Leonardi Factory 40T Cassete Adaptor First Look
Today we had the opportunity with Bagnoli Bike to mount and try in the workshop the production General Lee Leonardi Factory 25T-40T Custom cassette adaptor.
The first build we decided to try this on is a Santa Cruz Nomad Carbon frame with a 32T front chain wheel, and also a 34T front chain wheel on E-Thirteen cranks.
The idea is to take a normal 11-36T cassette and change the lowest 4 cassette cogs for the modified Leonardi Factory versions. Opening up a wider ratio and allowing a rider to have a 1 x 10 system with 11-40T cassette. Leonardi makes two versions, one that is for Sram cassettes and one that is for Shimano Cassettes.
With the introduction of Sram XX1 this system looks highly interesting as for €125 you can convert your normal system to have a low first gear ideal for pedalling up hills if as a rider you find it difficult to pedal up the hills with a standard 11-36T cassette ratio.
On the stand the system worked well, with an Sram X9 medium cage mech having no problem shifting to the 40T large cog smoothly and back down the cassette to the higher gears.
The adapter gears have ramps on the faces to allow the chain to move smoothly and is custom CNC machined by Leonardi Factory. This is obviously a home grown project by them and we are very interested to try the ratio and how it works with our different systems we have. It looks as though it could be a good alternative for the standard cassettes.
We will soon be able to test it on the trail once we have the bike built up properly. We are looking to see what the new gear ratios feel like and the chain performance in real life and if the ratios really help in a 1 x 10 system. The construction of the adaptor gears looks very strong and is fairly light, so we will see how it performs in reality.