Carbon Unit

A guy I ride with owns a bike shop and is an avid SRAM fan. He tells me that in late 2013 SRAM road group will be available in 11 speed. He has heard rumors that SRAM will be available in electronic possibly in 2014.

I have Campy now and although I do like it, I am SRAM curious and might switch to Red for my next group.

Anyone else heard anything about this?

canam73

Hmm. My favorite thing about Sram is that all of their stuff is mechanical 10 speed. Oh well, I knew it wouldn't last forever.

Carbon Unit

If both Campy and Shimano move to 11 speed, SRAM will eventually need to do the same but it may not be across the entire line Campy still makes 10 speed.

bigbadwullf

First bike with SRAM. Best shifting I've ever had on a bike.

Bob Dopolina 

Taichung Bike Week is an industry only show where manufacturers and Product Managers meet to see new stuff. It happens mid November (we already have hotels and meetings booked) 2014 is already well underway here. If nothing comes out of TBW regarding Sram for 2014 I would seriously doubt it.

2013 is olde news (Eurobike and Interbike are done) and I haven't heard a whisper about SRAM 11spd. We don't meet with Sram but we do work with assembly factories and nada. We have also been working with two hub factories on Shimano 11spd stuff and no one has mentioned Sram so unless it is going to be some HUGE surprise at Taipei show (which is within the realm of possibility) I doubt it.

Also, if it is going to be some huge surprise, why the heck would some shop guy know about it? He's so far down the food chain that's he's two years behind stuff PM will book next month.

Sram does need to do something, though and I don't think pretty colours are going to cut it this time.

Inertianinja

11. speed SRAM would not be surprising. a huge selling point for them is that they are compatible with Shimano...now that Shimano revealed their 11sp spec, SRAMcan do theirs.

oldbobcat

Campagnolo has had 11 for years and Shimano will introduce Dura-Ace 11-speed this summer. Electronic might be a fad, but another cog on the cassette is something we can all use. Not that we really need it, but if we had it we'd use it.

Shoot. I'm about to order a Force-spec'ed bike tomorrow, too.

Carbon Unit

Well, it may be just a rumor at this point. If I needed a group today, I would buy whatever was available.

grolby

I'm not sure about many things, but here are two that I would bet a large sum of money on:

1. Electronic is not a fad; it's the future of high-end components.*

2. SRAM is working on an electronic group, even as they are insist that the mechanical purity of their groups is a valuable selling point (Yeah. Maybe to a select few. At the moment. While electronic systems still have a price premium.). They need 11-speed, too, but if I'm SRAM, I'm much more worried about developing a competitive electronic groupset.






* And on top of that, I think Shimano has signaled their intentions with Alfine Di2 to trickle electronic shifting down the product line as aggressively as possible. They're going after it like they did SIS, it'll just take a bit longer.

Nick Bain

I had sram gripshift on first bike I bought. A murray mtn bike with 21 speed gripshift. it must have been in 95

Biscayne05

I wonder what does SRAM have in store for Force and Rival. They gave Apex the White group (eh, it's nothing really) but nothing for the other two sets. I'm looking to do another build with a Force or Red since I already have Rival on my main bike that I'd like to transfer onto my other frame.

I <3 Robots

March 2013...somethings gonna drop...

Force has Zero Loss for the rear shifting, mid cage rear derailleur, and added the "stiffer" SRAM Red chainrings...available now...

robertkat

Actually in a few weeks XX1 will hit the retail market. So yes, SRAM has gone 11 speed. Ok so it's not specifically a road group, but whatever.

topflightpro

As Sram started on the MTB side, they seem to do things there first, then transfer the tech back to their road groups. So, yes, I can see them going 11 speed in 2014.

That said, I just got the new Sram stuff and am quite pleased with it.

Bike Gremlin

13 speed or nothing!

StanSeven

I'm waiting for 15 speed Di2

JonnyHK 

I actually know an engineering production manager for SRAM - I'll ask and see what he says!

Nick Bain

once you get to eleven is it feasable to start comparing the bennies to a triple chainraing?

roadwarrior

Then you'll be able to replace the chain after every ride. It will look like dental floss.

ILUVUK

I need 11-speed about as much as I need a razor with 6 blades.

Carbon Unit

I have never riden 11 speed but I understand it shifts better and has closer spacing which should be a good thing.

BarracksSi

It fits more ratios closer together. There's that "magical" 16t cog that goes missing on some cassettes with a wider range. If you want 11-26 or wider, something in the middle has to go, and the 16t is often the next cog to get deleted. For some people at some speeds, the jump from 15t to 17t is awkward -- 15 feels like mashing while 17 is spinning with no resistance.

Bob Dopolina, thanks for your persistence in posting your insider info. The only way to get anything deeper is to hear from a manufacturer's engineer.

grolby

More ratios closer together is just one option; I find the laser-focus on one particular cog that some people have a bit difficult to comprehend. The alternative to squeezing another cog in the middle is to keep the same spacing but throw on another lower gear. For example, I have a 10-speed 12-25 cassette. With 11, I could add an 18 and tighten up the spacing a bit. But I'm happy with the spacing as it is, so I would much rather throw that extra cog on as a 27 or 28 and get a really nicely-spaced climbing cassette. As cog counts have grown, tighter spacing has become less less significant, after all you can't get smaller jumps than 1 tooth! What's amazing to me is that, with 10-speed cassettes, you can get a general-purpose gear range like 12-25 that's still closely-spaced enough to race flat criteriums with, which is good enough for me. Going to eleven takes it one step further, allowing most of us to really have one cassette that will do for absolutely everything. Anyway, YMMV and all that.

MarkThailand

+1

I find myself using the 15-16-17 rings of my 11-23 cassette while I spin a 170mm crank with a 34/50 chain ring at an average cadence of 90 rpm cruising (35 kmh/22 mph) on flats. The 6 to 7% gear ratio increases of the 15-16-17 are ideal for me. The 17 to 19 shift is an 11% shift is okay. But, on a 11-25 cassette, the 15 to 17 shift, a 13.3% shift, somehow feels too steep. I looked at Sheldon Brown's site and played with the gear calculator before deciding that I needed a cassette with a 15-16-17 ring.

My goal now is to maintain as smooth and constant as possible cadence for my goal of a solo sub 5 hour century.

When facing headwind or going up slight inclines, I will let my cadence drop to 85 before shifting up to bring my cadence back up to 91-92. Conversely, when riding with a tailwind or going down a slight decline, I will let my cadence rise to 95 before shifting down to bring my cadence back down to 90. This is also how I accelerate, increasing my cadence from 89-90 up to 95-96 then shifting down to bring my cadence to 90 again. I am not sure if this makes me a masher or spinner but I hope to raise my average cadence up to 95 without me bouncing up an down. My bike fitter told me that I will probably need to lower my saddle about 5mm, which is exactly what I will be experimenting with my SRAM Quarq-equipped training bike.

That is for my next goal, a solo double century and a solo sub 4.5 hour century.

Mark

springs

On flat terrain, closer ratios are good. In the mountains and rolling hills, wider ratios are good.