Gravel cassettes need range without the weight penalty that comes from massive climbing cogs. The XG-1251 from SRAM delivers a 10-44T spread in their XPLR line, giving you a legitimate bailout gear for steep gravel climbs while keeping the cassette light enough that your bike doesn't feel sluggish on flatter sections. At 284 grams, this cassette sits closer to road weight than mountain weight despite offering that 44-tooth dinner plate.

SRAM builds the XG-1251 using their X-Range technology, which optimizes the gaps between gears across the cassette. You get tighter spacing in the gears you actually use most of the time—the middle of the cassette—while allowing bigger jumps at the extremes where you're either spinning out on a descent or grinding up something steep. The result is smoother shifting through your working range without sacrificing the high and low ends. The 10-tooth small cog means you're not spinning out on paved descents, and the 44-tooth large cog means you can keep pedaling up loose, steep climbs where momentum matters.

Construction uses SRAM's XD driver body interface, which allows that 10-tooth small cog. Traditional freehub bodies bottom out at 11 teeth, so if you want access to that higher gear, you'll need an XD-compatible rear hub. The cassette runs exclusively on SRAM's 12-speed AXS drivetrains—Eagle AXS for the gravel/cross-country crowd or the road-oriented XPLR groupsets. You cannot run this cassette with mechanical SRAM systems or any Shimano drivetrain.... Read More