Seattle Forrest

It sounds like this would give the bike a slightly cleaner look, and still not work. Next year, there will be a rotating 1x system.

All of the design’s front shifting mechanisms are built into the crankset. There’s nothing – zero – mounted to the frame. The system includes a wireless receiver, battery, and one motor, all of which enable three separate derailleurs. It’s all tied together with linkages and cams and pivots and springs and sensors in a symphony of electro-mechanical action. I’ll skip over most of the internal fiddly bits, and focus on how shifting actually works.

...

SRAM engineers found a way around this, but it adds significant complexity to the system. Sensors know the rotational position of the cranks, so the downshifting elements only move into shift position when they’re between about 6:30 and 11 o’clock. When one downshift element approaches 11 o’clock, it encounters the side of the chain, and pushes the chain inward and down to the small ring. That’s why there are two downshifting elements: press a shift button, and the system waits until one of them is in the right spot. That means two shift periods per pedal stroke.



https://cyclingtips.com/2020/06/radi...g-derailleurs/

biker128pedal

Interesting the wireless technology allows it. But Looks like it may add expense to the chain rings or a more complex replacement procedure.

base2 

OMG.

What's wrong with a Schlumpf drive? They work great. They have more range than what a standard 2x can offer. They are all sealed up & have none of this confounding complexity.

I bet this high maintenance proprietary monstrosity will cost well into 4 digits after market maturity...& still won't be supported in 10 years.

Replacement rings, anyone?

SRAM: Do you even bicycle, Bro?

spelger

wonder how it handles with a dead battery. i'll stick with mechanics.

smashndash

For a company that thinks 1x is the future, this sure seems like a lot of investment into 2x.

I’ll bet $1.00 that even if SRAM came out with this, which is questionable, people would still prefer di2.

GlennR

I have one word... 1X. Problem solved

RiceAWay

This is silly. There's NO WAY you can get it to work without dragging unless it is part of an electronic shifting group and there is a lot of built-in programming to force it into the correct position on top to bottom cog shifts. That would take THREE motors on the front. SRAM does not have good engineering and most of their components are cheap junk that you pay premium prices for.

RiceAWay

I did too until I happened to get a Ultegra Di2 group with hydraulic disks on the cheap. After I got it working I was sold on it.

My DuraAce manual group is noisy and very hard to set up properly and I've been working on my bikes for 40 years.

RiceAWay

Seattle Forest = If they are using a single motor imagine the linkage and the number of rotational points. And SRAM cannot even make a bearing that doesn't wear out in a couple of months.

Psimet2001 

I've said it many times and I stand by it - we will see the return of triples.

Also this is just a patent. I wouldn't hold your breath.

seypat

+1 on the return of triples.

If a computer takes over the FD shifting duties that will be the direction the industry goes.

spelger

agree with the triple, i love mine.

a computer can still shift the FD if done right but this just seems like a cockamamie idea with a lot of moving parts. so many things to go wrong.

noodle soup

Is today April 1st?

kansukee

What could possibly go wrong?

Dean V

If it looks good and works well people will buy it.
Simplicity is not a factor for the majority of consumers.

Rogerogeroge

Chances are SRAM never intends to produce this, but is only doing so to file the patents. One of the reasons SRAM went wireless when they developed E-tap was because so many patents already filed was a big hinderance.

grizzly59

No batteries, no bluetooth, no cables, no brifter, and it's French:

Seattle Forrest

I bet that works better than a yaw DR.

justonwo

Technology companies often file all sorts of patents for things that may or may not materialize. Sometimes oddball ideas lead to breakthroughs. It’s healthy and normal for parents like this to get filed. Not sure why you guys are getting out the pitchforks and torches.

79pmooney

My rather cynical observation is that SRAM has been burned rather badly by at least one very famous FD mishap. The very public chain jam that cost Tour de France racer Andy Schleck the race, SRAM FDs are widely talked os as inferior to their competitors. I'm inclined to agree after picking up a collection of SRAM, Campy, Shimano and SunTour FDs to see if I can get a low Q-factor triple working well.

If you cannot make an FD work, well, try something else.

Ben

Darth Lefty 

This reminds me of that C&V expanding chain ring.

Dean V

I am just constantly amazed that people still keep going on about Sram front mechs not working well.
I have had several and the shifting is excellent and comparable to the other brands.

base2 

I've never known a SRAM front derailleur, of any vintage to work well. My wife hates hers. And although it should work, it doesn't. It's not adjustment of the limit screws. It's not cable tension. It's not alignment. It's not height above the rings. The performance is just spotty, inconsistant, & terrible. Over the years I've made every attempt to address whatver the concern is "this ride" but there is just nothing more to do & she is begging for a swap to anything else from SRAM Red.

You can now add rear derailleur to the list of garbage SRAM turns out as well...A friend & I took out our mountain bikes the other day. Hers had never been crashed, knocked over etc. & had only been on 1 other ride. A hollow pin of rolled steel in the derailleur bent (& then sheared) from what we can only figure was vibration of riding or just simply the force of the long lever of the derailleur cage necessary to extend up to the 50 tooth cog. To cap it off, while sorting out the derailleur situation, we learned the shifter has enough room internally for the head of the shift cable to turn around & jam up the guts of the shifter. It's just sloppy design. It was a long, slow 7 mile ride/coast down off the mountain.

$125 for a better derailleur with a solid pin, plus labor on a twice riden bike.

I'd send my money elsewhere. Over-priced, poorly engineered & cheaply executed.

Seattle Forrest

If this becomes a thing in reality, they can call it triple tap.

Bah Humbug

So, the strategy is to convince us all that we don't need FDs, wait for us to buy frames with no provisions for FDs, let us realize we still want FDs, then sell an incredibly overengineered system to give us an FD back?