With the same chainrings, the aluminum Rival crankset weighs 100 grams more than the carbon Force crankset. The new brake rotors are the first SRAM has produced that are dedicated to the road, previously adopting designs from its extensive mountain bike line-up. I keep waiting for the moment when their reach no longer exceeds their grasp. Rather, it means that you can set shift points within the app to make it work better for your style of riding and allow the rear derailleur to drop or gain 1-2 gears when you shift the front. Ive ridden the group and theres no friction to be found. Shifting is actuated by switches on the brake levers, which send a signal to the derailleurs to do their thing. At 181g for a 10-28 its light; by comparison, the existing 11-28 is 185g and a Dura-Ace 11-28 is 193g. Launched in 2015, RED eTap was SRAMs first foray into electronic groupsets. Shimano is total opposite. SRAM revolutionised groupsets four years ago with its wireless eTap system. SRAMs new wireless RED eTap AXS road groupset has 12 gears, approaches road gearing in a totally new way, is available in either 1x or 2x setups and features a clutch. The intuitive simplicity of SRAM RED eTap with an added performance of hydraulic road disc brakes (HRD). Its a little reminiscent of a BMX/Track half link, but these are full length links, The new XG-1290 cassette starts from a 10-tooth sprocket and is compatible with XD-R freehubs, The RED eTap AXS shifters are essentially the same shape as the previous shifter but with a carbon and chrome makeover and a new more ergonomic hood cover, AXS means both 1x and 2x drivetrains, but 1x doesnt just mean cross and gravel, SRAM also has this new 1x aero chainset for TT and triathlon with a spider mounted Quarq power meter option, The cross 1x chainset also has a power meter option, If youre not a fan of disc brakes SRAM also offers the new eTap with a rim brake option, A fluid damper built into the rear mech takes care of chain retention meaning eTap is now an option for cyclocross and gravel riders, With SRAMs AXS app (for iOS and Android) you can run firmware updates to the system (and power meter), look at battery levels, and assign actions to the shifters, as well as add-on blip controls and activate the shift modes, SRAMs reworking of gear ratios compared to its Shimano equivalents, SRAMs range of gearing offers a wider spread than we would have imagined, The new rear mech uses the exiting eTap battery as does the front mech, SRAM has finally produced a dedicated rotor for the road, and with its sculpted carrier and stainless (round-edged) brake track it looks the business, The new cassette keeps a close ratio of single-tooth jumps for the first seven sprockets, Ive been riding the new eTap for a few months now on Orbeas new Orca, which is available with the new eTap and Mavic Cosmic carbon Pro UST wheels and FSA K-Force carbon finsihing kit for 7,649. A complete group. This pushes up the top end ratio slightly to satisfy the ever-increasing speeds of pro racers, but also leads to a more efficient chainline when riding faster. Whereas SRAM brakes use DOT fluid, Shimano's use mineral oil. Thats all they had available at the launch, but Ive pulled the left arm and cassette off our demo bike and added those weights to the post. SRAM Red eTap AXS brake/shift levers have a large single paddle each. I guess the big question is this: would I change my existing eTap RED 22-speed for this new model? This set-up has greater capacity than SRAM's and Shimano claims a range of 1000km between charges. Sure, its all clean and new, but still, it was noticeable. SRAM competitor Campagnolo might well have got to 12-speed first, but with the wireless, electronic RED eTap getting a wider revamp, which goes far beyond the fabled 12th sprocket, its taken aim at nothing less than a complete rethink of road bike gearing. 2021 Road & Gravel Groupset Weight Comparison Updated Apr-2021 (added Rival AXS 12-speed) Crankset weights will vary depending on size and length. It's set to cost. AXS might be the perfectly executed product to change my mind. Electronic drivetrains are the future of cycling, and for the last two years, SRAMs wireless Red eTap AXS and Force eTap AXS groups have been at the top of the food chain. Wolf Tooth is working on one but its a little further out. The SRAM Red eTap AXS Shift-Brake Levers uses wireless electronic shifting to get the job done. SRAM RED and Force AXS rear derailleurs use Orbit Fluid Dampers to prevent dropped chains and chain noise on rough roads. Thats something you could have noted. Shimano Dura-Ace brakes come paired with XTR MTB brake rotors, Shimano's E-Tube app can be used to fine tune shifting. SRAM took a new approach to road bike gearing with Red eTap AXS. You can add me to the 12s mechanical waiting list. This narrower grip is possible because Rival eTap AXS doesnt have contact point adjustment for the brakes, and also does not allow for blips (auxiliary remote shift buttons). The smaller articulation angle between the chain links as they pass over an 11-tooth sprocket should also lead to lower friction, although SRAM claims that the 12-speed Red eTap with a 10-tooth sprocket is as efficient as its previous generation 11-speed system with an 11-tooth smallest sprocket. Finally, the 46/33 with a 10-33 is the same as a 50/34 with an 11-34 cassette. The power meter has a long, 400+ hour battery life and uses a replaceable lithium AAA battery. The lag from the wireless protocol should be imperceptible. To reduce costs, there is a slight weight penalty. The rear mech will work with either a 1x or 2x system and to get around the need for a clutch on a 1x system, used to retain chain tension on rough terrain, SRAMs come up with a clever alternative, called Orbit. Always a strong suit of SRAM, the braking is better than ever, looking and feeling like something dedicated for the road and not something cobbled from a mountain bike parts bin. So I wanted to take a minute to process all that before writing my first ride impressions of the new groups. Sponsoring teams IS marketing. No mention of the throw-away crankset + power meter when you need or want new rings, no mention of the need to replace your hubs to work with XDR, coin batteries in the shifters, 10 tooth cog.the list goes on. With the exception of a brake warranty issue (albeit a pretty big one), this is hardly the truth. Ive ridden Red etap and the delay in shifting was quite annoying considering this is supposed to be a top tier group its pretty lame that it shifted slower than 105. Each is designed to work with a specific 12-speed cassette (of which there are also three), but you can mix and match those pairings. The frame is made out of carbon and the condition is Brand New. Or not being able to use your wheels without swapping out parts on them? SRAMs break with traditional gear ratios has meant some radical design changes chainset included. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. shifters, derailleurs, and calipers are ~$2500. Shimano is rolling out special editions for gravel and road. Some folks like to find some little nitpick or make something up just so they sound critical, but not us. You could have mentioned something to that affect. As traditional freehub bodies are too big to allow anything smaller than an 11, SRAM chose to use a variation on the aforementioned XD Driver it pioneered on its 1x mountain bikes (and which has already been seen on 1x groups on road, cyclocross and gravel bikes). Anyone willing to spend thousands on this mess will soon discover that SRAM completely missed any opportunity to develop/refine the many awesome features of ETAP 11. Front derailleur cable routing wireless. The Rival AXS front derailleur is optimized for X-Range chainrings and uses Yaw technology, so theres no need for trim to compensate for extreme gear combinations. We've removed bottom bracketweight as these are frame dependant. Warren Rossiter is BikeRadar and Cycling Plus magazines senior technical editor for road and gravel. You can also buy a single ring chainset or power meter with chainring sizes from 36t to 50t. All rights reserved. SRAM Red eTap AXS is the second incarnation of SRAM's wireless electronic groupset. We were lucky enough to get our hands on Orbeas Orca a few months ago in the new eTap AXS spec and its this bike Ive used for my testing. Also like SRAM, Shimano's shifters communicate wirelessly with the derailleurs. These are then mounted onto the crank arm directly using a splined interface. Weight weighed: kA. Advanced chain management keeps it silent and secure no matter the terrain. FYI Heres a full list of everything you can buy as of February 2019, and theres plenty more coming. doesnt actually have a link connected to it with the list of bikes. Similarly, aftermarket groups should be shipping now, too, and you will need the complete groupsadly, nothing from the original eTap group will work here. By far my favourite, however, is the compensation shifting. For example, in the eTap AXS, the largest ring on what is effectively the double chainset has 50-teeth and the smallest sprocket is 10-teeth, which means the ratio is 5:1and the wheel will turn five times for every pedal revolution. Everything is geared around the 10-tooth sprocket on the cassette, and this has allowed the brand to shrink the front chainrings, pushing the extra gear range to the back. Thanks for the thoughtful response. SO many people ride and love to ride the 1st gen etap. But with a Force AXS group coming in April, that would be good timing. And it certainly looks bulky and clunky even compared to Ultegra di2. To increase the rear cassettes range it needed to have a 10-tooth bottom sprocket. A whole new concept? Wide cranksets use a longer DUB spindle that will fit either road and mountain bike bottom brackets for maximum frame compatibility. The upside is that all new products moving forward (at least for the next couple years) will be built on this platform and be cross compatible. With Rival eTap AXS, the power meter is now entirely contained within the DUB spindle, adding only 40 grams to a complete crankset. SRAM now gives you the 50/37t chainrings previously reserved for Red, but the test bike was specced with smaller 48/35t rings - SRAM's version of the mid-compact chainset. Once you dial it in, I can see it being a cool thing for beginners or triathletes who dont want to have to think about doing too many things while riding. The photos seem to show only the chainring and drive side crank arm. It can absorb water from the atmosphere, but even with 4% water still boils at 155C. By pairing these to smaller chainrings, SRAM has been able to provide more gear range at the back that exceeds the top and bottom gearing of traditional ratios, as well as seven consecutive one tooth changes. Theyve addressed what few issues the first group had, made it faster and more capable, and its better looking than ever. Just dont pretend that either have been hitting the others nail on the head. This is called compensating shifting by SRAM and semi-synchronised shifting by Shimano. So far the only cranks that fit are 24/22mm ones. Theres also an all-new motor with more power and faster signal transfer, to go along with the groupsets overhauled chipset thats running things. Would you question the quality of something if EVERY one of your friends was using it and lauded it? A rear derailleur with an uprated spring or friction bushing acting on the jockey wheel cage. Beginners or triathletes pure gold right there! SRAM unveils its new Force eTap AXS component group, in a dual chainring, 23-speed option. One thing we did notice in our testing was that the SRAM groupset was significantly more silent than its Shimano Dura-Ace rival.