Endurance Gear Review: OneUp Components 42T+16T Wide Range 10-Speed Cassette Upgrade [Initial Impression]

I believe the new wave of 42T cogs is hugely applicable to adventure / endurance / backcountry mountain bikers who are often riding trail, all-mountain bikes or enduro bikes, carrying lots of gear, and, attempting to ride steep extend climbs to get to bliss-inducing ridgeline rides and downhills tears.

You know the feeling. You're struggling to stay on your bike on a tough climb, it's looking like you're going to have to submit, to get off and push the rest of the way, you press the shifter hoping that somehow there's another gear ... but there's not, and in a few more feet you're off the bike and pushing.

Enter the new wave of 42T cogs and that extra gear IS there. You're now able to stay on your bike longer, you sit and spin and ride! You're not going to be flying up the climbs in a 42, but you are going to stay on your bike longer - ride more, push less.

I've been riding / testing the Wolf Tooth GC 42T (Giant Cog) and just today I received the newest gear from OneUp www.oneupcomponents.com. 

OneUp's offering is unique in that it now comes with *both* 42 and 16T cogs, enabling users to remove both the 15 and 17T cogs and replace them both with their 16T.

Previously both OneUp and Wolf Tooth instructed riders to remove the 17T to make room for the 42T, BUT, that left a 15T to 19T shift, which was the worst on the cassette and I personally felt like it was an uncomfortable shift gap.

The alternative (which I did) was removing the 11T and purchasing a 13T final cog and a larger lockring. I sourced both from Miche at a cost of roughly $10 each. This does result in fantastic shift performance across the entire 13-42 cassette, but, for many riders losing the 11T is far less than ideal.

Enter the new custom 16T OneUp final cog. Keep the 11T, add the OneUp 42T, replace both the 15 and 17T cogs with the OneUp 16T, and ... enjoy a no compromise wide range 11-42 cassette.

In theory, OneUp has just created the most user friendly, functional and cost effective 10-speed cassette upgrade that's on the market today ... effectively OneUp-ing all of their competition.

Check back soon for my ride / trail / torture test report on the brand new OneUp 42+16 setup.