Big News from SRAM
Big news from SRAM today, and for the best take on it, I’m sharing what Open Cycle has to say. The new “uber-group” for gravel: Red XPLR is 13 speeds and uses SRAM Transmission. That means we now have Transmission for gravel. I’ve spent a better part of my cycling career decoding SRAM’s marketing into blog posts. Now is as good a time as any to share an opinion from someone else, my friend Gerard Vroomen. Below I’ve paraphrased his post on the topic, just the most important bits.
Big News from SRAM What’s New and What’s Known?
The completely new parts on this Red XPLR groupset are the rear derailleur, the crank, and the cassette.
REAR DERAILLEUR
The rear derailleur is of the Transmission style, SRAM’s term for derailleurs that attach directly to the frame without needing a derailleur hanger. There’s often confusion between Transmission and UDH, so here’s a quick rundown.
The Red Transmission rear derailleur boasts all the alignment and sturdiness benefits of Eagle Transmission (you might have seen some impressive videos showcasing its strength).
However, it’s important to note that this Red XPLR rear derailleur is only compatible with one cassette. It does not work with larger Eagle cassettes, not only because Eagle is 12-speed, but also because the derailleur and cassette function as a system, requiring a 46T largest cog.
CASSETTE:
The big news is that Red XPLR comes with a 13-speed cassette, making it the second drivetrain with 13 cogs (after Campagnolo Ekar) and the first electronic one. The only available cassette is a 10-46T. For those interested in details, the cogs are: 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 24, 28, 32, 38, 46. It’s uncertain if other cassettes will be offered. The simplicity of the rear derailleur’s design means it lacks some typical adjustment options, limiting it to a 46T largest cog.
Fortunately, a 10-46T range suits many applications. Personally, I prefer 10-44T or 10-42T for pure gravel/allroad, and 10-50T or 10-52T mullet for rougher rides, but 10-46T is still a solid 9.5 out of 10.
CRANK
SRAM has long offered two chainlines for road/gravel: 45.0mm standard and 47.5mm for more clearance. Which crank comes with which chainline has been a mix (some might call it a mess). Typically, 2x cranks are 45mm except for the 43-30 combo at 47.5mm, and 1x cranks come in both, depending on the groupset.
With Red, these specs are more streamlined. All 2x cranksets are 45mm chainline, while all 1x cranksets are 47.5mm. This makes sense, as 2x is used mostly for road and fast gravel where smaller tires require less clearance, and 1x is dominant for tough gravel where larger tires benefit from the extra 5mm clearance.
Big News from SRAM THE REST
The other parts are familiar from the new 2×12 Red groups, as they haven’t changed. This includes the new shift/brake levers and updated brake calipers, which are also part of Red XPLR.
And there’s the Hammerhead Karoo, my favorite bike computer right now, despite its annoyingly loud alerts. The first thing I do when I turn on the Karoo is disable the sound because the beep is so embarrassing to ride with. It’s baffling how this made it into production and even more so that you can’t adjust the volume or tone (the previous Karoo had perfect tone and volume, making the lack of adjustability less of an issue). I’m not alone in this. But aside from that, it’s a fantastic computer, and hopefully, a software update will soon address the alert sounds.
I haven’t tried the new Karoo yet, but I can imagine how annoying that would be.