In advance of the Tour of California time trial in Solvang (and with Michellie Jones on hand to lend her first-tester expertise) SRAM gives Triathlete a first look—and ride—on the hotly-awaited tri group.
By Jay Prasuhn
Feb. 22, 2007 -- Some of you webhunters might have seen spy shots of what SRAM has been trying to keeping a closely-guarded secret for several months; a multisport compliment that would (at least for triathletes) complete last spring’s debut of the SRAM Force and Rival road groupset.
The Chicago-based brand generated massive buzz in the road realm with it’s unique DoubleTap shifting system, one which saw a single inboard lever tap execute a shift in one direction, and an deeper “double tap” that caused the shifting mechanism to leapfrog the downcog shift (hence the “will-you-make-the-leap” promo) and engage an upcog shift. All done in a compact, light ergonomic integrated brake/shift lever.
The market has taken to it, with the groupsets being lauded for crispness of action, light weight and ergonomics. Triathlete was there and was summarily wowed, but there was one question out of our mouths: Where’s the tri/TT shift levers and brakes? It might be a complete road group, but to triathletes, it’s a massive chasm to omit bar end shifters.
Well, after tons of work, feedback, SRAM debuts a set of carbon fiber bar end shifters brake levers, with the debut, not ironically, in advance of the Tour of California stop in Solvang, Calif.
Our first-look reveals one obvious first: A shift lever molded from of carbon fiber. In lieu of a stout shifter the market is familiar with, SRAM has chosen a thin, light carbon fiber paddle platform to execute shifts. They’re fixed to an anodized aluminum mount: weight is the new industry lightweight at 138 grams per pair.
While the front chainring shifter runs friction and will work with any brand of front derailleur, the rear shifter work in concert with the SRAM rear derailleur’s 1:1 cable pull ratio that lines up only with the throw of the SRAM Force or Rival rear derailleur and spacing of the SRAM rear cassette.
The brake levers take a few elements from what we’ve seen to created unique aero lever; a one-piece carbon lever doglegs, with the braking pivot splitting the dogleg; The carbon housing for the spring is narrower than on many aero brake levers. And they’re made truly functional with a return spring. Weight on them is 99 grams per pair.
SRAM brought current Hawaii Ironman World Champ Michellie Jones to Solvang in concert with the Amgen Tour of Cali TT, and has been busy supporting one of their sponsored road squads, the Priority Health Cycling Team, during the Tour.
With a decked-out neutral support vehicle following driven by SRAM’s Alex Wasserman, a group including Jones and her husband/manager Pete Coulson, SRAM road product manager Ron Ritzler and marketing manager Michael Zellmann headed out onto the Tour of California time trial course north of Solvang, loaded with flats, climbs, sweeping descents, and on this day, lots of rain. Plenty of opportunity to put the shift and brake levers to use.
Our first shocker was found within 20 seconds on the Cannondale Ironman Six13 test rig. The front friction shifter smoothly lifted and dropped the chain to and from the front ring. But the rear derailleur is a uniquely new feel. The lever push is a bit lighter than other brands, requiring less force to execute a solid, exact shift. And when pushing the lever down, it settled into gear with a light “thunk.” And there was never a hesitation in any gear, particularly the 11 or 12-tooth, where other systems can often dance between cogs, undecided which the derailleur wants to fall into. The Exact Actuation works brilliantly. Through our two-hour ride I kept playing with that rear, really loving the lighter action required to execute the shift, and the solid drop into the gear without hesitation.
The levers themselves weigh in at just 138 grams and feature that sexy carbon paddle shifter paddle. And those red plugs with the 3V on it? Ritzler tells us it’s a little inside thing they wanted to throw onto it for fun; the three ‘V’s would be “venga, venga, venga,’ Spanish for go, go, go. Just the inspiration you can use during a race. Install is a breeze, with much less parts required in that shifter head unit, there’s less parts to lose. The friction on the front shifter can also be adjusted by tightening the fixing bolts on the sides. They will fit industry standard on cowhorn bar inserts.
The lever was fantastic on several fronts. It wasn’t aerodynamically bulky from the front, but it wasn’t so thin that a harrowing descent with a white-knuckler grabbing handfuls of brake will find hard grabbing uncomfortable. They’re only 99 grams per pair of pure carbon, and is even more impressive aerodynamically when looked at from the front. A finer element that might be missed is that the carbon blade itself doesn’t fall into any insert, meaning there is zero chance for rattling.
“This complete group is spot-on,” said Jones before our ride in the rain. “I really love the feel of the bar end shifters. Everything in this group really works. And it’s great working with a company that’s really interested in being in triathlon. They really care about our feedback.”
What bikes can we expect to see set up with complete SRAM groups? We won’t see them on 2007 bikes coming out of your local shop, but 2008 will be a different story. Some brands including Kestrel, Cannondale, Specialized and Kuota spec SRAM road groups on their 2007 road line, and we can safely assume their tri bikes may feature SRAM in ’08.
“It’s a fun product, and we’re going to hit the triathlon and time trial markets loud and proud,” Ritzler said. “
Pricing is yet to be firmed—check this report in a day for a finalized price for the brakes and levers.
With a new game in town for triathon, SRAM has made a concerted effort to address the tri market and its needs and, really, with the first carbon shifter in the game made marked improvements in a component that most would think couldn’t be improved upon.
If you're worried about price, don't be. The TT shifter set will retail for $195, while the brake levers will go for $118 per pair.
Check out the May issue of Triathlete for a detailed review of the SRAM Force Triathlon groupset.