SRAM XX1 - Info, Reviews, quirks, avaiability and more

Over the last year, idea of SRAM's new XX1 group has captured the interest of mountain bikers around the world.    Here at Goose Creek  we like to see a solid season on a product line before we go deep and really buy into a new concept.  Our reasoning is that we like to see the bugs worked out on other peoples bikes before we drop the cash into the newest latest and greatest.   As an added perk,  pricing tends to come down after the initial production.    This all assumes that the product takes off,  and I think it is safe to sat that XX1 will be arouind for a while.

With a limited production in 2012 and a continued wait for the 2013 products to hit the market,  the biggest problem with the group right now is availability.   Rear derailleurs and trigger shifters are especially in demand as there is no substitute or compatability between groups.  On the bright side,  hub manufacturers are stepping up to the plate and we are seeing increased availability of drivers that will now allow you to use the specialty XX1 cassette on hubs from DT Swiss, Hope, Stans No Tube, Industry 9 and others.   So lets have a quick look at the group and see what the fuss is about.

Concept:   SRAM's basic idea was to take the simplicity of the 1X (one by) system an eliminate the quirks.   For the past few years we have seen riders go to 1X systems   in order to simplify their bikes and eliminate problems arising from chain suck, and shifting issues.    The primary problem is that with the number of dropped chains riders have started adding bash guards,  chain guides and other trinkets which basically offset the weight savings of eliminating derailleurs, shifters and rings.     The second problem is that by definition you lose gear range on both high and low end.   By using specialty chainrings and cassette,  SRAM solves both issues.

Chainrings:   One of the most crutial aspects of the system is the customized chainring which features variable widths on the rings so that the ring perfectly meshes with the different widths of the wide and narrow links in the chain.   The precision of these rings and slightly longer teeth, allow you to run the system without guards.

Cassette:   With a huge range on this 10-42T cassette you can ride in almost any condition without feeling that you are missing gears.    The biggest obsticle here is that the small 10T cog is too small for standard hubs,  so sram developed a specialty driver that will replace the free hub body on your hub.   

Driver:  Unless you buy a wheel pre-setup for XX1,  you will need to replace your free hub body with a driver.    Drivers are available for a wide range of hubs and more are being added to the list.  As new drivers are added,  the overall cost of the group comes down because you have a wider selection of wheels and a higher chance of simply adapting your current wheels to the system.st

Cost:  Expect a XX1 upgrade to cost you about $1300 at retail pricing.  

Availability:   Right now,  parts are scarce unless your shop has a group in stock,  but we should see SRAM releasing a new batch to the public soon.   Here at Goose Creek we are trying to by up as  much of the XX1 as possible so that we have service parts for our existing customers.  Look for products up on our wesite shortly and if you want to touch and feel,  we should have products in store to look at shortly.  

Find the problem, win a prize

Ok,  as professional bicycle mechanics,   a significant amount of what we do is undoing what home mechanics did at home.    You may or may not beleive the number of people who say "I was trying to do (fill in blanlk) and it just doesen't seem to work right,  so I am giving it to you to figure out."  Most common on the list is "I had some spokes loose so I tighented them..."  Occasionally a home mechanic will create a mystery by doing something strange like using parts that are not compatable.  Often it takes you a while to find the mistake because your brian just doesn't question that it could ever be set up the way it is.    At any rate,  here is one we didn't notice until we started to put the bike back together.   The first person to spot the problem in the picture, and post what it is in the comments section will get a free waterbottle.   Also we know that the chain is not installed,  we just hadn't gotten that far when the picture was taken, the problem is more interesting than that.     (if you are local, you will have to pick the bottle up at the shop,  if you are elsewhere,  we will send you a coupon for a free waterbottle with order from our website.   Contest excludes employees and people who saw this bike while in the shop.)

Update:  Congrats to Peter who was the first to spot the problem.   As a side note, it may interest you that on this same bike they asked us to install this crank....

Night Lights and roadside hazzards

A near death experiance prompts me to remind eeryone that when you are riding at night your lights are not only safety and for vision of the road,  but also for keeping an eye on what is going on around you.     Oddly enough I came to this realization while testing out the x-fire Bike Lane tail light so I was really paying more attention to what was going on behind me than in front.

Those of you who know me know that I am a big advocate of the Knog Skink front light that has plenty of power to see the road ahead of you,  and for my commutes I go back and forth between my 350 lumen off road light and my little Skink. 

On my way home last night I had my Skink and my Knog Strobe both on flash mode and my new Xfire on the rear.   It had grown dark buy I had not yet moved my lights to constant mode,  and I was on a small back road (Old LaGrange Road for you locals).    This road is roughly wide enough for a car and a half,  so when there was an oncomming car, I knew I had space, but needed to be close to the edge of the road.   Those of you who night ride know that if it is truly dark,  an oncomming cars lights will blind you, unless your lights overpower the cars.

So that is where I was,  hugging the side of the road with very little visibility and luckly going pretty slowly when suddenly a deer stepped right in front of me.  Fortunately I had scared it enought that is started runnig,  but I came within a foot of it before it disaperared in a clatter of hooves.   Two otherse crossed in front of me,  at least one behind me,  and I looked up I looked up in time to see a large buck siloetted against the night sky standing on top of the railroad track.  

I bet the car had a great view of me crashing throught a herd of deer, but all I saw was a white tail and the buck.  A scarry moment,  but a cool memory,  and a reminder that if you are not in the city your lights ought to be bright enough to see whats coming at you from the side of the road as well.