During the final race at Harbin Park for the Cincy3 Cyclocross Festival, Ryan Trebon was spotted with an interesting set up on his Cannondale SuperX. Something with one ring. And no chain catcher or guard. Upon further inspection from the sidelines, it clearly is a prototype XX1 group designed specifically for cyclocross. Since the introduction of SRAM’s clutch equipped XX1 drivetrain, it seems a lot of riders have been keen to get a similar set up on their cross bikes, and it looks like a purpose built group may be on the way.

Jump past the break for a close up.

Running off of standard Red Hydro disc brake levers, the XX1 derailleur was fitted with a short cage and what looks to be a standard road cassette with a 42 or 44 tooth chainring. The unmarked crank arms were mated to the narrow-wide ring with a standard looking 5 bolt spider. The derailleur appears to be fairly standard with the Cage Lock function and X-Horizon design, but this one does feature a barrel adjuster in addition to the standard housing entry point – something not found on the mountain bike versions.

We’re assuming mere mortals will need a wider range of gears than Trebon, so it’s possible there will be multiple cage lengths in production. Ryan was able to ride the XX1 equipped Cannondale to a 3rd place finish after winning the sprint to the line by inches.