SPOILT WITH CHOICE AND SPOILT WITH DATA: I TAKE A DIVE INTO WHAT GEARS I ACTUALLY USE FOR GRAVEL RIDING

Words and Images: James Raison

SRAM’s new Force eTap AXS Wide absolutely spoils you with gearing choice. It blew my mind when I first started using it because I was used to 11 gears on my Bossi with Shimano GRX Di2, and SRAM Apex on the Grove 1.0 build. Suddenly I had 24 cogs and a huge gear range.

Not only that, but I was also able to track exactly what gears I used and for how long. So it got me thinking, what are my most used gears, and what does this mean for riding and owning SRAM Force eTap? Also, what does that mean for the gravel gearing market generally? Buckle up, because we’re about to get nerdy!

SRAM AXS WEB APP

This whole thing is possible because the groupset can broadcast gear information to your head unit via Bluetooth. Shimano’s Di2 can do this too but needs added D-fly hardware. SRAM does it by default which is better! This means you can add in data screens to watch exactly what gear you’re in. Once you’re done the SRAMA AXS web app can consume your fit files and crunch the data to present it back to you.

So after a few weeks of testing, what gears do I actually use?

Behold! A chart for rear cog usage based on thousands of shifts and weeks of riding. Just a quick note that my gravel riding is always biased towards hills because climbing is the best thing ever. Nonetheless, there’s a very clean bell curve emerging here that shows I spend the vast majority of my ride time in the mid-cassette. And just for fun let’s see the split between the 43 and 30t chainrings (chart below) and it’s remarkably close to a 50:50 split.

So we have the data and it makes me happy to see these numbers, and here’s why.

WEAR AND TEAR

A nice spread of gear usage means good things for longevity which is great because this is an expensive drivetrain. 12 rear cogs and 2 chainrings do an excellent job of spreading the wear out far and wide.

I’ve been chewing through cassettes and chains on both my 1x11 speed drivetrains even taking care to clean and lube them often. Obviously gravel is dirty and stuff is going to wear out quickly but I had a mechanic inspect a couple of my cassettes and the smallest and biggest cogs wear out the worst. It’s because I spend a lot of time on those cogs because of how narrow the 1x11 range is.

Take my GRX as an example which I ran with 40t chainring and 11-42 cassette. The 40x11 gives me a ratio of one chainring turn to 3.64 (1 3.64) turns of the 11 tooth cog. The Force WIDE equivalent is roughly the 43x12 but you then get the 11 and 10. At the climbing end, it’s 1 chainring turn to 0.95 turns of the 42, where the SRAM has the 30x32 roughly matching (1:0.94) and the 30x36 far exceeding (1:0.83). That shows how much you can spread the load around.

The next issue with 1x is extreme chain-line. That lateral force when you’re at the extreme ends of the cassette will further stress a 1x drivetrain. A 2x alleviates it.

With this in mind, I think there’s going to be some changes to how people ride gravel in the coming years, starting with a not so bold prediction…

THE DEMISE OF THE 1X11

I think 1x11 will rapidly lose market share. The SRAM 1x ecosystem did an admirable job of helping to establish wide-range and affordable gravel groupsets but the up-sides are less clear in 2020. There’s the simplicity of a 1x11 great tyre clearance but those are less important to me than the ride experience.

Let’s go back to the ratios I talked about earlier and use Shimano GRX 2x as an example. Giving yourself the maximum Shimano-approved gear range of 48/31 chainrings and 11-34 cassette has a maximum ratio of 1:4.3 to 1:0.91. Compare that to the maximum Shimano approved drivetrain, you get 1:3.64 to 1 0.95. There’s a significantly better range from the 2x. Plus, it’s Shimano! Front shifting on Shimano is just excellent and I’d have no problem doing long adventure rides with GRX mechanical 2x.

THE MIGHTY SRAM GEAR RANGE

Let’s loop back to the Force eTap WIDE. I’ve absolutely loved the gear range. It’s wide for a start, but it’s also closely spaced. Look at this gear progression. It’s brilliant. A killer feature.

My full SRAM groupset review won’t be too far away but I already know I’ll sing the praises of the gear range loudly. I’ve climbed the things that previously I could only do on a mountain bike and I have almost never spun out the gearing when going quickly. The 43x10 will get you to 55 kph without too much spinning and the 30x36 has got me down to roughly 7 kph on some grotesque gradients where I can stay seated and hold traction.

The generous gear range has been a substantial, and positive change to my ride experience.

SO, WHAT DO YOU USE?

The simple answer is that you’ll use the gears you have.

I have sensed ample skepticism about the ever-expanding gear ranges with people questioning what you need but my data shows I use everything.

It’s interesting that I use the faster gears so little. I’d say that’s generally reflective of slower speeds with gravel riding but also my attitude that above 50 kph I’m happy to let gravity do most of the work. Plus, the fastest gravel riders I know are quick because of bike handling, not because of their gear range. The climbing gears and close ratios of the SRAM drivetrain do improve the ride experience significantly. You can spin much more comfortably and always find the gear you want. Thankyou SRAM for giving me the ability to geek out about this stuff and that is where I’ll leave it.

One of my guiding principles on all bike choices is to buy yourself options. Gravel groupsets are giving a significant range of cassettes and now two chainrings to match them with. I’m actively steering people towards the 2x and I’m stoked that the groupset market has grown to give us viable options.