Originally Posted by
mikethe
I mean naturally let's talk about electric since it looks like we all moving to electric only - with the rival and probably widely expected electric 105...
So here is the thing - 13X2 sounds more of the same without real added value. Do you expect the next Red/Force to be 13X1 (for road racers)? This could be excited innovation...
I'm pretty sure 1x13 is on the cards now Campag have dipped their toes in the water. But more for the gravel market than road racing, at least initially. So I would expect to see both 2x13 and 1x13 options for road. Will probably be more of an even split than we see today between 2x12 vs 1x12. But I would be very surprised to see this in the next 12 months. I don't see any commercial incentive right now. Why would SRAM NOT want to sell front mechs and 2x chainrings at this point? It's not like their competition is putting any pressure on them to go 1x only. XPLR is less than 12 months old too.
If SRAM take any notice of public perception they would be focusing more on perceived quality (styling, finish, reliability) rather than new tech. That's why I'm thinking there might be some sort of facelift coming for Red and Force. It doesn't help that Rival, Force and Red don't really have a coherent cosmetic look and finish like Shimano do across their range. It looks more like different industrial design teams styled each one independently.