Taking it to 11


SRAM popup store, Whistler Village, Canada, we sit in a classroom featuring many elements reminiscent of my old primary school. Sticker covered aluminium lockers, graffiti tagged desks and big whiteboards scribbled with suspension and SRAM gear doodles.

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Two lengths of rope hang from the ceiling for grommets and big kids to try reach the top for the chance to score a free t-shirt as they ogle at Brandon Semenuk wander in to grab a his custom Redbull helmet and knee pads from his locker. It’s pretty obvious that SRAM throw their full weight behind big events like Crankworx, they are everywhere, their riders are held high like the premium athletes they are, and their big figure novelty cheques hang on the wall from the likes of Stevie Smith, Kyle Strait and Jordie Lunn. The winnings from the events held a few hundred meters away on the lower slopes of the worlds most epic gravity fed mountain bike playground. And the select SRAM BlackBox athletes were encouraged to store their bikes inside too, so this small glass walled air conditioned space was a very, very cool place to spend way too much time hiding from the manic fury of Crankworx.

SRAM’s popup store in Whistler Village during Crankworx.

And what was Flow Mountain Bike doing there? We would be joining a select group of international media, SRAM pro riders, engineers and staff to take out a bike fitted with the hottest piece of kit that only a handful of people have actually ridden – SRAM XX1. The revolutionary eleven speed drivetrain with no regard for those old-school front derailleurs or chain guides. The drivetrain that was fitted to the winning bikes at both the Olympic Cross Country, and the Mega Avalanche – two extremely high profile events that really could not be any different at all.

Pro riders are held in very high regard in the SRAM family. Note the novelty cheques on the wall, they grew in quantity and dollar value as the week progressed.

Chris Hilton, from SRAM’s high end mountain bike drivetrain development department walks us through not only how it works, but their motivations behind this unique take on a drivetrain. Suspension frame design limitations, chain tension issues and creating a lighter system through the removal of parts, were some of the concepts tossed about in the early stages of XX1.

Simon Cittati from SRAM Europe talks us through the many unique features of XX1

So we dialled in the bikes, a mixture of Trek Slashes and Specialized S-Works Enduros and wheeled them out of the bustling Whistler village and onto the trails. Not one chainguide was fitted the dozen or so bikes in our bunch, and we all were so curious to see how it would fare when pushed hard. The trails we followed enduro guru Jerome Clementz through were rough, fast, unpredictable and wildly undulating. We mashed through the gears, back pedalled through bumps, used the entire range of gears available and forgot what we where doing out there and began to just soak in the ride.

An early prototype rear derailleur that had been in use many months before we knew it existed. They sure kept this project quiet.
Giving the S-Works Enduro a good razz around the trails of Lost Lake; fast, undulating and wild.

First impressions? The shifting is classic SRAM, positive and engaging, if a little smoother and lighter feeling than a standard X0 shift. The clutch mechanism (like the Type 2) tensioned derailler does not feel any heavier under your thumb to shift up into the lower gears, like you notice with a Shimano Shadow Plus derailleur and the extra click to eleven speed in the shifter quickly became the norm. Quite as a mouse and super smooth, the chain gildes on and off the chainring with no doubt of direction or stiction, stellar stuff.

The major topic of contention is how much benefit do you gain, not only just for the dollars. You are looking at about $450 for a replacement cassette, a wear item, and the $350 derailleur could still be swiftly removed in an unfortunate incident on the trail. The complete set (shifter, derailleur, cassette, cranks, BB and chain) will retail in Australia for around $1650 with a GXP bottom bracket, and $1700 for BB30. Chainrings range from $100-$150 in two teeth increments from 28-38. And then there is the topic of what ratio options cover what climbs and descents, who suits what size chainring and what type of bikes is this stuff really designed for? Does a standard 1×10 speed drivetrain with a chainguide lose enough on the XX1 to warrant the upgrade? And how much can you trust it without a chainguide? Well, Flow Mountain Bike is has since tested the XX1 group set on our regular trails to reach a verdict. A complete video review is coming soon. Turn it up to eleven! [/private]

Full video review on Flowmountainbike.com coming very soon!

 

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