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TPE17: Relic gives you 52-tooth mountain bike cassette, 40-tooth road cog!

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If you think wide range cassette adapters are just for mountain bikes, think again. Relic MTB showed off this 40-tooth cog that slips onto the back of a Shimano 10 or 11 speed cassette. It comes with an 16-tooth intermediate cog to replace the 15 and 17 usually found in the lower third of the cassette. But if you think that’s big…

This demo unit shifted from the stock cassette to the oversized one surprisingly smoothly, and it works because they’ve knocked off the Goat Link, which gives the chain the necessary space between the derailleur’s upper pulley and the cog…and allows for enough chain wrap.

It works with 10-speed cassettes with a 28t big cog, and 11-speed cassettes with up to a 32-tooth cog. Weight for all three parts is ~92g.

Just in case SRAM Eagle’s 50-tooth isn’t enough, there’s this 52-tooth cog. Like the Road 40T, it slips onto the back of a Shimano cassette and comes with a 16t intermediate cog and a spacer to go between the largest stock cog and the oversized piece.

System weight is 146g for all three parts with the 52-tooth cog, and there’s a 50-tooth cog kit that’s 2g less. Pricing wasn’t set, and the parts are promoted on their homepage but aren’t yet listed in the product section.

RelicMTB.com

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51 Comments
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BMX
BMX
7 years ago

There is also a triple front option that doesn’t require you to re-route your gear cable with electrical tape.

'straya
'straya
7 years ago
Reply to  BMX

Yeah… but the triple option requires a down tube….

blah blah blah
blah blah blah
7 years ago
Reply to  'straya

good one!

Dave
Dave
7 years ago
Reply to  BMX

It’s not an either/or, I plan to run both.

Marc L
7 years ago

While we’re all in favor of innovation, it’s disappointing to see companies so blatantly copy our patent-pending Wolf Tooth RoadLink, right down to the chamfers that I agonized over for far longer than I’d like to admit.

Get the real thing at your local shop or http://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/products/roadlink

Kernel Flickitov
Kernel Flickitov
7 years ago
Reply to  Marc L

Expecting originality from Asia is a lost cause. You should know that.

jjj
jjj
6 years ago

Originality in the mtb market as a whole.

Derek
Derek
7 years ago
Reply to  Marc L

Oh, the irony. Didn’t Wolf Tooth get their start knocking off XSync rings?

anthonycree
anthonycree
7 years ago
Reply to  Derek

Perhaps, but the Roadlink was a Lindarets product before it was a Wolf Tooth product.

Bog
Bog
7 years ago
Reply to  anthonycree

Lindarets and Wolftooth are in partnership on this.

Duster13
Duster13
6 years ago
Reply to  anthonycree

a knock off from a partner of theirs. And “patent pending” means they don’t yet have a patent on it, hence the word “pending.” LOL

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
7 years ago
Reply to  Marc L

You’re the first to market this in mass. I know people that basically made their own 10 years before you did.
***I love my wolftooth stuff but the goatlink isn’t innovative. Its a very very simple concept. You just made it accessible for people that don’t have the ability to make things on their own.

boo
boo
7 years ago
Reply to  Veganpotter

prior art is a bitch

Duster13
Duster13
6 years ago
Reply to  Veganpotter

spot on veganpotter

jjj
jjj
6 years ago
Reply to  Marc L

Dont think spank would be too happy with that stem I saw either.

Threeringcircus
Threeringcircus
7 years ago

If you must have a 40T(!?!) cog on your road bike, why not just use an 11-40 cassette?

nunya
nunya
7 years ago

Because there is no such thing as an 11spd 11-40 cassette with road spacing.

dockboy
dockboy
7 years ago
Reply to  nunya

Spacing is functionally consistent across all 11 speed systems. What changes is cable pull.

Threeringcircus
Threeringcircus
7 years ago
Reply to  nunya

11 spd is 11 spd as far as the cassette is concerned. No difference between road and MTB spacing.

TheKaiser
7 years ago

nunya is kind of right, in that while the spacing is the same between cogs on 11spd road and MTB cassettes, the cassette body width is not the same. 11spd road had to go to a slightly wider cassette body, since the largest cog does not cantilever out over the spokes, as it does on a MTB. Having said that, MTB 11spd is the narrower of the 2, and could be used on a road cassette body with a spacer behind it, so there is compatibility in that direction, just not the other way around, so ThreeRingCircus was correct that a MTB 11-40 could be used.

Alan
Alan
5 years ago
Reply to  TheKaiser

Great post. Why does the largest cog on a mtb cassette cantilever over the spokes while the road cassette doesn’t?

dl
dl
7 years ago

Exactly, on my commuter bike I’m running 1x with the XT 11-46 cassette using a Rival 1x RD. Everything works like a charm.

Duster13
Duster13
6 years ago
Reply to  nunya

huh??? You can run an 11-40 using shimano di2 road shifters with xtr di2 front and rear derailleur and an str 11-40 cassette. Same thing with Sram mechanical road shifters.

King County
King County
7 years ago

I agree with ‘BMX”, that there is always a triple, but for the guy that has a dedicated double group / no triple option, this is for him. I am not that guy, but someone is out there that is loaded up for touring, has his kid on a baby seat, dog in a trailer, …bbq,sink, etc, etc..

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
7 years ago
Reply to  King County

There are also frames that don’t even permit doubles at all.

the biz
the biz
7 years ago
Reply to  King County

no way I am taking that hacky thing out to the middle of nowhere on a touring bike

Gabriel
Gabriel
7 years ago

april fools already?

Andrew
Andrew
7 years ago
Reply to  Gabriel

Beat me to it.

Mr. P
7 years ago

Otherwise known as the “I quit!” gear.

Instructions:
As suffering increases on steep climb and the donuts catch up with you
– shift into the “I quit!” gear
– ride to side of road
– throw bike off cliff

whatever
whatever
7 years ago
Reply to  Mr. P

Yeaaaaa, a bike snob. I bet you haven’t won a Tour de France or Giro Italia, therefore you are not worthy. See how easy it is to pass judgement.

Not everyone is 20-25 and 140 pounds that ride 5 days a week. Plus many people don’t have the genetics. Frankly, I have better things to do than to be consumed by one activity, or be defined in any way by that activity.

Beyond all that, a company wants me to give them my money, then said company needs to give me something I want. And if that means a very low gear, then guess what…….

Rider X
Rider X
7 years ago
Reply to  whatever

I was surfing BR and MR P was like,
Real cyclists climb hills in 42 small chain ring and straight block cassette
And I’m, like, “yeah, whatever!”

Cause this is my
United States of Whatever!

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
7 years ago
Reply to  Rider X

Who only rides 5 days a week?

keville
keville
6 years ago
Reply to  Rider X

Then I’m hanging by the bike rack,
Officer Leroy comes up and he’s, like,
“Hey, I thought I told you to run a double…”
And I’m, like, “yeah, whatever!”

boo
boo
7 years ago
Reply to  whatever

on 32×34 ive a hard time finding stuff i cant climb without reserve and i climb steep stuff. i basically go 32 for mtb style steep loose stuff on my cx. im 20% bodyfat male.. i could not use 40×34 i dont think.

tldr try 32×34 first

Duster13
Duster13
6 years ago
Reply to  Mr. P

Yeah, I love all the clowns that think they can ride up anything with an 11-27 and then when they get to any type of inclination that “spin” their crank at about 30 rpm’s like you. hahaha

colin m
colin m
7 years ago

Get this garbage out of here

Ryan S.
Ryan S.
7 years ago

The great-granny gear.

Flatbiller
Flatbiller
7 years ago

And we’re giving those “cheating” pedal assist cyclists a hard time?

Seraph
Seraph
7 years ago

Uh, Shimano MegaRange anybody?

Dude
Dude
7 years ago

Make a 34, (35?), or 36 to fit my existing 11-32 gravel bike setup and I’d consider it… 40 is maybe a jump too far. At least for me. If I’m gonna need a 40 in the back, I’m taking the MTB out.

Rod Diaz
Rod Diaz
7 years ago
Reply to  Dude

Dude – I am running an 11-36 SRAM cassette on an 11 speed Shimano hydraulic brake system. Front is 46-36.

No issues, I didn’t even need to reverse the B-screw to clear the larger cog. I know this exceeds both the Shimano deraileur specs and the notification on SRAM that such a derailleur is only for their 1X system. I use a KMC chain now, but it worked with the old Ultegra one as well. Give it a try, maybe?

Dude
Dude
7 years ago
Reply to  Rod Diaz

Oh snap, will do

fred
fred
7 years ago

working on my prototype 29er rim with integrated 210t cog. 1x, 2x, and 3x compatible for your various drivetrain setups. possible 27.5 version in the works.

mr. serious
mr. serious
7 years ago
Reply to  fred

cog teeth mounted to the rear rim? if you have a boost compatible version in the works, I’ll sign up on Kickstarter!!

boo
boo
7 years ago
Reply to  fred

Carbon drive? gearboxed?

Ed Ng
Ed Ng
7 years ago

No need for this nonsense if you’re running SRAM on your road bike–a GX 2×10 long cage has the take-up to run a 50/34 compact double with as wide range as 11-42 just fine and you don’t even need to faff with a RoadLink. The GX 2×10 long cage will even work on an 11-speed cassette/2×11 bike because the 11-speed shifter will ensure it moves the right amount between cogs out back as all of the SRAM Exact Actuation stuff is cross-compatible (hence why the SRAM 11-speed MTB stuff, which is X-Actuation, DOESN’T jive with the rest). I’ve run a SunRace 11-40 cassette with 50/34 rings on a road bike exactly this way in the past by using the GX 2×10 long cage RD. I decided to ditch the double entirely with my new bike and run Rival 1 Long Cage with CS-M8000 11-46 cassette and a narrow-wide direct mount 44T oval and I get all the range I ever needed (I don’t tend to spin as hard as possible down descents, so it’s not like I am missing the 50×11).

mtb4me
mtb4me
7 years ago

new, from the why dept…

Skip
Skip
6 years ago

This is way more fun than watching politics on the evening news…..

iperov
iperov
6 years ago

no thx.
3×1 enough for trail, less weight on wheel, less maintenance, more relax and pleasure riding

Hugh
6 years ago

I’m going to put this on the old gravel grinder. There are a couple of tree stumps in the garden I want to pull out.

Peter Nagy
6 years ago

And people are complaining about ebikes… 🙂

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