Sram is scaffolding the downhill bike

Sram's engineers have already taken up the cause of less is more with the 11-speed drivetrain for cross-country to enduro bikes. Sram is now transferring this concept to the gravity bike.

Sram has already caused a sensation with its single-chainring concept, and now the Chicago-based parts company is taking it to the next level. The X01 DH is a groupset that is specifically tailored to the needs of gravity bikers:

A familiar core component
At the heart of the new groupset - or rather the two groupsets, as there is a version with 7 and 10 gears - is an X-Horizon rear derailleur. This derailleur is based on the XX1 counterpart and has a parallelogram structure so that the cage and thus the chain cannot hit downwards, or at least to a much lesser extent; all shifting movements take place exclusively in a horizontal plane. This feature is supported by a strong return spring on the derailleur arm to keep the chain in check. The rear derailleur is available in short and medium versions; the length is determined by how much elongation is applied to the chain when the rear triangle is compressed.

Familiar crank
Sram is not reinventing itself with the crank either, which is made of carbon and is almost identical to the X0 crank. The difference is the mount for the chainring and the chainring itself. This chainring (available in sizes 30, 22, 34, 36 or 38 teeth) follows the narrow-width shape developed in Schweinfurt, which should make the chain very resistant to dropping. The new groupset should also be able to cope with rough riding without an upper chain guide.

Reduced cassette
Sram delivers another important component for the DH groupset with the cassette: Sram calls the brand new sprocket set Mini Block, which is explicitly designed for downhill use with 7 gears and comes in the gradation 10-12-14-1-18-21-24. In order to get the small 10th sprocket onto the hub body, Sram is sending its own freewheel body into the race - the so-called XD Driver Body. The largest sprocket is finished off with a ring to prevent the chain from jumping off in the direction of the spokes. For the 10-speed version, the cassette gradations are 11-23, 11-25 and 11-26.

The groupset is completed by a separate chain for the 7-speed groupset, plus of course thumb shifters such as twist shifters with 7 and 10 gears.