Improving climbing on S40 Gen 6 with 1x11 drivetrain

[smarkberry]

Love my bike. I don’t love trying to climb the 10% 1/4 mile hill into our subdivision at the end of each ride.

I would prefer to stay with the 1x__ setup.

What can I to get more climbing capability out of a different cassette? 11/50 vs. stock 11/42?

I’d like to avoid replacing the derailleur if possible.

Thank you for your feedback!

 

[ak-tux]

I’d like to avoid replacing the derailleur if possible.

Was this a SRAM APEX derailleur?

Mine (2019 S40) was works with 11 speed Sunrace 11-46 cassette(see below) . It will work with the existing 42T 1X chainring without adding a longer chain. I beleive it can alos take an 11-50 casstte.

 

[Doccus]

I had similar situation (15-18% grade for 1/2 mile to get out of neighborhood). Mine was stock Gen 6 S40, SRAM APEX 42t front. I changed to a Shimano CS-M5100 cassette.
It is an 11-51 cassette. I added the Wolftooth Road Link. Same rear derailleur but added 3 links, I think, to the chain. This is an easy DIY job. The shifting is same as original. The other thing that changed is that with experience, I got better at handling the bike with low speed and hard pedaling. It still gets my heart rate up, but topping the hill is never in doubt.

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[smarkberry]

I had similar situation (15-18% grade for 1/2 mile to get out of neighborhood). Mine was stock Gen 6 S40, SRAM APEX 42t front. I changed to a Shimano CS-M5100 cassette.
It is an 11-51 cassette. I added the Wolftooth Road Link. Same rear derailleur but added 3 links, I think, to the chain. This is an easy DIY job. The shifting is same as original. The other thing that changed is that with experience, I got better at handling the bike with low speed and hard pedaling. It still gets my heart rate up, but topping the hill is never in doubt.

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Doccus, you used the Wolftooth Road Link so you didn’t need to change out the derailleur? Is there anything you felt you lost by making the switch?

 

[Doccus]

I used the road link after reading that others had done the same. I didn’t try without it. I did not change the rear derailleur though.
I don’t think I lost anything. I am sure the new cassette is a few grams heavier but on the S40 it is not significant. No change on the top
end but quite a bit on the low. There are some cassettes with 9 tooth cogs out there and the idea of a double or triple chainring is out there.

 

[Joe Riel]

My Moulton (a small-wheel upright) has a 9 tooth cog (with a 62/52 chainring), but I can't say the 9 was any faster than a 10, even on significant downhills. It never felt smooth.

 

[orind]

Another option is to change out the front chainring to something a little smaller. I run a 40 tooth ring.