It just hit me like a ton of bricks that I’m not going to the Sea Otter Classic. There’s just not enough time in my crazy schedule to slip down to Monterrey for the festivities, so I’m going to have to be satisfied with sloppy seconds from the peeps on the ground. As a teaser heading into this year’s festivities, SRAM pulled the curtains on their new X7 2×10 offering for 2011 (BikeRadar has the dirty details here).
I think it’s a safe bet that 2×10 will also be unveiled throughout the X9 and X0 range for 2011 as well–most likely at Sea Otter.
It’s just the tip of the iceberg of all the little goodies I’m going to miss out on, but hopefully I can catch bits and pieces of the good stuff and pass it along. Now onto that email from Fox about what’s coming for 2011… uggh, there’s that word again, “Sea Otter”. Maybe I do need to get down there!
More Info: SRAM.com
A Seattle native, Jason developed a love for the outdoors and a thing for mountains. That infatuation continues as he founded
How do you think these will be for 29ers. I use smaller gears on my Sultan than I used to on my Highline and 5 Spot. Seems like these would be tough to pedal on a 29er. Thoughts?
Here’s a quick video about the performance of the XX 2×10 platform on the World Cup XC circuit (Sorry, lots of Spanish and Italian with a bit of German here and there. Oh yeah, they do speak English too… sometimes):
Good question, John. I have yet to ride 2×10 on a 29er, but I don’t really see it being an issue as the key span of gear ratios remain intact. With 29ers I find I hang out in the middle range anyway–once I’m up to speed. I’m hoping to get a 2×10 29er set up this Spring, so I’ll let you know.
I love 2 chainring setups and have been riding that way for years. I might buy this SRAM system……except that it’s apparently designed for racers and flatlanders only. The 28 x 36 low gear ratio is 0.78. That’s about the same as back in the 90s when we had to endure granny gears of 22 x 28. Typical low gears today are about 20% lower. Too bad SRAM is insisting on their 42/28 rings. Why not offer a 36/24 setup also? That’s the same 3/2 ratio that they claim makes for great shifting.
Karkus
I’ve ridden the XX grouppo and didn’t feel like it lacked climbing ability one bit. Granted, I didn’t test it on any steep and technical climbs, but on the climbs I did with it, I wouldn’t have known I was using a 2×10 vs 3×9 system.
Looks like they answered my request already. 25 x 39 (or should that be 26×39?) and 30×45 chainring sets will also be available, according to
http://www.mbaction.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=news&mod=News&mid=9A02E3B96F2A415ABC72CB5F516B4C10&tier=3&nid=3CFEAC35A2344035AEFC9D78224A41C0