SRAM 11-36 Cassette + Shimano Ultegra R8000 Medium Cage

As a flatlander who likes to climb, I'm always on the lookout for some mechanical advantage which can make it easier to get up the hills. SRAM's 11-36 cassette is an obvious way to do that, but officially my Shimano R8050 (R8000 should be the same) rear mech only supports up to 34 in the back. Having tried the Ultegra 11-34, and not being a big fan, if this works. It seems a great way to get better gearing.

[richardanderson]

Good to know a SRAM 36 cassette works well with R8000, FYI I run Ultegra 52/34 front crankset with Shimano 11/34 cassette, it works perfectly.

[mister_ray]

I can confirm the SRAM PG-1170 works great with the Shimano RD-RX810 rear der w/o issue. Nice to have a 36T big cog.

[peterbee]

I have used a 11 40 shimano xtr for 2 years with long cage and before that with a medium cage plus road link. My bike is a giant defy with 50 36 chainrings. You will need to add a few links. The xtr has lasted much better than I expected and still shifts well after 30, 000 km. Just keep the chain well oiled and cleaned regularly and replace early.

[industryrule-]

Thanks for this. Just bought the 11-36 SRAM for my bike, too.

[AW.SO.M]

Tried the Sram 11-36t cassette on a shimano ultegra groupset to achieve a under drive 34/36 climbing gear. My experience was the shifting is not as crisp as it was with the shimano cassette, this is after doing a full adjustment on the RD. I ended up using a 11-40T shimano cassette and I find that to shift really well.

[jonathanwoo]

Haha. I got a good laugh watching your video. You said you live in Illinois. Then I saw the footage of you climbing the north side of Carter Lake. I live at Carter Lake. On every ride I start with a descent of 800' and come home either via the north side (steep!) or the south side which is less steep.

I also have the R8050 GS RD. I have a total of three cassettes. The Shimano 11-32, 11-34, and the XTR 11-40 which is installed on my tandem. I use the 11-32 for everyday rides since it has tight 11-12-13-14 ratios which are good for general road riding. I dislike the 11-34 because it's designed more for gravel. The 11-13-15-17 ratios are bad for general road riding. I used the XTR 11-40 for my Everesting which worked out really great, with no shifting issues after adjusting the B-screw and installed with a longer chain in case I accidentally shift into the big-big combo. The 11-34 doesn't get used much now...I only use it on a couple rides a year. I like the 11-32 but wish having a 1:1 ratio but without the big gaps for general road riding. This is how I found your video. Ideally I would like a 11-34 with tighter gaps at the high end (11-12-13-14) but nobody makes such as cassette. The 11-36 has 11-12-13-15 at the high end which is workable.

Here's some good news. I've read that the upcoming Dura Ace and Ultegra 12-speed will have a 11-34 option with tight spacing on the high end (11/34: This would be an awesome option when mated with a 50/34 crankset.

Thanks for the video. Feel free to look me up on your next visit to Colorado. Cheers.

[jonathanprice]

Thanks for the very informative video. I have 11- 32 ultegra currently. I struggled this weekend on 25% inclines on Exmoor / Quantocks (UK). I think this is the solution!

[fabianc]

Just bought mine too based on your facts. Thank you man

[joshuawise]

If the 11-34 was not shifting well (especially if it was banging loudly between shifts, or rattling, or could never be correctly tuned, or it was carving notches in your freehub splines!), you probably got caught out by the weird behavior of Shimano's 11-34 cassette, which requires the 1.85mm spacer on the low side even (especially!) if you are running on a 11sp road hub. This is badly documented and everyone says you only need the spacer if you're running a 10sp cassette on a 11sp hub (or something like that). This is true for many cassettes, but not for the 11-34: the 11-34 needs it even on a 11sp hub, and not having it can cause the symptoms you saw.

[willpurba]

Thank you for this. I've been thinking about doing something like this but without changing my chainring to the new GRX 48/31.
I had the Sequoia with a 48/32 chainring fitted with a Sunrace CSRX1 and that worked great with a Shimano 105 GS rear derailleur.
I want to do the same thing for my road Trek Checkpoint which comes with a compact 50/34 chainring and 11-34 in the back. I'll let you know how it works out when I replace the cassette with the Sunrace CSRX1 (11-36).

[francoiskrafft]

I have a DI2 Shimano Ultegra 11s with a compact 34-50 and 11-32 cassette. I now purchased the SRAM PG-1130 11-36T cassette and a Shimano 11s chain (11s Shimano Ultegra / XT CN-HG701 116 links). Just don’t lose the one pin supplied with the new chain in a separate small plastic bag to close the chain as Shimano does not supply more than one pin. Look at the Parktool chain length tutorial. All smooth and gears all passing as before !!! Just think of adapting your Garmin DI2 gear set-up and change the first gears (36, 32, 28, ..). The e-TUBE app can only be adapted to a 11-34 cassette as it is Shimano only but this does not seem to affect anything

[josephphillips]

Regarding using an 11-34 I suspect your setup just needed a little bit of fine tuning. There is a special Di2 Adjustment Mode where you can fine tune the indexing of the rear derailleur. Even with perfection though I would agree that the SRAM 11-36 was a better choice overall.

[ericfleetwood]

Your video answered my question and gave me additional useful information. I was wondering whether the SRAM PG1170 would work with my Di2 RD, or whether to buy the Shimano 11-34T, or stick with my 11-32T Ultegra. I am changing my crankset to the GRX810 46/30. By the way, no matter what shape you are in, your maximum heartrate will slow with age. So, that long climb you charge up now with your pulse at 160 will not be sustainable one day. When that day comes, you will want the mechanical advantage of a larger gear, so you can climb at a slower pace with a sustainable heartrate. Theoretical max is 220 minus your age.

[g.fortin]

Do you have a model number for the SRAM cassette you use ? I was thinking of getting a Sunrace model but since you tested this I'm curious the price point and model of the one we know works for you. Nice vid ! It is also great to know the ( KMC ?? ) chain you were using worked fine also.

[francoiskrafft]

Superb tutorial !!! i have a compact 34-50 and shimano ultegra 11s 32T cassette. Do you believe that I need another chain for the SRAM 11-36 cassette?

[samuraioodon]

hi i'm thinking about running 50/34 sram with a 11-36 sram cassette on gravel bike. it would be 11 speed GRX di2. do i have to worry about anything like chainline/length or something if in small front/big rear, like rubbing on inside of front derailleur . the grx di2 says 34t max. do you have any opinion or i shouldn't worry about it? thank you!

[TheVintage]

Would it work with an Ultegra RD-R8050 GS cage? Thank you

[miles]

How are you getting on with this Andrew? do you still use this setup?

Thanks

[cyclempls]

I am in the middle of converting my Ultegra CS-R8000 groupset to Ultegra 8050 Di2. I plan to continue to use my Ultegra CS-R8000 compact chainset and I just purchased a Shimano Ultegra Di2 RD-R8050 GS Rear Derailleur. Since I'm an old fart who is challenged with climbing with my current 11-32 cassette, I was more than delighted to view your video and "experiment". Is it safe to assume that the derailleur you used in your video is equal to or the same as the derailleur I just purchased? If so, line me up for a SRAM 11-36 cassette. The answer to my dreams! Thanks again for your insight, information, and patience with cyclists like me!

[alxie]

quick Q: are you using SRAM 11-36 PG1130 or PG1170 for this video? are they different at all? (sorry, I have zero knowledge of the SRAM product line)