SRAM Adds Wider Range 11-36 Force CX1 Cyclocross Cassette (UPDATED)

Written by Tyler Benedict Dec 01, 2014 10:53 a.m. ET

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If you’re taking your ‘cross bike on more adventuresome rides than the stock 11-32 cassette allows, then the new 11-36 option should be just the ticket…and it opens the doors to more and more affordable 1×11 mountain bike builds, too!

Offering a 13% lower gear than the 32-tooth cog of the other WiFLi option, this cassette does require the use of a medium cage X-Horizon rear derailleur since none of their standard road rear derailleurs are designed to move around the larger 36-tooth cog. On the smaller end, the 11-tooth still provides the speed needed to crush the flats and descents. It’ll fit any 11-speed road freehub body, so all current road wheels should work with it.

And, since some modern mountain bike freehub bodies are 11-speed compatible (Rolf Prima, American Classic, etc.), this should fit there, too. That doesn’t mean you’ll get the range of the XX1/X01’s 42-tooth cogs, but you’ll get the smoother transition between gears that 11-speeds offer. And, in our opinion, it sets the stage for a non-XD style 11-speed mountain bike cassette for an X9 level group in the future…no reason why they couldn’t build it out to a 40 or 42 tooth max and have it fit a standard 10/11 speed compatible freehub body. Others have done it.

UPDATED: Additional compatibility notes at bottom.

Tooth counts, specs and weights below…

After seeing the comments, we reached out to SRAM to confirm compatibility with XX1/X01/X1 groups, mainly to see if cog spacing was the same from this new cassette to SRAM’s XD-style 11-speed cassettes. Here’s the response:

“Yes, the cog spacing is the same relative to the XX1 cassette. While we think the best application for this cassette is expanding the possibilities of CX1, if you have the right wheels and know yourself and your favorite terrain well, you could certainly plug it in to your XX1 group. You’ll probably need to be extremely mindful of your B gap, because if the pulley gets too far away from the larger cogs, your shift quality could suffer.”

That’s good news as it means more options for fine tuning your gravel, cyclocross or mountain bike to suit your terrain and riding style!

SRAM.com

Tyler Benedict

11,186 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com. He has been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel to killer riding locations throughout North America.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler loves family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part to make his bikes faster and lighter.

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muddy

9 years ago

wooohooooo!!!!
been dreaming of this for awhile.

Mindless

9 years ago

10 speed is more than enough on a mountain bike. If you can keep cadence, your trail is boring.

craigsj

9 years ago

“…it sets the stage for a non-XD style 11-speed mountain bike cassette…”

A stage already set by Shimano’s 11-40 which is much more useful for mountain biking. If SRAM wants a non-XD 11 speed MTB solution, which I doubt it does, it should go wider than 11-36.

This is useful for cross and touring because it has wider spacing but retains the 12T. MTB doesn’t need the 12T nor does it need 11 speeds with the spread that 10 speed already offers.

Shimano should offer this range as well on their road side.

drosser

9 years ago

As someone who currently rides a triple, bikes with SRAM’s Rival Hydro Road groupset become that much more appealing.

Author

Tyler Benedict

9 years ago

drosser – just remember you’ll need to add a Force CX1 rear derailleur, too, and your existing SRAM 11-speed road shifters (Red, Rival, etc.) should work with it.

mattie d

9 years ago

Curious to see if these will play nice with 42t extenders. If only the last 3 are one a spider, it may work.

greg

9 years ago

ditto on the XTR 11-40, which also fits 10speed freehubs…

muddy

9 years ago

currently running CX1 on my cross and gravel bikes. for cross the 11-32 is fine but for hilly gravel races and long gravel races like the DK200, the 36t is the answer. Ran 10speed 12-36 last year with a 44t up front and it was perfect, enough range to hit 30+mph and still climb everything, including that slippery steep hill after the river crossing.

Velociraptor

9 years ago

> just remember you’ll need to add a Force CX1 rear derailleur, too

No, no, no! The SRAM Force CX1 rear derailleur is can only handle a 32-tooth cassette, at least according to the specs.

Anyway, I’m excited about this because now we there is 11-speed 11-36 for road use, like there was with 10-speed SRAM.

> A stage already set by Shimano’s 11-40 which is much more useful for mountain biking.

The Shimano 11-speed XTR cassette is super expensive. More options and manufacturers is good news.

Velo

9 years ago

Actually I think we need a clarification from SRAM. Is there a new version of the SRAM Force CX1 Rear Medium Cage Derailleur that can handle 36 teeth? Or the medium cage derailleur could always handle 36 teeth?

Velo

9 years ago

Another question is whether medium cage 105 or Ultegra Shimano derailleurs can handle this cassette even though they are spec’d at 32 teeth max.

9 years ago

This will be perfect for my campy equipped, drop bar, cross country racer. A bike almost as useful as a 36 tooth cog on a cross course. Did we all lose our left hands? What happened to double rings?

9 years ago

I’m assuming their website didn’t mention it because it wasn’t an option until now. While this isn’t exactly super secret new tech that required being hidden from the public until now, saying a derailleur can handle a 11-36, 11 speed cassette when one didn’t exist would be kinda silly.

Antoine

9 years ago

will be perfect to convert my road bikes to signle chainring ! Yay !

9 years ago

well they say it works on short cage derailleurs so any 11 speed derailleur should work.. horizon cx1 or regular road.

would like 11-36 on wifli too, tho.

Matt

9 years ago

Hmm, I wonder if this will work with a medium cage shimano 11s rear mech? That would be a great adventure bike setup with ‘cross rings.

9 years ago

In Cliff Clavin’s voice… “It’s a little known fact that rear derailleur actuation from SRAM’s Road Groups hasn’t changed between 10spd and 11spd.” In fact, I’m currently running a Rival 10spd RD with my Force 11spd shifters – and it’s PERFECT. Not just okay, but perfectly the same actuation ratio.

Since 10spd SRAM is the same across road or mtb, that means that you can use a 10spd SRAM mtb RD with an 11spd shifter – so that’s where you find the cheapest, full-range cyclocross/gravel-grinder options (like Rival shifter with X.9 or even X.7 Type II RD).

SRAM 11spd MTB is apparently a different actuation ratio though, so wouldn’t work with their 11spd road shifters for a similar CX set-up.

Velo

9 years ago

js: So that would mean that 10-speed SRAM Via (GT and Centro) rear derailleurs would also work. They support 36-teeth, are light, and have a built-in barrel adjusters.

> well they say it works on short cage derailleurs so any 11 speed derailleur should work..

a: I think you are confused.

Bazz

9 years ago

I want a 10-34 for the road (11 speed) I reckon 10-34 at the back and a 48 Narrow-Wide front ring, clutch rear derailleur and I could road race 1 x 11 just fine.

koen

9 years ago

Would a X1/X01 or XX1 derailleur fit with this 11-36 cassette? For use on the mountainbike in the winter in less hilly terrain this would be perfect!

Antoine

9 years ago

Hey bazz no need for a 10-34. You’ll have about the same ratio and spread with a bigger ring and a 11-36 with benefits:
-10tooth require an expensive xd driver and wheel
-10 tooth (and 11) are bad for transmission efficiency quickly going from 97% to 94 at 11 90 at 10.

So here is your road 1x cassette, don’t wait for a crappy 10-34.

9 years ago

Why not 11-42? Which brings the next question… What is the max cog/capacity for the cx1 mid cage dérailleur? Using an x/o/X1 cassette on a cross or road bike is more interesting than this!

enzo

9 years ago

cx1 mid rd can handle 32 before this 36 came out. ebay sellers claim cx1 rd could handle 36 now. planning to do xx1 mid cage rd with this cassette with a flat bar road. can do?

Walter

9 years ago

Does xo1 or xx1 shifter compatible with cx1 force rear derailleaur, I plan on buying a cyclocross bike with sram force cx1, and planning on converting it to a flat bar, thanks