening the dropouts again, I think it's going to be a while.

palesaint

Hey, weight wienies have a voice too. Whoever wants to break into the illustrious realm of road biking needs to be able to suit all consumers- especially those with deep pockets.

palesaint

Good point. Thought it was a drop-in groupset for mountain bikes. Wonder if frames have to be modified...

redlude97

mountain bikes are 135 while road bikes are 130. Gravel/cross are generally 135

CafeVelo

It's only possible because the 50t is large enough to float over the dished section of the wheel, it uses a large carrier that attaches to the driver and moves inboard as it moves out radially. A smaller cassette, with road gearing, would not fit with current wheels and dropouts. Given the fact that an 11 speed wheel is nearly vertically dished, I can't imagine that continuing to expand the freehub is a plausible way to gain space on the cassette. Reducing cog spacing would only lead to a narrower chain, which would last a very short period of time. Also, with the precision 11 speed must operate on, I'm not convinced mechanical drivetrains could operate on a smaller cog spacing. Therefore, you'd have to expand dropouts on the drive side. I can only imagine this would violate chain line requirements from Shimano (which could lead to them not allowing their cranks on bikes OEM) without also changing the distance the crank sits outboard, and great pains have been taken to keep the Q factor narrow. Expanding the rear dropouts also could lead to more risk of heel strike. There's also the further complication that it would make wheels that have only really been produced within the last five years antiquated and useless for new bikes. I don't expect 12 speed road to appear anytime soon because, like the shift from 7 to 8 speed, it will probably require changing everything.

D1andonlyDman

The large cog appears to be it's own dork disk

Bike Gremlin

IMO, anything over 3x8 is mostly marketing (except for racers perhaps). But it's been proven to work - people are into the new, "better" stuff, money is made, so don't see why we won't have a new trend of 1x12 road bikes, or 2x12 with very tight cassettes for those who "need" 1 tooth jumps all the way to the largest sprockets!

KonaRider125

I think 12 speeds will make 1x road/gravel/cross drivetrains much more viable. Looking forward to seeing what SRAM comes out with.

Maelochs

MTBs were already at 135 (or some, 142) so I'd guess they just tightened things up in back an went with a new chain. it might take a while for road bikes ... and might require changing the standard to 135---though that would negatively impact sales as they would lose the retrofit crowd.

gsa103

142 has the same size hub as standard 135mm. The 142mm refers to the through axle length, the OLD is the same 135mm.

And 11/12 speeds are feasible as long as you're talking about dork disc sized cogs which can freely over-hang the hub.

SRAM Eagle does require new wheels though since it mounts to a SRAM XD hub, which allows the use of a 9t cog for wider range.

joejack951

[sarcasm]Oooooo! 1x12...I can finally have what the guys running 2x6 back in the 70s had without having to shift up front! So exciting![/sarcasm]

fietsbob

Classic Quote : " Fool an Their Money are soon Parted".

fietsbob

Rohloff has just made replacing their one cog easier.. and the part probably Cheaper , because it's simpler to Make.

Jiggle

11 speeds is too many for me. I'd be just as happy with 2x8 if I could get that with modern technology. Currently on xt8000.

bobwysiwyg

I know nothing to speak of about "road bikes." It seems they are traditionally 10 speeds, that is two chain rings and five cogs. Why is that?

deapee

So where does the 12 fill in a gap, or add to the sides, of an 11 speed cassette?

11-28 is pretty decent.
11-32 is pretty decent too, although a bit of a bigger difference in a couple of spots.

Does it run 11-32 and throw an extra one in somewhere?

Or are we talking 11-35 or something like that?

Either way, I think with all the options out there, an 11-32 or 11-28 and you select your crankset, 50/34 or 53/39 based on your terrain. I just don't see the need for 12 speeds, but a lot of people probably didn't see the need for an 11 speed either, honestly.

deapee

I think most *road* bikes THESE DAYS are going to be 2x10 or 2x11.

joejack951

Shimano Claris.

KonaRider125

12 speed would make larger cassettes such as 11-32 and 11-36 smoother, which is likely what we are going to see.