Sram’s XD freehub compatible 10-42 teeth cassettes are by far the most popular choices for 1×11 Gravel riding and Cyclocross racing. Sram offers six different 11-speed wide range cassettes from entry level to high end that roughly match Sram’s groupset offerings. We compare the cassette options to give you an idea about performance gains and weight savings when you start climbing up the Sram tree towards the most expensive fruits.
The cassettes.
To make things a bit more complicated Sram’s cheapest 11-speed wide range cassette, the PG-1130 is Shimano HG freehub compatible and not Sram XD. Contrary to Sram’s XD freehub compatible cassettes the gear range is therefore 11-42 and not 10-42. The PG-1130 is with 538 grams significantly heavier than the entry level XD freehub compatible XG-1150 FULL PIN cassette at 394 grams. You should definitely try to avoid the PG-1130. The best value offers the XG-1175 FULL PIN cassette, with 325 grams it is reasonably light and affordable. It is pinned together and some unlucky riders reported some cogs had come loose. However, that shouldn’t hold you back considering how many of these were actually sold with no issues at all. As you can see we happily ride the XG-1175. The XG-1180 MINI CLUSTER cassette addresses the pinning issue by machining the three smallest cogs from a single billet of steel while the eight larger cogs are still individually pinned together. The XG-1180 comes with a hefty price increase and 10 negligible grams of weight saving. Without a doubt if you are looking for the lightest and most durable XD freehub compatible cassettes, there is no way around the XG-1195 or XG-1199 X-DOME cassettes. Both come in at 268 grams. Their largest 42 teeth cogs are made from aluminium and the rest of the cassette is machined from a billet of steel – the “dome”. Prices have come down lately for the XG-1195 and XG-1199, so make sure you grab one.
The 12-speed hack.
Sram just recently released their electronic 12-speed AXS Road groupsets introducing a new XDR freehub standard. To accommodate 12 smaller “road” cogs the XD freehub design has been simply made a tad wider. While the 12-speed AXS Road groupsets are offered with narrow-wide 1x cranksets, the biggest cassettes available at the moment only have a 10-33 range. That means, for now, the 1×11 groupsets and their XD compatible wide range cassettes are here to stay. Either way, we build all our wheelsets with Hope’s RS4 CL hubs that you can purchase with an XD (4-pawl) or an XDR (2-pawl) freehub. We got you covered. If you want to ride an electronic 1×12 wide range groupset already today and to be ahead of the game, check out this hack recently posted by Gerard Vroomen on the 3T blog: https://blog.3t.bike/2019/09/12028/gravel-tech-hacking-sram-axs-drivetrains/?mc_cid=0ecd68d8aa&mc_eid=81142fafc9.
The Sram 11-speed cassette comparison table.
| Sram cassette | weight (according to Sram) | MSRP | weight savings | price increase |
| PG-1130 HG11 | 538 grams | $87.00 | ||
| XG-1150 FULL PIN | 394 grams | $143.00 | 144 grams | $56.00 |
| XG-1175 FULL PIN | 325 grams | $205.00 | 69 grams | $62.00 |
| XG-1180 MINI CLUSTER | 315 grams | $308.00 | 10 grams | $103.00 |
| XG-1195 X-DOME | 268 grams | $352.00 | 47 grams | $44.00 |
| XG-1199 X-DOME | 268 grams | $372.00 | 0 grams | $20.00 |
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