When SRAM first introduced their 11-speed Red22 group, they made a big deal about it having a 16t cog in the mix. Sure, it was tongue in cheek, but indeed, 16 seems to be the magic number now that oversized large cog cassette adapters are all the rage. Fortunately, you don’t need to pull apart a perfectly good road cassette to get your 16-tooth fix.
OneUp Components has just introduced a 16-tooth cog to slot in between the 13 and 19, smoothing out the jump to just three teeth on either side. It replaces both the 15 and 17 when adding their (or any other) oversized 40t or 42t large cog. The result is an even transition at the smaller end of the cassette, eliminating any 4-tooth gap.
We mated it and their new 40t cog to an XTR 10-speed cassette. Tech details, weights and first impressions below…
OneUp’s 16T sprocket is machined from chrome plated hardened steel, in contrast to the 7075-T6 alloy of their large cogs. But, it shares the SRAM-or-Shimano compatibility of the big ones, using different clocking positions depending on the brand. If you were to get the whole kit and caboodle, you’d receive the above items. The spacer is for placing the 40/42t cog behind a SRAM cassette. It’s unused on a Shimano set up.
Claimed weight for the 16t cog is 18g, exactly what ours came in at. Spacer is 2g and 40t cog is 69g. Zach’s also been testing their 42t cog, and you can check out his first impressions here. Most of what follows is about the 16t cog.
Engraved on the cog are clocking sync points for SRAM and Shimano. Shown above, the “SH” is for Shimano and indicates the position of the cog that should be slid over the wide gap on the freehub body. Place the “SR” there for SRAM cassettes. This lines up the ramps and teeth for optimum shifting. As it turned out, I didn’t have these instructions when first installing and just slipped the non-notched space on the cog over the thinner freehub spline and went riding. Shifting was decent but not stellar…until I lined up the dots as they should be. From then on, shifting to and from OneUp’s cog in either direction was as smooth as the rest of the cassette. Impressive.
Definitely a visible difference in spacing, but not as obnoxious as a 4-tooth gap.
Here’s what the cassette looked like in standard trim on the left, and with their two replacement cogs on the right.
Just for fun, here’s what it looks like ramped all the way up on the 36t (left) and 40t (right). My b-screw was buried to get it to shift off the 40t, definitely need to add a longer screw just to be safe. In the large chainring (not that I’d ever cross chain like that) it wouldn’t shift off the 40t cog until I downshifted the front. A longer b-screw should remedy that.
On the trail, I spent the first 20 minutes paying careful attention to which cog I was in so I knew when I was shifting in and out of the 16t. After that, I all but forgot about it, only glancing down once in a while just to see where things were. That’s good news. It shifts so well and keeps the transitions so close to normal that it’s eventually forgotten about. And that’s what any good component should do – work so well you forget it’s there.
Yes, I could tell when I was going on or off the 16t if I was really thinking about it, but under normal riding, the 3-tooth jumps aren’t that big a deal. Anyone who’s already added an oversized upper cog should give this a good look.
I spent minimal time in the large cog simply because our local trails aren’t that steep. But, I can already tell I’m gonna love it when I head to the mountains. Shifting in and out of it was also pretty smooth, with only a little hesitation coming off it until I slammed the b-screw into the derailleur.
The 40t cog retails for $90 and should be back in stock April 11 (preorders being taken now), with free shipping worldwide. The 16t goes for just $15 plus shipping and should be available to ship Monday, April 7th in early May. But, order a new 42t or 40t cog and you get the 16t free. Effin’ sweet.
