It’s hard to keep a mountain bike current with the ever-changing standards in the industry. It feels like as soon as bikes ditched the front derailleur for good and moved to 1x11s, SRAM introduced the 12-speed Eagle, which is now offered at four different price points. Many 11-speed owners may be asking themselves if they should upgrade to 12 gears, or the tech they’ve already invested in.
E*Thirteen has an answer: do both! With its new TRS Plus 12-Speed Upgrade Kit, riders can take their existing SRAM 11-speed drivetrain, modify the shifter and derailleur, and use E*Thirteen’s 12-speed cassette and chain and voila, 11 becomes 12. Not only that, the upgraded drivetrain will have more range than Eagle, all for a $300 buy in. Here’s how it works.
The cassette
The TRS Plus cassette is a 9-46t with 511% range. The cassette is said to weigh 336g, which is 16g lighter than the claimed weight for an XX1 Eagle cassette. E*Thirteen uses 10 steel and two aluminum cogs, and the cassette is only compatible with XD drivers. It’s also compatible with all Eagle setups for those who want to get a bit more range than the standard SRAM Eagle cassette, or to drop a few grams, or even to save a few bucks. Note, however, that the E*Thirteen cassette shifts the gear range down, offering 9-46t, compared to SRAM’s Eagle cassettes which run 10-50t.
The shifter
The shifter upgrade kit allows 11-speed SRAM GX, X1, X01, and XX1 shifters to be converted to 12 speeds. The kit includes a new shifter spool and all other assembly materials needed.
The derailleur
The derailleur upgrade works with all SRAM 11-speed derailleurs, from NX to XX1 with new pulley spacers and cage bolts.
The chain
The 12-speed chain is 269g and 126 links. An XX1 Eagle chain is 126 links and weighs 260g.
The whole package
E*thirteen includes everything needed to make the conversion, including the tools.
TRS Plus 9-46t 12 speed cassette
Derailleur pulley spacers (x2)
Derailleur cage bolts (x1 long, x1 short)
12 speed shift ratchets (x1 GX™/X1™/X01™, x1 XX1™)
Shift spool w/two bearings
Shift spool bolt
Shift spool washer (GX™/X1™/X01™ shifters only)
Shifter assembly fixture
12 speed chain and quick connect link
2.5mm hex
3mm hex
4mm hex
T25 Torx bit
Square bit
5mm hex and bit holder
Shift cable and 2000mm cable housing
Grease tube
E*Thirteen says it will only take about an hour to install the upgrade, though timing can vary based on the consumer’s mechanical experience. They expect the shifter to be the most technical piece to install. The process is the same for GX, X1, and X01 shifters, but the XX1 shifter requires an extra step. To assist, E*Thirteen has produced a video (coming soon) to ease installation.
Singletracks will be testing the conversion kit, so look for a review in the future. The kit will be available for purchase in July.
