MONTEREY, CA (BRAIN)—There was plenty of new eye candy to drool over at the SRAM booth at Sea Otter on Friday as the component maker unveiled its latest and greatest to the public.
The big buzz centered around the new Apex entry-level aluminum road groupset, which borrows technology from its higher-end counterpart Red including DoubleTap, Reach Adjust and Zero-Loss shifting.
The 50/34 double compact chainrings coupled with SRAM’s new PG 1050 11-32 tooth cassette offers a wider range of gears to handle climbs and descents, and it’s faster and lighter than most popular road triple groups, said SRAM’s Bill Keith as he detailed Apex to a group of about two dozen journalists.
“What we’ve done here is create a road group that pretty much eliminates the need for a triple,” Keith said.
The aftermarket price is $799.
SRAM also showed three new aluminum wheels—the S27 AL Comp, the S30 AL Sprint and the S30 AL Race. The wheels began shipping to retailers in January and response so far has been positive, said Bastien Donzé.
“We’re having a problem keeping up with demand so it’s nice to see we are gaining some traction in the market,” Donzé added.
SRAM also showed its new Avid Shorty Ultimate cyclocross brakes.
On the mountain side, SRAM’s big push is the expansion of its 2x10 drivetrain technology, first introduced last year with XX. This year, the 10-speed concept trickles down the line with versions in XO, X9 and X7.
The XO group includes an XO 10-speed rear derailleur available in long, medium and short cage, 10-speed trigger shifters in black, red, gold or blue colors, Truvativ 10-speed cranks, Avid XO brakes and SRAM XG-1099 cassette.
The X7 version is dedicated 2x10, but all other levels come in either 2x10 or 3x10 gearing.
Click on above link for Sea Otter PDF Newsletter Day 3.
(PHOTO of SRAM's Michael Zellman)
—Nicole Formosa
