RANGE FINDERS

WHEN SRAM’S EAGLE SYSTEM CAME OUT A COUPLE YEARS AGO, IT WAS THE FIRST time a drivetrain with a single chainring could boast as much range as popular multi-ring setups, effectively putting the last nail in the front derailleur’s coffin. To do it, SRAM decided to add a gear, making all Eagle groups a 12-speed affair. Sure, they could probably have done it with 11 gears, but then they’d be selling people one new part instead of five new parts. Adding a gear was a good business move.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of Eagle—I’ve given my last few ground-up builds the bird. The stuff works well, and it’s now more affordable than ever, but what if you already have an 11-speed bike that you want to get more range out of?

In the following pages, you’ll read about two of our preferred ways to get more range out of your 11-speed system. E*thirteen’s TRS cassette mounts to a SRAM XD driver body