Has Shimano Accidentally Built the Perfect Road Groupset?

What chainring is this thx

IF it's a 1by it isn't perfect except for extremely flat terrain and if close ratio gears are available. Here is the perfect gear set for nearly every recreational rider in nearly any terrain in the world from flat to rolling hills to mountains. 22-32-42 /// 11-12-13-14-15-17-20-24-28-32. 10 speed triple, close ratio high gears for the ultimate fitness training for time trials or intervals all out efforts. Extreme low gears for very steep mountain climbs, close ratio mid-high gears for rolling hills and jumping over the crests. High gears for anything except pedaling down mountains grades.

anyone know the weight of such groupset compated to a sram red?

tallest gear is 1:1? count me out.

Can you make your content inclusive by formatting the auto captioning into closed captioning please? it is extremely hard to watch it relying only on the auto captioning sadly (I'm Profoundly Deaf)

Wasn't this problem solved by Campag Ekar in 2020 ???

what shifters are you using that work with xr rear derailleur

I have a 2019 1x road bike with 11 speed 50-11/42, on the rolling roads of Essex I can climb the biggest hill(7%) around me. I've run it 46-11/36 as well.
My Gravel bike 12 speed has 1x 40-10/36.
With spare chainrings and chains for different terrain away from home.

A 46-10/42 12 speed would probably give me a set up for most of the UK.

tks for sharing David . i m moving to one bike only concept using a new crux5 , this is the right and cheaper way to go for a well seasoned rider like me . quick question for u pls : what s the purple chainring brand / model u have equipped yr nice bike with ? thank you

I made this experiment 10 years ago with 11-42 XT and a 52 narrow wide mounted an old ultegra crankset. It's the bike I ride the most, even now, and even with the weird shifting (at the time there was no hood shifter with the right pulling, so i ended with the xt shifter on a central bar extention).
The low part of the cassette has not the finesse of a road one but it's ok, it has not the "too smooth too hard" effect of the 10t starting cassettes. (they either have a crappy low end or, for the 10-11.. or 9-10-11.. don't have the hyperglide profiles aligned and the shifting just suck at this point).
I simply use a 11 or 12 stating point and that take care of the main downside of this kind of transmission.

I love 1 x and this looks perfect for a poss build - thank you for this great video - 2x I just mess about with and lose momentum - its rubbish especially for small hands

Which brand chainring is that ? I have recently tried 1x12

I love this .. I’ve been looking to build a “do it all bike “ and this is very helpful thanks

Been doing this for 20 years now

I bet that 9 tooth cog feels like absolutely terrible. Riding at speed in the 10 on my XC bike is why bought a gravel bike

The advantages of the Shimano over the SRAM is that it uses the old derailleur hanger and can therefore be fit on a wider variety of older bikes.

Gravel bike

All this because group manufacturers still believe that for mortals a ratio of 1:1 is enough and no need for bigger. The road crankset are too big for most people. You really need something bigger and you don't need 50x11

i’m 54y/o, road only, high cadence, don’t ride more than 45km/h on the flats (unless i’m behind a truck!), and recently switched from a 2x 50-34, 11-30 to a 1x 44T, 11-36
Dura-Ace can handle the 36, just, but the shifts are still smooth!
I wanted the same ratio with the lowest gear, 1.03 so this was it. if I could havw a 46t front and a 40t bailout.. i’d take it.
I rarely spinout the 44-11, but one more would be nice (10t)
All in all, I’m pleased I could drop 250g with the ztto cassette, and deleting the FR and one chainring. The simplicity has been awesome. Wish I had done this earlier!

Question: why is it not possible to mix and match standalone sprockets within a brand/chain-type? Do Shimano and SRAM not manufacture other counts? What is stopping us from creating a SRAM XPLR (13 sprockets) with a wider range than the Shimano XT (12 sprockets) by tuning the selected sprockets and chain ring?

It would be nice if you listed the groupset in your description. Is it simply a Shimano GRX? Which version? Electronic? Mechanical? I'm confused. Sorry.

How is a 9-45 ‘close to perfection’ when the gap between cogs has increased by 1 somewhere in the spread? Kind of equivalent to saying ‘This one is louder because it goes to 11’.

Seems that Shimano and SRAM realize there isn't much money to be made in purely road group sets these days, so we'll have to wait... and wait... and wait for true 1x for the road.

1X 😒

To be fair, it’s basically the same setup I run on my XC hardtail, slightly older 10-45 XT chain ring, smaller 36 tooth chain ring, but with noting, I still run the long long cage Di2 derailleurs so I can drop a 10-51 cassette in if needed, no shifting issues at all with the smaller cassette

as always (and let me say always...) Campagnolo was 5 years ahead with the ekar with 44t chainring and 9-42 (or 9-36) cassette which is exaclty what you're showing right now, and since june 2026 you have the full wireless option with the same gear set (more chainring option) and at a competitive price, so I'm waiting a complete review of an allorad bike with campy!

This definitely looks like a great setup. I'd build a bike that will take 9-45 on the cassette, and 44T in front for overall range / top speed that I would use for the road and gravel. I may even be cheeky and go with flat bars.

With a 1x I feel very limited, with ascending no problem but with descending I am out of gears and my speed catches up on my cadence. I prefer to stay on 2x also I am very versatile on the flats as well in more hilly terrain.

Where did you find a 46t single chainring? Initially for fun, I had an old Genesis Equilibrum frame in my garage doing nothing, and to try 1x on the cheap, I ordered a Sensa 1 by groupset from Ali Express. Ok, it's more for gravel bikes but I wanted to have a go. The result has been very positive, I love the simplicity of it and I think the bike will be used not just as my commuter, but also my winter bike. But, as most roads round here are flat, I do find myself mostly in the smallest sprockets at the back (say 2nd to 5th smallest) as the biggest chainring I could find from this brand was a 44t. Not seen any bigger than that by the same company, just wondering where I could find a 46t ?

Hello, what is the chain ring you have. Looking for an aero wide narrow chain ring.

insanely ugly paint job imo

Umm, no. 9 to 11 / 11 to 13 are NOT closer ratios than 10 to 12 / 12 to 14 (with 10-51T). Do the maths. The more I look at it, all I can see is lower system weight due to smaller overall chainring, cassette and derailleur cage (and 10% additional overall range).

I love a 1x set up and much prefer riding my gravel with 1x than my road with 2x. I wish there were off the shelf 1x road bikes out there. Now with 13 speed rear cassettes it's certainly a viable option

2x or death 🤘🤓! I loathe 1x 😈,.. tried it for a couple seasons and absolutely hated gear hunting in road/all-road hilly and windy terrain. Sold it and life is good 👍🏼. Don’t buy the hype. Gear hunting Sucks!

I ride Apex Xplr AXS 1x12 with a 46t chainring and 11-44t cassete. It works flawlessly, uses a HG freehub and offers enough gears to me.

I’ve been running Campy Ekar on my road bike (Open Min.D), with a 40 crankset and a 9/42 on the rear for two years. Love how well it works. They also make a 10/44 for those who want a few more climbing teeth, but this works well for fairly aggressive group rides.

I find jumps of two teeth on the cassette fine. If you're not in the Tour de France and cycling on streets with other vehicles, meaning much acceleration and deceleration, then I actually prefer it to jumps of one tooth. Easier shifting.

I have a similar 1x setup (38, 9-45) on one of my road bikes. its great and I love it for climbing, but I don't think I'd ever take it on any longer rides due to the jumps between gears. I'm not super fit so I need to optimize my cadence for endurance. Otherwise I would run 1x on all my bikes.

This is all bullshit marketing. 2x mechanical, external cables works great. Much easier to maintain and repair. It's less expensive too.

Am I the only one that doesn't like spinning my legs furiously on a downhill??! The 1x setups are probably best for gravel with serious steep pitches.. BUT.. what goes up must come down, and if that is smooth tarmac or hardpack gravel.. i'd really struggle with a 44t front. Even on my 50T front I struggle to get my cadence where I like it.. lowish to guarantee stability and which gives me the speed to catapult over the next climb. In terms of simplicity.. if you're doing the bike build yourself, then sure, one less derailleur setup is easier.. but in the grand scheme of things, it's not like you're saving a huge amount of time in the setup. The 2x gives you the low gear up front, as well as the high gear when you need it.. so don't see the appeal at all of the 1x ssystem. Unless all you are doing is going up 17% climbs. Then sure..

Electronic groupsets solved the front derailleur problem, just press a button to shift, automatic trim adjustment, etc. Not interested in 1x for MTB, gravel or road.

imagine if they produce a right road shifter with mtb pull lenght 11 and 12 speed , we could still use some shimano setup for decades

I'm running a SRAM 2x crank 43x30. on my road bike. Lots of nice small gears.

Chainline or offset concerns?