In a surprising turn of events, a brand new SRAM Red AXS groupset has been unearthed at Unbound Gravel, featuring a 13-speed cassette, just two weeks after SRAM unveiled the latest version of Red AXS.
Initially spied by Anne-Marije Rook from our sister site Cycling every weekthe new groupset seems to be a love child of sorts between SRAM’s latest Red groupset and the Eagle Transmission launched last year.
As the race has become the premier race on the gravel season calendar – dubbed by many as the unofficial World Championships – Unbound has become a springboard for new technology and a tough testbed for prototypes. The race attracts a ton of attention every year, and brands know it, so they use it to ‘accidentally’ leak unreleased products to the world, while censoring the details to keep us excited about what they have in the works to have. without giving too much away before launch.
Of all the new technology we thought we might spot during the race, a new SRAM Red group was at the bottom of the list.
The American brand only launched the latest version of its high-quality road groupset on May 15. At that launch it kept the 12-speed cassette, but redesigned the shifters and improved the front gear for those who choose to run it 2x.
Mullet mix or a completely new groupset?
At Unbound last year, SRAM-sponsored gravel racers were seen with a ‘mullet’ setup, combining the previous Red AXS XPLR road shifters with SRAM’s Eagle Transmission mountain bike cassette and derailleur. Eagle Transmission is a 12-speed groupset, wireless – like all of SRAM’s top offerings – with a direct-mount derailleur hanger, known as Universal Derailleur Hanger (UDH). It is highly respected for its durability, which is undoubtedly useful during a 300 kilometer gravel race.
At first glance it looks like riders were doing the same thing again this year, but upon closer inspection it became clear that SRAM has gone one step further by creating an all-new derailleur and adding a 13th cog to the transmission-style cassette. .
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The riders using the new groupset all used the shifters from the recently launched Red groupset, confirming that they will be compatible. Notably, the new derailleur also carries the ‘Red’ branding, so rather than being a mismatch between harder road bikes and mountain bikes, this appears to be an all-new 13-speed version of SRAM Red, presumably part of the XPLR gravel-oriented subdivision.
On the versions we managed to get up close, the largest cog carried 46 teeth, but it’s unconfirmed if this is the only 13-speed cassette option SRAM will make.
It’s clear there are more big things to come from the American brand, and while Unbound Gravel doesn’t have to adhere to the UCI rule of releasing prototypes for public use within twelve months of use, this new product sees looks polished enough to be a real product. thing. We’ll be sure to give you the details when we know more.
