MONTEREY, CA (BRAIN)—SRAM launched new product on Friday to a swarm of Sea Otter media for both its road and mountain bike lines.
The big news came at the end of the road launch when SRAM's road public relations manager Michael Zellmann announced that SRAM would launch its own wheelset line at Eurobike this fall. No further details were available, but Zellmann did say that Zipp will continue to reside at the wheel market’s high-end.
The road side highlight was the re-launch of Rival—first introduced in 2006.
“Rival’s going to get the upgrade that we’ve had success and favorability with Red in, which is the reach adjust,” Zellmann said. “It’s also going to have the zero-loss shifting to go with a nice black anodized polish finish.” Rival will retail for $919.
Force will get similar upgrades to Rival and will retail for $1,399.
SRAM also launched TT product and the larger diameter BB30 bottom bracket.
SRAM showed a couple main highlights on the mountain side. One being the new and improved Reba fork, available for both 26-inch and 29-inch wheel sizes, with up to 120-millimeters of travel. Both wheel sizes will also offer either a standard quick release, or the new Maxle Lite option based on the existing 20 x 110-millimeter thru axle standard.
“We feel like this is definitely the direction to go from a standardization standpoint, but also from a pure mechanical standpoint,” said Eric Schutt, mountain bike public relations manager. Reba will retail from $475-$701.
Another big hit was the new Elixir R brake system. The new pivot location enables less initial power, and deep stroke modulation, allowing the rider to better manage and use increased overall power. At a target weight of 375 grams (Front Post Mount, 160-millimeter rotor) the Elixir R weighs 20 grams less than the current Juicy 7. Elixir R will retail for $129 (per wheel).
—Jason Norman
