SRAM's Apex road gruppo launch - Mallorca, Spain, February 17, 2010

[cloakster]

It's a nice group and should give Tiagra a run for its money, but... NO cassettes at all starting with a 12t cog? And an 11-32 cassette that has jumps in it that are just too big for serious road riders.

And no matter what SRAM's brochures say, I don't think the combination of a compact double plus a mountain-bike cassette is going to kill off the road triple anytime soon.

Maybe with 11-speed, this could work... you could then go 11-32 with reasonable jumps between gears. But as is, no dice.

[Crich775]

@cloakster You have to think back though to what the first reason for it was, and that is to hit a hill stage with 24-25% grade, then have the power to come down the other side.

[pcfxer]

@Crich775 Which is why I have a compact 50/34 and 11-23 Rival chainring and cogset.

Gives me the freedom to spin like mad or lay down some watts and book it into the 50s (km/hr). Haven't hit 60 yet though...soon.

[cloakster]

@Crich775 You know as well as I do that on a steep downhill, a deep aero tuck with NO pedaling is faster than pedaling in ANY gear.

Watch the Tour de France pros in action... they descend at 100+kph (62mph) like that. You spin out a 53x11 long before you hit that kind of speed.

In short, 11t cog = not always necessary, and 11-32 10spd = BIG jumps between cogs. Nice try marketing-wise, but not the most useful setup.

[Crich775]

@cloakster well yes but at the same time very steep rolling hills it could be useful.