Opening up Pandoras Box

[DavidCH]

I love the Vendetta... I regard it as a race horse on steroids.

Here's the thing. As usual it's a tradeoff.

Engineering is a science of compromise.

If you have the money , you can go for a Rolls Royce Solution.


Is it worth flashing the cash and buy a sram Eagle axs cassette or stick with the sram Red Road 10-33 cassette with a smaller chainring?


The second option is a lot cheaper but is it the best option?


Pros always say, it's much more efficient if you have a large chainring up front.

I assume this is for sprinting.


One great big cassette sitting on your front wheel is going to weigh a lot more than a smaller chainring.


I love the simplicity of 1x drivechain systems.

I choose aero and lightness over capability just for the vendetta.


I guess too that if the Eagle axs cassette gets put on then you need a hanger extender for the deuralleur?

It's an interesting subject. If you were going to set up your bike for a steep climb then you would need to change the chainring and the chain because chain size changes.


Maybe to get the ideal setting , you need to monitor which gears you are using most of the time.


At the moment I cannot tell this because my system is cheap and cheerful but do you get this facility with a more expensive system?

 

[Frito Bandito]

I have SRAM Force AXS derailleurs with an Ultegra 11/30t cassette for the flats, and an 11/34t just in case I ever get into some hills. I am currently running a Shimano 105 53/39t chain ring, and almost never get off the big ring during my usual rides unless the ride is over, I am spent, and I need to go up 1 of the small 8-10m hills to get off the path.

Most of the time I am trying to stay above 35kph, and close to 40 if the ride isn't too long, so I spend a lot of time on the small cassette rings (17, 15, 14, 13, 12 and 11). With AXS I can check the app to see which rings get the most use if you want to know that. But, if I were to head into the mountains I presume I would be on the 39t small ring in front most of the time. On the 39t ring in front, and the 12t on the cassette doing above 30kph requires too many rpms for my comfort level, but that setup should be okay to get me over most ascents.

 

[Henri]

Maybe to get the ideal setting , you need to monitor which gears you are using most of the time

Maybe it's enough to use a gear calculator tool to see, what you might need. You'd need to know what speeds you can do on your needed roads and what range of cadence you can tolerate. I always use a German one, maybe you can use it, too, as there is not much Text needed or use a translating browser? (At least i did not find a way to switch the page to English natively.) I've linked you a comparison between the 52/10-52 I use currently and what you would need to get the same range with a 35-52/10-33 (Dont know if that combination is supported.) You can add remove and change the chainrings by sliding them in the graphic.

I guess too that if the Eagle axs cassette gets put on then you need a hanger extender for the deuralleur?

If you also get an Eagle Derailleur, it just mounts to the hanger normally. If you want to use a road derailleur, you'll need an extender at least. I won't promise good shifting with that much extension, the derailleur is not built to be so far from the small cogs.

I like the range of 10-52. I can spin quickly when I need power uphill and I can pedal more relaxed, when downhill my own power does not contribute as much anyway. But I don't ming large jumps between gears. There is also 10-50 from SRAM for a bit smaller shifting jumps and 10-44 XPLR for a middle groung between small shifting jumps and wide range. And then there are cassettes from eThirteen with 9t smallest cogs for more range with a bigger jump in rhe snallest gear (gravel one also has a bigger 45t as largest cog) with as much rabge as Eagle, but I guess, they might be more expensive, a bit more fiddly to install and 9t is said to be considerably less efficient. (The trick with bigger chainrings is not being in the small cogs.) XPLR wit eThirteen would be lighter than Eagle and have more range than road, though. (I am trying to put it on my folding bike with smaller wheels, where Eagle would certainly hit the ground, XPLR might just work barely. - Yes, I am a bit addicted to range…)

 

[ratz]

The second option is a lot cheaper but is it the best option?

Standby the parts list from my new build project is coming. One of the goals was to offer lower-cost options for the cool stuff. I'm building the mide tier (or so I think) and will document the high end and affordable end. While there's a little of that diversity in the design thread, I have my notes, and I'll have some interesting comparisons based on what I think I see. I hope to have that posted by Saturday morning at which point we can add the community's best ideas.

Now don't let that stop the discussion; I can steal from what you all put here as well. Just sharing that you are on to something I'd like to see solved.

 

[Randyc3]

Hi,
Attached the gearing for my v20c. I am running QXL rings 36-52 and a 10-42 XDR cassette. My goal was to get the greatest possible range for high and low for hills and flats.

 

[Henri]

I've linked you a comparison between the 52/10-52 I use currently and what you would need to get the same range with a 35-52/10-33

Could it be that I forgot the link?

Ritzelrechner - Graphical Gear Calculator for Bicycles

The bicycle gear calculator displays graphically the gearing of derailleur gears and gear hubs. It can be used to compare different setups to find the optimal gearing for all kinds of bicycles.

www.ritzelrechner.de

I somehow happend to end up on an English version of the page now, but it does not seem to get transferred through the link. No idea how to trigger it presenting the English version.

 

[Jeffers]

Here's another calculator that's simple to use.