It’s ‘cross month on RCUK so we couldn’t let this pass.
At 300 EUROs, SRAM’s X-Glide 1090 cyclo-cross cassette is likely to attract only die-hard ‘crossers.
US champion, Katherine Compton (Trek), who won yesterday’s second round of the UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup, could be classed as such.
“I love it, not only because its light, but the gear ratios are better,” she gushed. “The jump from one cog to the next is smaller so I never feel like I‘m in too big or too small of a gear. Plus, the open design will be perfect for Belgian mud.”
There was certainly plenty of mud on the course at Plzen yesterday, but it did little to slow Compton. Was it due to her X-Glide cassette?
The 12-27 cassette has “hundreds of open port for improved mud clearing capabilities,” according to SRAM.
It is based on the Powerdome X road cassette, but has additional milling and an open backing plate to allow mud, water, and other miscellaneous nastiness to pass through.
SRAM claim the smallest 12-tooth sprocket was requested by its professional ‘cross riders, US men’s champion, Jeremy Powers (Rapha-FOCUS), among them.
The 10-speed cassette weighs a claimed 159 grams and comes in a 12-27 configuration of 12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21-24-27 sprockets.
SRAM say it offers compatibility with all of its road groupsets: RED, Force, Rival, and Apex. It’s due for release in December.
