Ratio has a nifty way to add an extra shift to your 1x11 SRAM mechanical groupset

While SRAM’s electronic groupsets have been advancing at a rapid pace, its humble 1x11 groupsets have been left out in the cold, with seemingly no prospect of ever moving up to the big leagues of 12-speed.

But a small UK start-up reckons that it can help you do what Sram hasn’t, adding an extra click to your existing SRAM Red, Force, Rival, Apex or S-Series 11-speed levers with the only slight catch being that you’ll need a rear derailleur that is of GX level or above.

For your money, you get a new shifter ratchet that adds the all-important extra click to the shifter. There’s also a new cable fin that has been designed to adjust the system to the required pull ratios. All other pieces like a new barrel adjuster and a specific screw are provided.

There are some additional system requirements. Ratio says that “the derailleur cable routing currently means that the chainstay/seatstay cable stop needs to be at least 70 mm from the dropout centre to allow the cable to run smoothly.” Apparently, Ratio says, “this will mostly affect some carbon frames with internal chainstay routing.”

You’ll also need to get yourself a 12-speed chain and cassette that are SRAM Eagle compatible. Then you’ll need a 12-speed 1X chainring.

Installing the upgrade kit involves removing the shifter and you’ll probably want to set aside a quiet evening, but Ratio has provided very clear instructional videos that are very easy to follow. If you’ve ever worked on SRAM shifters then nothing will seem overly complicated.

But why would you want to convert an 11-speed system into a 12-speed one? The added cog can help to close the jumps between cog sizes, or you can simply get a larger spread of gears, something that is in high demand in the world of gravel and adventure riding.

We’ll be trying to get our hands on the relevant parts to give the conversion a go for ourselves.

ratiotechnology.com