SRAM XX - have you seen this thing?

[MajorMantra]

This is exactly news since it's been around for a little while but I haven't been paying attention:

http://www.sram.com/en/XX/products/cassette.php

The revolutionary machined design of the XX Cassette uses the same grueling manufacturing techniques that produced the PowerDome road cassette. With X-Dome, eight of the cogs are CNC-machined together out of a single block of billet steel, creating an incredibly lightweight, precise, and strong cassette. It’s a process that takes nine hours per cassette! The aluminum large cog can be replaced as needed. You have never seen a cassette that looks like this. The open design aids in mud clearance, giving you cleaner shifting performance and longer component life.

My engineering brain is in a post-resit funk but aside from the über bling factor, does this make sense? It looks amazing but wouldn't it be weaker than a conventionally constructed cassette?

Also, a replacement will be £250 plus!

Matthew

 

[bonj2]

ah damn, doesn't come in 12-28. never mind.

 

[andrew_s]

Silly money, and it will wear out just as fast as any other cassette. There would be some fair incentive to swap chains as soon as they looked like stretching.
All the other MTB range 10-speed cassettes that you may substitute for it are around the £100 mark too.

I'm staying 9-speed, or I may revert back to 8.