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TECH NEWS

SRAM launch new Red groupset + video

Top-end gruppo gets a major overhaul for 2012

SRAM have just released details of their new 2012 Red groupset. Here are the details, as given by SRAM. We'll have more details and comment to follow. Oh, and before we start, SRAM have also confirmed that they're working on Red-level hydraulic brakes. Disc brakes or rim brakes? Both. We're working on getting more details on that. In the meantime, here's the new Red groupset as it stands, in SRAM's own words... and you can read our take on the new SRAM Red technology here.

New SRAM RED represents the pinnacle of road racing technology and delivers countless performance advantages to the professional and enthusiast alike.

For 2012, the new SRAM Red continues in the SRAM tradition as the leader in lightweight, flawless shifting, and ergonomic advantage with gorgeous aesthetic styling. How did we improve on the world’s best mechanical gruppo? We started with everything we knew, and then designed a brand new drivetrain from scratch.

Each part was engineered with the twin goals of eliminating the superfluous while focusing on an overall synergy that translates into unmatched performance. Elegant and simple, SRAM Red perfects the riding experience through genuine innovation.

SRAM Red changes everything!

Commercial availability - March 2012

Retail price £1,899.99

 


The new SRAM Red ErgoDynamics Shifters represent our most advanced thinking yet on perfecting the interface between rider and bike. We have scrutinized everything, including the transition between handlebar and hoods, the grip texture, finger wrap, and the separate interfaces with both the shifter and brake lever.

• ErgoDynamic design: best in class control & comfort

• New reach adjustment to fit all hands

• DoubleTap and ZeroLoss mechanisms for smooth and precise shifting

 


 

The SRAM Red rear derailleur is designed with our Exact Actuation technology for precise, efficient shifting. We have paid rapt attention to the finer details, like adding a hollow titanium anchor bolt and even refining tooth geometry of the jockey wheel.

• Exact Actuation: fast and accurate shifting

• New AeroGlide jockey wheels for silent performance

• New cage and body design for improved cassette clearance

 

 

Instead of simply moving back and forth, the SRAM Red derailleur cage actually rotates to maintain a consistent angular relationship with the chain. We call it Yaw Technology, and it eliminates the need for shifter trim.

• Revolutionary Yaw Technology eliminates trim

• Fast and precise optimized shifting

• Refined materials for stiff and lightweight cage

The new SRAM Red Exogram Crankset is completely hollow all the way to the spider. Its hidden bolt pattern makes better use of carbon fiber to further improve stiffness and shed weight. The stunning X Glide chainrings are optimized for use with the Yaw Technology in the front derailleur, delivering seamless, flawless performance.

• Featherweight Exogram hollow carbon construction

• X Glide R chainrings: advanced shifting technology

• Hidden bolt for increased strength and stiffness

 

Lighter, more accurate power meter completely integrated with the philosophy and performance of SRAM Red. The sleek new geometry reduces system weight and delivers clearance for oversized frames and aerodynamic chainrings.

Integrated electronics minimize interconnections and reduce exposure to the elements, bringing unmatched durability and reliability.

• Lightweight and +/- 1.5% accuracy

• Integrated electronics = maximum reliability

• Ease-of-use: Visible ID, LED indicator, replaceable battery

• OmniCal™: Fit TT chainrings without recalibration

The new SRAM Red Brakeset has been created with a host of wind-cheating features to make the brake body more aerodynamic. The new patented AeroLink arm reduces frontal area while improving braking performance and modulation.

• AeroLink™ arm: improved modulation and high power

• Sleek profile and aero barrel adjuster

• Aero indexed 4-position quick release


The new SRAM Red Powerdome X is the most advanced cassette ever made. It is super light, deadly silent, and delivers an undeniable performance advantage. The eight cogs in the middle are machined from a single block of high grade tool steel, increasing stiffness while weighing even less than a titanium cassette. Between each cog in the block is a StealthRing elastomer to reduce vibration and noise.

• Super light 10 speed hollow steel dome construction

• StealthRing elastomers for silent ride

• Aluminum large cog and super durable finish

 

The newest PC 1091R chain features more heavily chamfered outer plates for improved shifting and quieter running.  The HollowPin construction of SRAM‘s 10 speed PowerChain provides smooth, precise shifting and weight savings without sacrificing strength.

• HollowPin technology equals strength, incredible shifting efficiency, and light weight

• 255 grams, 114 links

• PowerLock connector, easiest install in the world

Update: we haven't seen the groupset in the flesh yet but Clive from Glory Cycles in South Carolina has, and he posted this vid on Youtube giving a first look at the system. Seems like there's a lot of space in that lever, eh... wonder what that could be used for?

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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21 comments

Avatar
stealth | 12 years ago
0 likes

Does this mean that last years 'almost £2000' offering was crap.
'"New Daz gets whites whiter..."
Anywho, don't buy it, as *ahem* Biker***r have ridden the 2013 issue and its "brilliant"- much more positive shifting, blah, blah, blah...

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Mat Brett replied to stealth | 12 years ago
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stealth wrote:

Anywho, don't buy it, as *ahem* Biker***r have ridden the 2013 issue and its "brilliant"- much more positive shifting, blah, blah, blah...

No,this is the only version anyone has ridden; they've just used confusing labelling.

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robert_obrien | 12 years ago
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"SRAM Red changes a couple of things". The big cogs by the pedals and the small cogs on the back wheel. Two things.

I have recently been working with someone from Orange / TMobile. Or 'Everything Everywhere' as they are now known. Give. Me. Strength.

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MarkWB | 12 years ago
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Nice

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notfastenough | 12 years ago
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Never mind his SRAM pics, some of the custom builds on his flickr stream are like bike p0rn!
 4  8  4
Loving the Orbea Orca build!

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CliveDS | 12 years ago
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Just had the first group in my workshop and did a short Youtube video and photo essay on my flickr. glorycycles's Channel - YouTube

Most interesting thing to me is the large space and open hole in the shifter that in my mind can only be for hydraulic cylinder.

The beefed up chainrings are a welcome change and the brake caliper is really fantastic.

BB stays the same and for the most part the shift feels the same.

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nick_rearden replied to CliveDS | 12 years ago
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CliveDS wrote:

Just had the first group in my workshop ...

Clive, you've done a fine job there with the flickr pics - I think they might be better than SRAM's own. And the ace video is here: http://www.youtube.com/user/glorycycles

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cat1commuter | 12 years ago
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Looks like a very strong offering. Lots of refinements to address criticisms of the previous generation, such as the lack of much of a knob to grab on the hoods. I think the front mech and the brakes are the most significant.

Reading about the front mech, and its chain guide I just think "Chaingate!" Front mech looks nicely engineered.

Out of the Campagnolo, Shimano and SRAM top level groupsets, SRAM brakes are frequently regarded as the best of the three. If the new brakes really are even better, that's quite impressive.

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Matt_S replied to cat1commuter | 12 years ago
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cat1commuter wrote:

Looks like a very strong offering.

I thought exactly the opposite.

"SRAM Red changes everything"

WAT?

In terms of looks, yes, it probably has the other's beaten. But SRAM look like they're on the back foot with the patent problems, and their marketing dept are pushing the weight for lack of anything else to trumpet.

The front mech linkage is clever, but with Di2 and EPS having auto-trimming, it's not earth shattering.

In the age of teams adding weight to their bikes, even with powermeters and deep dish, I don't see a sub 1800g groupset as a breakthrough.

cat1commuter wrote:

SRAM brakes are frequently regarded as the best of the three.

I've had RED and 7900 brakes, and the DA ones win hands down. I'm interested to see what comes of the hydraulic brakes, though. It opens up some neat possibilities for integration.

That cassette also looks great. I have the current Red one on my otherwise DA bike as the one-piece design doesn't chew up the freehub body like the others. It's one downside is noise. The new profile and elastomers look like they might fix that.

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notfastenough | 12 years ago
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So DA DI2 is just under a pound heavier than 2012 SR. You could offset that with a lighter frame, assuming the UCI play ball. (Possibly a big assumption)

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Simon E replied to notfastenough | 12 years ago
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notfastenough wrote:

So DA DI2 is just under a pound heavier than 2012 SR. You could offset that with a lighter frame, assuming the UCI play ball. (Possibly a big assumption)

All this weight weenie talk of grammes here and there is just marketing hype. In the real world anyone could offset 500g by losing a bit of weight, but that requires effort.

If the redesigned front mech is a genuine improvement then that's a good thing, whether prompted by Andy Schleck's famous gear shift or not. Interesting that with the number of SRAM users in the peloton and the millions of miles they must do plus everyone else using SRAM drivetrain, I haven't come across any other accounts of this happening.

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Ciclismo replied to Simon E | 12 years ago
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Simon E wrote:

All this weight weenie talk of grammes here and there is just marketing hype. In the real world anyone could offset 500g by losing a bit of weight, but that requires effort.

Three words: Pre Game Dump.

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Simon E replied to Ciclismo | 12 years ago
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Ciclismo wrote:

Three words: Pre Game Dump.

Ha ha. I was tempted to mention that particular method of, ahem, lightening the load  3

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don_don replied to Ciclismo | 12 years ago
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Ciclismo wrote:
Simon E wrote:

All this weight weenie talk of grammes here and there is just marketing hype. In the real world anyone could offset 500g by losing a bit of weight, but that requires effort.

Three words: Pre Game Dump.

Eat a 5 course Indian meal (make it a hot one) and drink 7 pints of Stella the night before. Weigh yourself before you go to bed.

Get up the next moring, go to the toilet, then weigh yourself once more. That'll be 1739g gone right there...

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VecchioJo | 12 years ago
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integrated chain-catcher on the front mech fills me with both confidence and mirth
 3

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RoadChimp | 12 years ago
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'SRAM Red changes everything!'

can it change my sheets, they really are getting beyond a joke.

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notfastenough | 12 years ago
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Looks very snazzy. Wonder what the weight difference is between this and DA DI2 or Super Rec EPS? Will Peloton weight weenies care?

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JonMack replied to notfastenough | 12 years ago
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notfastenough wrote:

Looks very snazzy. Wonder what the weight difference is between this and DA DI2 or Super Rec EPS? Will Peloton weight weenies care?

SRAM Red: 1953g
SRAM Red (2012/13): 1739g (BB30)

Super Record EPS: 2098g
Super Record Mech: 1875g
Record EPS: 2184g
Record Mech: 1974g

DA Di2: 2219g
DA Mech: 2149g
Ultegra Di2: 2482g
Ultegra Mech: 2402g

So the new SRAM Red is 136g lighter than the next closest groupset (SR Mech).

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Raleigh | 12 years ago
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What does "Intergrated electronics" mean?

Looks like MTB gear if im honest, very cool though.

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nick_rearden replied to Raleigh | 12 years ago
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Raleigh wrote:

What does "Intergrated electronics" mean?

Refers to the Quarq version of the chainset that measures power. There might be a line missing in the description there.

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Mat Brett replied to nick_rearden | 12 years ago
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nick_rearden wrote:
Raleigh wrote:

What does "Intergrated electronics" mean?

Refers to the Quarq version of the chainset that measures power. There might be a line missing in the description there.

There's not a line missing. It refers to the Power Meter which is the one pictured above.

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