Originally Posted by
merlinextraligh
And compared to a 3x9 system that many people thought was just fine, the Eagle gives slightly better range, almost as many useful gears, and comparable gear steps.
i.e. typical mountain setup for a 9 speed triple 52/39/30 and 9 speed 11-34 gives you 13 useful non redundant gears and a top gear inch of 120, and a low gear inch of 24
Set up the Eagle with a 44 front chain ring, and you get 12 useful gears, top gear inch of 122, and the same bottom as the 3x9 at 24, and the gear steps are pretty close..
.
But we aren't choosing between a 9 speed cluster with a triple and a 12 speed with a single ring; the gear steps on the 12 speed 10x50t are massive compared to an 11 speed 11x32t cassette. It's fine if those gaps don't matter to you, but there is a huge difference to me between 10-12-14-16-18-21-24-28-32-36-42-50 and 11-12-13-14-16-18-20-22-25-28-32. I would far rather have a front derailleur and the close gaps than the huge gaps and a single chainring.