Spy Shot: Prototype 11-46 Wide Range Shimano Cassette

10/10. Would buy. Nice work BR!

Me likey a lot.

I really like this for backward compatibility, but other than the XD driver is there some downside to the 10-42 SRAM setup that this is fixing? 11-46 is going to take a heavy weight penalty no? I’ll cop to having never used the SRAM XD driver myself…

The XD driver is hardly a “proprietary freehub standard”. Pretty much EVERY hub manufacturer worth their salt is making one (except Shimano, for obvious reasons)…

im gonna hold our for a shifting system that has two different size “cogs” in the front for maximum gear range

I would like to see the SRAM Dual Drive system taken further – lighter, higher end 2 or 3 speed internal gear hub with a 10 or 11 speed cassette. This keeps the simplicity of 1x drive train but give you the range of a triple in front.

@frippolini has it right, mtb bikes w/ single chainrings look cool but it creates problems that didn’t exist prior. 3x and 2x makes the most sense for most riders in most of the U.S.

See, here I was upset that the only cassette available was an 11-40 because I really wanted a 36, or better yet a 34. I’m finally ditching XX1 after a bit more that a season because of the absurd jumps between gears.

Interesting, as Shimano was somewhat raining on the 1X parade while pressing really hard on their 2X solution.

If I see anyone with this 46T cassette on a 3-ring setup, I will tell them to give up and just go buy an e-bike.

You’d be faster walking any hill that requires a 46t.

1x has been a bit of a lifeline for SRAM but if you look at the history of the industry you’ll see Shimano putting other companies out of business (remember when Avid brakes were more common?). They were caught off guard by 1x but they’ll catch and surpass quickly. Don’t be surprised if front derailleurs come back with programmable Di2.

One day Rohloff will be considered by WW 🙂

There seem to be two types of complaints about a 46t rear cog:
1) “If you need one, you’re weak.” I find this silly. It’s supposed to be used with a single front chainring. The big complaint about single front chainrings is that they have too small a gear range. Using a 46t cog out back solves the problem.
2) “It’s heavy.” This is a reasonable complaint. Overall weight savings will be low if, after eliminating one front ring, a front derailleur, left shifter, and cable and cable housing, you add a 450g cassette.
Me- I like the added option of 1x drivetrains. They’re light, and if you’re strong and/ or live in not so mountainous areas, they have enough range. But I never understood the hate for front derailleurs. They shift pretty darn well, don’t add THAT much weight, give you the possibility of making a pretty big gear change with a single button push, and allow a very wide gear range. Long live the front derailleur, and long live 1x drivetrains. (Unless a miracle happens and someone makes an affordable IGH or gearbox that can easily be adapted to modern standards like Boost).

If one gets bigger sprockets to the cassette, then one can also get a bigger crank ring and have a more higher ratio gearing. Its not always about the lower gearing ratio!

I’m running a 1×10 32front with an 11-36xt or 11-40praxxis. That’s is plenty of range. If more is needed I’ll give in and ride a double

How can people ride around with 32×11 as the hardest gear? Do you live in the mountains and only coast down hill? Do you drive to the trail head all the time? Seriously, I use a 40-28 with 11-36 on the back on a 29r and often run out of gears on the road to and from the trail. I’ll drop to the 28 up front maybe two or three times per ride.

Shimano getting into wide range cassettes is good news for everyone, if only because it will hopefully stop SRAM trying to sell XO1 cassettes for $465 here in Europe.

“How can people ride around with 32×11 as the hardest gear?” Because it is enough, that’s how.

Tooth count is only part of gearing anyway. If you aren’t considering wheel size (and crank size) you aren’t seeing the whole picture.

A 29er has a 10% larger wheel than a road bike and a whole lot more rolling losses. A 32×11 on that bike is like a 50×16 on a road bike, plenty for most people and most riding.

Now, if it’s not enough then you’d need a bigger chainring and if that keeps you from climbing effectively, then you might be a candidate for a wider range cassette!

420% gearing range is plenty for many trail riders. For those a 1x drivetrain is the best choice. A conventional 2x drivertrain with an 11-36 only has about one more gear’s worth of range anyway.

BS! Long life to 2×11 gears!

420… 421, whatever it takes.

ahhhh the armchair engineers love these post with gear ratios.. They live for it.

@Bikethrasher, no way! At least for road. No right thinking roadie is going to go for 1 gear up front and a boat anchor of a cassette on the back.

Also, I’m not into the whole SRAM vs. Shimano bike war thing, but competition is good, so I hope both companies do well.

Finally now I can run that 38 up front!

I’m of the view that if you need this large of a range, 2×11 makes more sense, and will be lighter and cheaper. But the people are calling for 1xWIDE so Shimano should give it to them I guess. Personally, I’ve always run 1x for racing cyclocross, but 2x for everything else where I don’t want to be pounding at redline the whole ride.

@Bikethrasher I know folks who have used 1x road setups for crit racing. I could see a 1x for flat TT courses too, but there would be way too much weight penalty to get the range needed for the road in a 1x setup in most circumstances. Problem is that the range of speeds over which you have to pedal on the road (at least racing) is MUCH larger than mountain or cross.

LOL guys, we get it.

By the time you spin out your little 32 tooth ring, speeds are already too high. This cassette takes away your excuse from running a man sized ring.

Don’t be scared little fellas!