668% gear range! GRX 12s Di2 Mullet

[@tonybrown3453]

This works for the GRX mechanical groupset !! I have the 610 crankset with 46 / 30 chainrings and 820 derailleurs. The chain has adequate tension with crossover of small (30t) chainring and small cog (10t). And with big, big crossover the rear derailleur cage can still swing forward. Just had a good test ride, it worked perfectly. We have some steep awesome roads here. Thank you Emilio for leading us out on this essential modification.

[@One_mole_worth]

Is that with the road link?

[@tonybrown3453]

@@One_mole_worth Yes, follow the “recipe” above, though you can skip the 31 tooth chainring (30 tooth will work with the mechanical grx groupset).

[@jasonrodwell5316]

Omg I've been waiting for someone to try this. I'm converting a hybrid to a drop bar gravel. I'm using a 10-45 12 speed with grx and currently xt 2x 12 speed derailluer. I'm wanting 12 speed grx di2 (as opposed to the mechanical maybe with one of the 1x derailluers) but didn't know if the derailluer would work. Now I do! Thank you!

[@ohmps01]

Thank good someone has tested this! Now I know what I will do if I find the money to upgrade my 2by11 48/31 by 11-42

[@patrikstutz7592]

I'm currently on a 11-42 + 31/46 Setup with the "old" GRX Di2. Very cool to see that somethin similar is still possible on the new one :) Couldn't imagine cycling with a lower range. What also would be really cool is if classified had a 50 tooth cassette, that'd probably be even nicer

[@veganpotterthevegan]

IF Classified stays in business and makes a cheaper hub for the masses, there will definitely be 3rd party cassettes coming. Not sure what the ratios will be but reliability may be the limiting factor for big cogs. Similar to Rohloff only offering warranties if you don't go way too low in gearing

[@patrikstutz7592]

@@veganpotterthevegan Well, I really hope they stay in business or get aquired by SRAM or Shimano, so that they can integrate the hub in their elecronic shifting ecosystem. DI2 compatibility, bigger cassettes, and moving the hub from the wheel into the bottom bracket (so that standard wheels can be used) would be a dream come true

[@veganpotterthevegan]

@patrikstutz7592 a dream for you. It really is just too expensive to add weight to a bike though. Not a lot of people wanna spend a premium for something that weighs more

[@veganpotterthevegan]

@patrikstutz7592 I'm much more looking forward to the inevitable 14sp cassette. A 50t chainring and 14sp 10-48 would be hard to beat for everyday riding. And it could have ratio changes similar to a 12sp 10-33 with an extra 40t then 48 with easy, cheap wheelswaps. The Classified hub is great. I would have definitely loved it when we had 10sp cassettes. But it gets less appealing as we add cogs.

[@patrikstutz7592]

@@veganpotterthevegan The problem is, adding more sprockets doesn't add more range, just nicer jumps between the gears. For heavier riders, that like to climb, but also like going fast, range is key. If it's still lighter, and cheaper than a pinion (the clear winner when it comes to range), it definitely has a reason to exist.

[@jeanluc397]

I got this goofy obsession with 20-30% gravel climbs so I've been experimenting. Of my two flagship Mullet setups my Super hill Climb bike I have a 17-110 gear range with a sugina super hill climb double 27T-46T and on back 11-42t 11 speed. I've been able to survive barely 20% long climbs but still have the 46t x 11 if ever needed . I think I have the road links on both my setups to ensure great shifting and they both been working great. great detailed video. Didn't know there were other weirdo's out there messing with these non standard setups. 1x NEVER !!!

[@macsdiving]

Love your passion....you can climb trees on that!

[@swray2112]

This was so interesting. I'm currently 11 speed GRX 810 2x with an 11-34 Ultegra cassette with 105 cranks with 33/46 Specialites TA chainrings. I tried GRX cranks but didn't like the wider Q-factor and my 700C x 44 Snoqualmie Pass tires clear just fine (so does my 42mm winter knobbies). I just bought two XT 11-40 cassettes since I'm headed to the mountains, so thanks for giving me the confidence to give it a go! The front I wasn't worried about, as I friction shift it, but was worried about the rear. You should see if Specialites TA makes an outter 45T, as you can tell by my 33T inner, that they make some unusual toothed chainrings. Great video!

[@emilioc700]

Shimano also makes an 11-42 XT 11s cassette

[@aneczka2114]

i run Sram 1x....I love tinkering with gears...cool bike

[@FantaconeBoxWorksCBG]

Great insight. Good luck at tuscher

[@totalcollapse8401]

sweeeet ive been waiting for this

[@thecleaner81]

Specialites makes a 44t chainring for the grx 2x crank.

[@emilioc700]

Yup. Ordered the 44/30 TA rings last week. I plan on making a short update video when I get them on.

[@Jonathan-vf6cu]

Great vid, like many I’m running the 11-40 11 speed cassette and wondering what future 12 speed options are out there. One question, does that cassette need the microspline freehub body? Or does It fit on standard shimano HG freehub body? Cheers

[@emilioc700]

microspline required for anything with a 10t cog. Easy tool-free swap on a DT 240 hub. Most modern hubs have the option.

[@GasmanA]

I did a mechanical Specialities 46/28 crank with a 11-46 cassette and could climb a wall and cross chain silently

[@emilioc700]

I toyed with the idea of wider range front and 11-36 rear. But it didn't have a low enough gear. Good solution though. No 11-46 12s that I know of but there are 11s

[@GasmanA]

@@emilioc700 sorry I should have clarified, yes it was an 11 speed…it was amazing….i love fooling w gearing, I now have a giant anyroad w a 50/39/24 triple ( I love doubles) w 11-38 cassette….not as low as the other set up but much wider….the first was 16.8-114.8 gear inches…the triple is 18-127…..im shooting to for 15-120 gear inches as my ideal gravel range

[@emilioc700]

@@GasmanA 15-120 is ambitious but definitely doable. I just swapped some TA 44/30 rings and am now at 18.8-124 and its perfect. I think I'll do an update video

[@willyturing1803]

Very nice, i am intending to try out a 12 speed 1x road setup, the front would be 50t, the rear would be 10/45 cog cassette with either 12 speed grx rear derailleur or the 12s 105 di2 rear derailleur, do you think it will work?

[@emilioc700]

I am actually thinking of trying a 50Tx10-51 for Copperopolis road race. I'd use a 1x chainring with a chainguide. Long steep descent with broken pavement, called NorCal's Paris Roubaix. I dropped my chain a few times this year, just like everyone else. Gives me about a 1:1 low which is perfect for the 14% section where I launched the winning attack. But still has a taller 136 gear inch on top for the descent. I think a 10-45 might work with a road RD which only requires a 35T capacity to make it work.

[@willyturing1803]

@@emilioc700 Great, I think i will swap the 10t to a 11t though, 50-10 is a little bit too big for me😅. Yeah about the chain drop, I am running 11-36 on the rear with 9270RD and 50t on the front with one road bike for daily drive without chainguide, always worried about the chaindrop when riding at 50-36 gear.

[@emilioc700]

@@willyturing1803 1x specific thick-thin ring helps chain retention

[@willyturing1803]

@@emilioc700 On the same token, since there is no 10t cog on shimano road, do you think we could swap out the 11t on the road with a 10t from MTB then using 48t on the front? What might be the downsides of this?

[@emilioc700]

@@willyturing1803 10t requires a microspline freehub. www.gear-calculator.com/

[@andreasolsson2336]

DA 9250 12sp, rotor aldhu carbon + rotor DM 46-30 + rotor road axle, XTR 10-45 12sp micro spline, wolf tooth RL, DT exp freehub body for the microspline, original XTR/DA 12sp chain, CS OSPW rs, di2 full syncro, block out bad combos. Works! =)

[@emilioc700]

Nice. Meter?

[@andreasolsson2336]

@@emilioc700 PM? favero assioma duo with spd hack

[@OYeahan]

So it should work with mechanical 2x12 Grx? I do have a 10-51 SLX cassette on my MTB so theoretically I could check if it works with those 11 gears hmmm.

[@emilioc700]

Might be worth a try. My guess is the mech and Di2 RD's are the same geometry. The 1x RD is a tad shorter than the 2x RD though. 10-51 is a bigger jump than my 10-45 and the standard chainrings also a bigger jump. So your combo is more likely to have capacity issues.

[@OYeahan]

@@emilioc700 well I have 2x RD. With 10-51 I just meant to test out the 11 smaller cogs before committing to buying a 10-45 cassette and a Microspline freehub body dedicated to this wheel. But yeah, 46 to 48 is just 1 half-chainlink more on the chainwheel, but still matters. More of an issue is lack of crosschain limits. Is the roadlink necessary in your setup, or does it still work without it but worse?

[@emilioc700]

@@OYeahan Road link is necessary. I tried without it. Really tried a bunch of different combinations of chain length and adjustments before I found something that worked smoothly like OEM. Smart to test on 10-51 before investing in the 10-45. Mech allows full cross chain so it requires some caution from rider. Di2 locks out the 10-12 cogs so only 14t is possible.

[@OYeahan]

@@emilioc700 thanks. Maybe I'll manage to try with the Microspline freehub body from my MTB DT350 clone (but AFAIU I'll need to add some spacer if possible, as on the road 350 hub there is a little bit of extra space that those road 11/12spd freehub bodies use)

[@gc641]

Awesome

[@ZenEndurance]

I saw a bike with a double front chainring AND a Classified rear hub.

[@emilioc700]

Now that would be some range! When Classified releases something like a 10-42 or maybe 11-44, I would consider switching. Until then, their cassettes don't have enough range.

[@ZenEndurance]

@@emilioc700 Yeah, I think it was on a GCN video at the Euro bike show last week. It was on a stand and they couldn't play with it. Just stood out as a big oddity. For the person that wants the most range ever. I'm still running Rival mechanical 11 speed on my gravel bike and will upgrade to 12 speed or double chainring the second I have the money to do so. The jumps in gears is too big to be ideal for quality training or racing. Very much amateur grade, but it gets the job done. I already have two other billion-dollar bikes (Tri and Road), so I know the difference. But then I also don't have any more money at the moment because I spent it all already on other bikes. lol.

[@loicbrunich]

Very little, I have 1015%, 48-32-22 in front and 11-51 behind.

[@emilioc700]

Every combination works without the chain sagging?

[@loicbrunich]

@@emilioc700 No, even the long XT8000 foot is not enough, 48t in front and small nine gears 11-39t, 45t and 51t lack a chain, 32t in front and all 11-51 t, 22t in front and nine large gears 15-51t, on 11t and 13t the chain sags a little.

[@franzs1]

the sram 11-44 is (at least oficially) just for their D1 flattop chains because they have bigger rollers

[@emilioc700]

Ah didn't know that. Explains the poor shifting with Shimano 12s chain.

[@Peregrino.51]

@@emilioc700 i'll buy it off ya if you're selling :)

[@borismue]

I run 40-30-22 and 11-51. Rear Derailleur and gears are from Garbaruck. Of course, you can not run 22-11. But who is doing that. Otherwise you can climb up walls with 80 heartbeats. Only one chainring? Why? It is from bike Industrie. Less parts on bike for higher price.

[@ΑΣΔΦΓΗΞΚΛ]

Well done 👍 I run 3* 42-32-22 and 11-34 8 speed cassette and 175mm cranks for 700c I have a lower bottom gear than you, a softer top gear, but No messing with odd gear hangers, easy shifting all over, and the whole lot cassette, cranks, rings and chain cost me £80 - the derailleur came with the bike 😛

[@emilioc700]

I considered an old 42/32 MTB crank set up but they are mostly 9s ands not compatible with 12s chain. The cranks are also heavy and I wanted something lighter and more modern. But yes, on a budget, one can just fit old MTB gears to their gravel bike for lower gears and good range. I'm still looking for an aluminum 30mm spindle carbon crank for GRX rings with meter, but nothing exists yet.

[@ΑΣΔΦΓΗΞΚΛ]

@@emilioc700 haha. Nope I'm a cheapskate my chains cost £6.50, cassette £20, if I move even to 9 speed that instantly doubles. I use rim brakes, the frame is a 2017 alloy Dawes hybrid, it's a square taper bottom bracket You can call it heavy but I'm over 90kg I forget what the bike is, maybe 17? Let's say 20kg to make the numbers easy, so me plus bike ~110kg (not including load which is big paniers plus backpack) Say I spend five times more on carbon everywhere and save 10kg, that's not even a 10% weight saving, closer to 5% loaded - it's a marginal gain for huge expense Not at all personal against you, don't take it that way, but I just don't buy what the component manufacturers have done for the last decade or two, it's a con, a marketing exercise to sell the latest thing, ever more expensively and always more often - ALL of the new stuff is designed to wear out in no time How are your tyre pressures? Get them up to maximum inflation if they aren't there already - that's not marginal 👍

[@emilioc700]

@@ΑΣΔΦΓΗΞΚΛ I have new stuff and ride 10-13k miles a a year and it doesn't "wear out". Crazy high tire pressures being faster is a myth. Look at the data :). You're touring/bikepacking. I'm racing. Different needs..

[@ΑΣΔΦΓΗΞΚΛ]

@@emilioc700 guess so, never felt the need to race 🙂 My tyre experience is different, maybe it's the load, so not a myth from my point of view And drivetrains disappear like there's no tomorrow in comparison to say six speed cogs used to, again, my personal experience, doesn't mean it's universal I guess Good luck with the races

[@ΑΣΔΦΓΗΞΚΛ]

@@emilioc700 it's a link to KZbin 7e2Jyh8pHss Or at least the ID, likely it gets deleted This is where we're coming from

[@SonnyDarvish]

Cross-chain has to work without putting any extra pressure on the rear derailer. That's for the sake of safety in case the rider forgot or was in a situation that couldn't do front shift; e.g. under load, front derailer doesn't shift. I have an ebike and shifting the front requires relaxing the power so I can shift. I also once cut a chain too short and the whole system jammed up in big-big combo, a couple of months later, the derailer snapped in half while descending (the main body, not the cage). So, I would rather not to mess up the range too much beyond what's possible with a few extra cog teeth (e.g. 34 max in spec, use 36 cassette no problem).

[@mfmeow206]

Show it shift

[@sabamacx]

Does your RD/FD make small funny microadjusting noises after a shift? I'm trying to find out if my new ones are busted straight from the box: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGqqm4asiNR7gsU

[@emilioc700]

That's a normal function of any electronic groupset. They slightly overshift then settle back to centered.

[@sabamacx]

@@emilioc700 Hmm, my RD-R7150 105 Di2 didn't do it, and overshifts in the 1x11 GRX Di2 didn't have little ticking noises.

[@emilioc700]

@@sabamacx You might be confusing normal auto-trim motor noises with incorrect adjustment. On all my Di2 bikes over the years, they are silent once shifted but will sometimes have a brief auto-trim adjustment during or just after shift. I'd take it to a shop if you aren't sure.

[@sabamacx]

@@emilioc700 Do your autotrims appear as ticking noises following some shifts, almost at random (sometimes a shift doesn't need a trim, other times it spends a second buzzing or ticking)? Like in the video I uploaded in the first comment.

[@sabamacx]

@@emilioc700 May I ask if you could remove your chain and record a KZbin short demonstrating how your shifts perform? I've scoured across Instagram and KZbin looking for someone "dancing their derailleurs" on a tabletop before install for the new GRX Di2 without luck. It is a hassle and adds wear to your quick link, so no harm or foul if you don't.

[@Leo-gt1bx]

I have an 10-45 with a 38 up front more than adequate. Ditch the front mech!

[@emilioc700]

Agreed that works on the low end. But I do need a lot more than a 38x10 on the top. Every rider has different needs.

[@concordesquadra5392]

Why??? i don't understand this fascination with massive range, which effectively just reduces the number of usable gears. for example, if you run a shimano 11-36 cassette, and in practice only use 12-13-14-15-17-19-21-24-28-32 cogs, ie. 10 of the 12 available gears, then increasing your range to 10-51 means you'll now only have 8 usable gears, 12-14-16-18-21-24-28-33, with larger gaps in between. also, as the author points out, this mullet transmission is heavier, more finicky, and less reliable than a stock setup. but you will have "more range" whatever that gets you.

[@emilioc700]

Because I have a lower gear than standard GRX provides and I use it. I rode a 2,000' 9-12% gravel climb today in 105° heat. Needed that lowest gear. But I don't want to sacrifice the taller gears for the 20 miles of pavement to get there. If you don't need the range, don't set your bike this way. But clearly, I'm not the only one who likes and wants more range. And it shifts perfectly, just requires more care in set up is all.

[@returnofthenative]

No thanks, no disks, no internal cabling, no proprietry parts, no electronic shifting, no modern marketing over ecomplex lead sleds.