A SRAM Eagle hack deliver business up front, party in the back. We’ve discovered how you can build a #BudgetMullet SRAM drivetrain for your adventure gravel bike, thanks to an insider tip from Parallel Handbuilt, a bike shop in the Netherlands. All you need is your current mechanical SRAM 1x drivetrain, a new Eagle derailleur, a few standard tools, and a little bit of patience. Then your dropbar adventure gravel bike will be ready for up to a 52T cassette!
How To: Parallel Handbuilt BudgetMullet dropbar Eagle 1×11 hack

Mullets, the same idea behind mixing 27.5 & 29″ MTB wheels and mixing MTB rear derailleurs with road cranks & shifters on gravel bikes. You get fast-moving efficiency up front and technical trail-capability in the back. It’s one of the reasons that the newest SRAM AXS wireless groups are so interesting, pairing Red/Force AXS dropbar shifters with XX1/X01 Eagle MTB Derailleur. But all that wireless 1×12 drivetrain options are still gonna cost you at least $1400 just for derailleur, levers & cassette. And you need to keep everything charged. Not exactly the best option for remote bikepacking.
So, is there a better way?
Enter the #BudgetMullet SRAM Eagle hack. After some digging and measuring, Joergen Trepp of Parallel Handbuilt figured he’d try to make an Eagle derailleur work with his Rival1 shifters. Instead of aftermarket cages of leverage ratio gadgets, he uncovered a cheaper & easier solution, all the while sticking with original SRAM parts.
The secret is the cable fin. That’s SRAM’s name for the small curved cable guide that directs the derailleur wire into the pinch bolt. That simple & replaceable part on all modern SRAM MTB & CX 1x rear derailleurs also happens to determine the cable pull, and swapping it can convert a regular X-Horizon Eagle MTB derailleur into a 1:1 Exact Actuation Eagle road pull derailleur.