I definitely understand that.
You might be able to re-purpose one set and just get a freehub and a force cassette.
That would be a lot less than $600.
I wouldn’t hesitate to use those Enve’s as race or training wheels though.
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…yeah. I’m just not into saying adios to all my gear, wife’s gear, etc. I picked up a Specialized Sprint frame 2020 brand new for $900, so I’ll make that my crit pig and use use it everywhere until I can figure out everything… Maybe I’m just old and grumpy, but I can’t wrap my brain around the whole 12spd situation.
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What’s your current 11-speed setup?
For example, if you currently run 52/36 chainrings and have a 11-30 cassette in the back, you could either go for 48/35 chainrings and 10-28 or 10-33 in the back. The former will give you slightly less range, but much more closely spaced gears. The latter will give you vastly more range.
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I live along the Wasatch mountains in Salt Lake City, Utah… but love to crit race 
Gearing isn’t the problem, its that the SRAM is not backwards compatable with any 11 speed stuff. So new hubs or wheelsets, etc.
Like I said, maybe I’m just grumpy, but the 12spd from SRAM should’ve been backwards compatible with other hubs. I’m not 100% certain, but I"m pretty sure that’s what Campagnolo did with their 12spd.
Campagnolo 10 Speed Free Hub fits Campagnolo 11 and 12 speed cassettes
Smallest cog is 11
SRAM and Shimano ran off to the Mountain Bike side and created New Hubs to fit a 10 tooth cog.
Just throwing this out there: next year is shimano’s 100 year anniversary. There are some rumors floating around that something special is coming.
You can get a 12 speed eagle nx mtb cassette that works with old splined hubs, but the cassettes only go down to 11 teeth. I don’t know if they have the same option for road, but it would be smart if they did. Opens up a bigger market of people who don’t want to upgrade hubs/wheels, but want the axs road group.
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Apart from Rotor (and perhaps Campag, I’m not really familiar with their line-up), none of the 12-speed groupsets use the old Shimano freehub. On the mountain bike side, Shimano has introduced a new freehub, too, for its 12-speed groupsets and once they join the 12-speed party (last), chances are that they will also use a new freehub (perhaps the one they have introduced for mountain bikes?).
Per my prior post, the SRAM Eagle NX 12 speed cassette uses a splined freehub, you just don’t get the 10 tooth cog with it. I have no idea whether SRAM and Shimano choose the same cog spacing or offset to make them cross compatible, but you at least have a 12 speed 11-50 option for SRAM on an old style freehub. That’s not a very road-friendly cassette and I have no idea whether SRAM offered a splined road cassette as well. If they don’t, it would a smart addition.
Shimano all day. Sram stuff is generally slower shifting, less refined, and just doesn’t have a feel of quality to it. eTap wins on the initial setup, and weight. The swappable batteries are nice, and I do wish Shimano gave more of a heads up about when the battery is low, last time it warned me I only made it 30 miles before the FD was disabled.
I do tend to like SRAM MTB stuff just fine, though most prefer Shimano there as well. However everyone I know who used SRAM on their road bikes and switched to Shimano is never going back.
I have eTap after using only Shimano since I started riding a bike and prefer it much more. Many were mechanical but the last two were Di2 til I bought the eTap groupset. I had test rode a Roubaix last week to see what a Power saddle feels like. It had Shimano on it and really couldn’t wait to get off it for that reason, saddle felt great though.
Everyone has their bias from experience. Mine was Di2 is faster shifting but I’ve had far more reliability on eTap making the shifts I told it to.
This is SRAM’s budget offering and is not compatible with road rear mechs. And since there is no mechanical 12-speed SRAM dropbar groupset available, I don’t think you can use that cassette yet. Once SRAM releases mechanical 12-speed groupsets, this may be an option.
IMHO one undervalued aspect is shift ergonomics. Of course, your tastes may vary and you may have a different opinion on what makes for good ergonomics.
IMHO Shimano’s dropbar STI levers are just ergonomic atrocities. Ok, I may have strong feelings about this, but coming from the mountain bike side, to have a moving brake lever (for mechanical groupsets) is insane. Plus, I found both, Shimano’s electronic and mechanical STI levers to be really hard to use once I wear long-fingered gloves. With the mechanical STI levers, when trying to shift to a higher gear, I frequently brush upon the shift/brake lever with my gloves (I have short fingers), which prevents me from shifting. On electronic STI levers, I can’t feel the buttons. SRAM’s ergonomics are vastly superior.
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AXS road shifters are compatible with the AXS Eagle RD, so you can run it. Seen some monster cross/gravel bikes running the combo. Not really suitable for a pure road setup, so not a good fit. It took them a while to add the eagle cassette that works with splined hubs, so maybe they will eventually add it for road when they start trickling 12 speed road down.
That’s why I added mechanical. Yes, you can technically combine SRAM’s electronic groupsets in this fashion, in that you are correct. But IMHO it makes no sense to use an entry-level cassette just to save a few bucks on not having to change the freehub.
The discussion will change once SRAM releases e. g. 12-speed version of its mechanical Force, Rival and perhaps even Apex groupsets. If they use the same cable pull as mountain bike groupsets, then you could make a mechanical mullet setup. If you are on a budget, then you could indeed go the route you have suggested and it’d be a cheaper option for a mullet setup.
I never wear gloves so it’s not a concern. I do however do 5-6 hour rides fairly regularly and never mis shift
They also have specific STi levers for small hands
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During summer rides I also do not mis shift — but I still hate braking and shifting down (e. g. when you go downhill, but approach a red traffic light). Regarding gloves, it’s not about lever size, their length is just fine. Perhaps if I found gloves with short fingers, it’d be less of a problem, but finding good gloves is like finding a saddle that fits. Also, I really dislike the Shimano hydraulic humps, I vastly prefer SRAM’s spikes (I ride in the aero hoods position a lot, and the spikes fit my hand and arm position like a glove).
Nevertheless, these are my complaints about Shimano’s STI levers and you may or may not share them. My bigger point is not that SRAM > Shimano, you can make arguments either way. Rather that ergonomics should be a decision factor. (I should mention I’m not a Shimano hater, My almost 8-year-old XT groupset on my fully still works just fine. The brakes in particular are the business.)
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As I work in a shop that services all brands and the mechanics have even worked with engineers at one of the biggies…I have an opinion based on their words and my experiences. Do NOT go SRAM, but go with Di2! While very slightly lighter, SRAM does not do well with front chainring shifts due to the ramping on it compared to Shimano. Also, we get a LOT of bad rear derailleurs with SRAM. Search for warranties with it, as they have not termed it a “recall” as they should but we have had a number of them stop working during a ride and freeze, and when they brought them in we had to warranty them. Di2 just works, and extremely well.
Depending on the hub you are using, a freehub with an XD driver may or may not be an option. I’m generally not a weight watcher on the bike, so I tend to lean toward the lower end cassettes and chains because they tend to be more durable and less expensive. I did bite the bullet and bought the lightweight version of the Eagle cassette for leadville (should be worth about 45 seconds over 103 miles, but what the hell). I normally ride Eagle GX chains and cassettes. On road, 105 or ultegra.
The real issue for SRAM here is that they aren’t providing an easy upgrade path to AXS for all the roadies with splined rear freehubs. On one hand, I think they are idiots for ignoring a market opportunity. Then, I have to remind myself that they make the vast majority of their revenue on the OEM side and there is no need to be backward compatible there. Those of us building our own bikes and upgrading old bikes are largely ignored when they make product decisions. I’d probably do the same if I were the product manager for AXS. I’d worry about making sure AXS gets spec’d on as many new gravel bikes as possible.