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Ratio Cage & Ratchet Kit converts SRAM 1×11 to 12 speed & Eagle

ratio sram 1 x 12 derailleur upgrade from 10 11 speed groups
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Lake District-based Ratio Technology has introduced its latest drivetrain innovation; a derailleur cage upgrade and 12s shifter ratchet replacement for SRAM 1 x 11 drivetrains, making them compatible with SRAM Eagle 12 speed cassettes. The creators of this neat solution are of the opinion that standard gravel bike gearing is simply not fit for purpose, so they sought to find a way to allow riders to exploit SRAM’s wide-range 12 Speed cassettes with a minimum of new parts, and no batteries.

ratio cage sram 12 speed derailleur upgrade for 52t cassette

Retiring a 1 x 11 Speed Derailleur that is in perfect working order is wasteful, but the temptation to give in to a complete drivetrain overhaul is going to be strong if you’re a gravel rider in the English Lake District (or anywhere very hilly) who knows only too well how much they stand to benefit from wider range 1 x 12 speed gearing. Ratio’s new Derailleur Cage upgrade and Ratchet Kit offers a cost-effective way of upgrading to 1 x 12 speed gearing, without the need to retire old parts.

Ratio 1 x 12 Speed SRAM Derailleur Cage and Shifter Ratchet

Ratio Technology is making its way in the world with some very interesting and economical drivetrain solutions, one of which has seen numerous 2 x 11 Road Groups upgraded to 2 x 12 Groups for just £99.50 (plus the cost of the cassette), a hell of a lot cheaper than investing in a brand new shifter and derailleur. Now, they’re making headlines again with a derailleur cage and shifter ratchet for SRAM 1 x 11 Groups, upgrading them to be compatible with SRAM’s 52T-sporting 12s cassettes. 

“Mechanical gravel gearing from the big manufacturers is, frankly, a bit rubbish – particularly if you ride somewhere hilly, and there are those of us without the cash or desire to replace perfectly good kit and switch to electronics. On the other hand, MTB drivetrains are awesome. All we had to do was find a way to make the two play nicely.” – Tom Simpson, co-founder of Ratio Technology.

ratio sram 12 speed derailleur cage and pulleys for 52t cassettes
The conversion kit debuted last weekend at The Yorkshire 3 Peaks Cyclocross Race where it cleaned up on the men’s podium and took 2nd place on the women’s.

The Ratio Cage upgrade announced today is for SRAM only. It is a direct replacement for the cage on your SRAM 1 x 11 Speed Derailleur, allowing it work nicely with any SRAM Eagle 12 Speed cassette with a 52T sprocket. It essentially replicates the same step that SRAM took when designing their own Eagle derailleurs. Ratio say the end result is a 1 x 12 drivetrain with up to 520% range and OEM-quality shifting from your road levers and derailleur.

ratio derailleur cage sram 12 speed 52t cassette compatible
The Ratio cage is made from CNC machined 7075 aluminium, with a 12t upper pulley and a 14t lower pulley, all of which are CNC machined by Ratio in the Lake District, England. The pulleys spin on stainless Enduro bearings with labyrinth seals.

For the gravel contingent, Ratio’s 12s Wide Ratchet is for upgrading SRAM 11 speed road shifters (see Ratio’s guide for shifter compatibility), with spacing specifically designed for SRAM Eagle cassettes. You’ll need a right-hand 11 Speed shifter from any of the following groupsets to make this work:

  • SRAM Red
  • SRAM Force
  • SRAM Rival 
  • SRAM Apex 

ratio 12 speed ratchet for sram 11s road shifters

An alternate way to switch your gravel bike from SRAM 1 x 11 to SRAM 1 x 12 is to swap out your 1 x 11 Road Derailleur for a SRAM 1 x 12 MTB Derailleur, and pair that with a ratchet-adapted SRAM 11 Speed Road Shifter. That’s only going to be economical if you already have an unused SRAM 1 x 12 MTB Derailleur lying around. To make it work, you’ll also need to purchase Ratio’s Cable Fin, which is only compatible with SRAM GX Derailleurs and above (no NX or SX).

ratio 12 speed derailleur cage capacity for 52t eagle cassettes
The Cable Fin is also the secret to converting a regular X-Horizon Eagle MTB derailleur into a 1:1 Exact Actuation Eagle road pull derailleur. Find out exactly how to do that here.

For the MTB contingent, the Ratio Cage works for SRAM 11 speed MTB derailleurs, too, but there is no MTB shifter upgrade offered by Ratio that goes along with it. So, you’d need to buy a SRAM 1 x 12 Speed MTB shifter to make it worth your while, or adapt a SRAM 11 Speed MTB Shifter with the e+Thirteen TRS+ 12 Speed Upgrade Kit.

Pricing & Availability

The Ratio 1 x 12 Wide Ratchet and Derailleur Cage Kit) retails at £139.50 inc. VAT (USD $123.00 / EUR 129.00 € / AUD $192.00). The Ratio Derailleur Cage can also be purchased alone for £89.50 inc. VAT (USD $78.90 / EUR 82.50 € / AUD $123.00). All non-GBP prices exclude taxes. International shipping is available from £11.

RatioTechnology.com

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mudmudmud
mudmudmud
1 year ago

Glad they made a cage to convert the road derailleurs, saving us from buying the mtb versions. Now you just have to shell out a $483 XXI cassette and your in business (or go cheap and get the NX at almost twice the weight).

Last edited 1 year ago by mudmudmud
mudmudmud
mudmudmud
1 year ago

Glad they produced the cage, saving us from buying the mtb derailleurs. Now we just have to shell out $483 for the XXI cassette and we’re in business ( or go cheap and get the NX at almost twice the weight).

Marc Smith
Marc Smith
1 year ago
Reply to  mudmudmud

you could also move straight up to the Ekar upgrade for a chain, a crank and a less expensive cassette

I. F.
I. F.
1 year ago

Bike in the lede image is gorgeous

Dinger
Dinger
1 year ago
Reply to  I. F.

Truly is. They’ve done a great job with the orange and ano orange parts.

Martin Navarre
Martin Navarre
1 year ago
Reply to  I. F.

I like it too! Some upgrades … orange seatpost collar, Hope calipers, better color match on the bar tape …

John
John
1 year ago

The Ratio Cage works for SRAM 11 speed MTB derailleurs, too, but there is no shifter upgrade that goes along with it. So, you’d need to buy a SRAM 1 x 12 Speed shifter to make it worth your while. 

Is this true? I would think that replacing the cable fin on the 11 speed MTB derailleur switches it between X Actuation and Exact Actuation just like it does for the 12 speed MTB derailleur. That would make it compatible with the Ratio shifter ratchet upgrade.

John
John
1 year ago

Is the shifter ratchet for an 11 speed derailleur with this cage upgrade any different from the shifter ratchet for the 12 speed eagle derailleur with cable fin change?

They are essentially the same cable actuation.

Ratio Tom
1 year ago
Reply to  John

You’re right – we’ve replicated SRAM’s Exact Actuation pull ratio with our Cable Fins (rather than yet another standard!). That means that an Exact Actuation 1×11 derailleur with our cage is functionally identical to an Eagle X Actuation derailleur with our fin fitted. The ratchet then controls the speed and shift positioning of the derailleur, which is why we’ve had to produce different ratchets for Eagle and AXS cassettes; despite both being 12 speed, the sprockets are in different positions across the cassette.

Cheese
Cheese
1 year ago

Great. Now make a kit to enable the use of SRAM brifters with mineral oil brakes.

Jayjay
Jayjay
1 year ago

I just sold my 11 speed derailleur: €70,-
Asking price on the usual online platforms for 12 speed derailleurs, €150-180.

Just saying…

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