SRAM Force AXS Wide 2x Crankset 28t

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Jdadour
Posts: 18
Joined: Sat Jun 26, 2021 5:51 pm

by Jdadour

On my gravel bike I just installed a Force AXS Wide 2x Crankset with 43t/30t chainrings 94mm bcd. Running a 10-36t cassette because for a lot of the dirt climbing I do here in SoCal, need that big 36t cog for climbing which is a .83 gear ratio. Would love to run the 10-33t cassette instead because of the slightly tighter jumps between gears, but that bumps my largest cog gear ratio to .90. If i could swap the 30t chainring to 28t, that would achieve a .84 ratio for the largest cog and be better for the climbing I do. I know its subtle, but the tighter jumps of the 10-33t would be nice. Two questions:

- Are there any 28t chainrings out that would fit on this crankset and a 94mm bcd?
- And if they did, would it work with the way the SRAM front derailleur is designed? Or are we strictly limited to a 13 tooth jump between chainrings?

With some SRAM derailleurs you can adjust them slightly out of range. Ive done this successfully with Force Rear Derailleur long cage with a 9-46t cassette (only designed to fit max 42t).

Seems like 2x has a lot of gears that overlap between the 43t and 30t chainring, and should have bigger range between the too. Coming from 1x this overlap doesnt make sense. If the whole point of having 2 chainrings is to have more range, there should be more unique gears.

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OnTheRivet
Posts: 732
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2010 9:41 pm

by OnTheRivet

SRAM AXS front shifting is already a struggle to get dialed, I'd be extremely hesitant to make the jump from small to big up front any bigger. Unless I'm riding on the road in a group I don't really notice the gaps on my 1x 10-48 Garbaruk cassette.

Marin
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:48 am
Location: Vienna Austria

by Marin

Don't change anything and live with the gaps. It's 12 speeds ffs

Some people ride 9-46 1x11 and don't complain ;)

Jdadour
Posts: 18
Joined: Sat Jun 26, 2021 5:51 pm

by Jdadour

Sure, 1x is good. Im new to cycling/gravel (came from the MTB world) and I ran a 1x 11 speed 9-46 for a year and it worked well. And I'm sure a 1x 12 speed is better than 11 speed. But then I rode my buddies 2x, and in my opinion, the difference was night and day. I liked it way better.

So that aside, I've moved on to 2x for now. The endless 1x vs 2x debate is probably a topic for another thread.

I realize my idea stated in my initial post probably isn't attainable, but ive done extensive searches and didnt see anyone else talking about swapping chainrings on SRAM 2x, so thought I would investigate on my own with this post before giving up on the idea.

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pdlpsher1
Posts: 4016
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 6:09 pm
Location: CO

by pdlpsher1

Since this is a gravel bike I'd also look into 650B wheels. The smalle wheel diameter gives you lower gearing. I went from 700C with 40mm tires to 650B also with 40mm tires, and the benefits of 650B blew me away. My bike handles like a dream, nimble, playful, and responsive. The smaller wheels lowers the bike's trail, which makes steering more responsive. My bike's stock trail with 700C wheels is too high for my liking. When riding on asphalt I can hold a higher speed due to the superior aerodynamics of smaller wheels. The lower gearing is quite noticeable I'm running Shimano GRX 48/31 crank with a 11-34 cassette. I haven't done the calculation on wheel size's effect on gearing but I imagine it's one full rear gear if not more.

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