Avete sentito di questo nuovo gruppo della Sram?
Cyclingnews.com aveva riportato un articolo pochi giorni fa, ma poi è stato magicamente
tolto.
Lo riporto qui sotto dal sito WW:
Tech Feature: SRAM Red revealed, May 15, 2007
Sneak Preview: SRAM set to expand road lineup with new range-topping Red group
By James Huang
SRAM launched an ambitious road component program last year with the complete (and wholly new) Force and Rival groups, both of which utilize the innovative DoubleTap shifter design. In particular, the top-level Force group was billed as a formidable match for the best offerings from Osaka and Vicenza in both performance and weight.
While our experience has shown Force to be an exceptionally capable group, there was clearly still room for obvious improvement, especially in the rear cassette, front derailleur, and in overall bearing friction. As it turns out, SRAM was well aware of those opportunities, too, as word has leaked out on a new top-tier group that is intended to eclipse even its own Force offering.
Meet Red
Much like Bianchi's celeste green and Park Tool's signature blue, red has become the trademark color for SRAM and now is the moniker for the new component group. We apologize that we don't have any images to show you of SRAM Red, but we do have full details on the group's technical developments and improvements so you'll have to settle for that for the time being. All weights listed are claimed figures but we'll verify the numbers ourselves once we get our hands on some test samples.
The new Red rear derailleur receives a now-heaping dose of carbon fiber which will replace magnesium in the inner parallelogram link and aluminum in the inner cage plate. A titanium main spring supplants the conventional steel coil spring of Force which will shave a few grams but may also provide Red with even snappier shifting response similar to what it did for X.0 several years ago. Derailleur pulleys will be fitted with hybrid ceramic cartridge bearings (courtesy of CeramicSpeed in Denmark) as standard equipment. At 158g, the material upgrades on Red will shave 18g from Force.
Major weight savings were achieved with the new Red front derailleur which will only be produced in a braze-on style; a new lightweight carbon-friendly band clamp will be available where necessary. The main body of the derailleur seems largely unchanged from last year's debut offerings, but a hardened titanium cage shaves 30g from Force's steel version, yielding an impressive total weight of just 58g (braze-on).
Last year's Force DoubleTap levers were already superlight at just over 300g per pair (130g lighter than Dura-Ace), but their fitment on some handlebars yielded an occasionally awkward reach and the rear-exiting derailleur housing sometimes rubbed us the wrong way over time. At 280g, Red will not only cleave 23g from Force per pair, but now will also incorporate adjustable reach on both the shifter and brake levers. Also, just like in the early days of Campagnolo's Ergopower shifters, users will now have the option of placing the derailleur housing on either the front or rear of the bar (sadly, Force and Rival supposedly will not get this feature unless you're feeling brave with the Dremel tool). Even though our experience with Force has proved it unnecessary, rumor has it that the Red front shifter will also now include a conventional trim position for the big chainring.
Last year's OG 1070 cassette was arguably the most glaring hole in the Force lineup. Shared with Rival, the Force cassette mounted just three cogs on an aluminum carrier while the rest were just fairly humble steel plate. We don't have any weight figures for the new OG 1090 cassette, but a carbon composite carrier and a mix of titanium and steel cogs promises to shed a heap of mass. According to our sources, just 11-23T and 11-26 10spd flavors will be on the menu for the time being.
Crankset and brake caliper upgrades sound somewhat more subtle although we honestly don't know the exact details here. Nevertheless, minor weight savings suggested by our information suggest some minor tweaking on the crankset (765g vs. 790g and 765g vs. 780g for standard and compact BCD, respectively). More importantly, though, its GXP external-style bottom bracket will include a standard hybrid ceramic bearing upgrade, also from CeramicSpeed. Brake calipers are still made from cold-forged aluminum and shave about 14g a pair from Force.
Will SRAM's new group leave others seeing Red?
On the whole, SRAM Red will dip a complete component group under the 2kg for the first time. With that lustful figure and its anticipated performance, we'll freely admit that we can't to see it ourselves.
Stay tuned.
Cyclingnews.com aveva riportato un articolo pochi giorni fa, ma poi è stato magicamente
tolto.Lo riporto qui sotto dal sito WW:
Tech Feature: SRAM Red revealed, May 15, 2007
Sneak Preview: SRAM set to expand road lineup with new range-topping Red group
By James Huang
SRAM launched an ambitious road component program last year with the complete (and wholly new) Force and Rival groups, both of which utilize the innovative DoubleTap shifter design. In particular, the top-level Force group was billed as a formidable match for the best offerings from Osaka and Vicenza in both performance and weight.
While our experience has shown Force to be an exceptionally capable group, there was clearly still room for obvious improvement, especially in the rear cassette, front derailleur, and in overall bearing friction. As it turns out, SRAM was well aware of those opportunities, too, as word has leaked out on a new top-tier group that is intended to eclipse even its own Force offering.
Meet Red
Much like Bianchi's celeste green and Park Tool's signature blue, red has become the trademark color for SRAM and now is the moniker for the new component group. We apologize that we don't have any images to show you of SRAM Red, but we do have full details on the group's technical developments and improvements so you'll have to settle for that for the time being. All weights listed are claimed figures but we'll verify the numbers ourselves once we get our hands on some test samples.
The new Red rear derailleur receives a now-heaping dose of carbon fiber which will replace magnesium in the inner parallelogram link and aluminum in the inner cage plate. A titanium main spring supplants the conventional steel coil spring of Force which will shave a few grams but may also provide Red with even snappier shifting response similar to what it did for X.0 several years ago. Derailleur pulleys will be fitted with hybrid ceramic cartridge bearings (courtesy of CeramicSpeed in Denmark) as standard equipment. At 158g, the material upgrades on Red will shave 18g from Force.
Major weight savings were achieved with the new Red front derailleur which will only be produced in a braze-on style; a new lightweight carbon-friendly band clamp will be available where necessary. The main body of the derailleur seems largely unchanged from last year's debut offerings, but a hardened titanium cage shaves 30g from Force's steel version, yielding an impressive total weight of just 58g (braze-on).
Last year's Force DoubleTap levers were already superlight at just over 300g per pair (130g lighter than Dura-Ace), but their fitment on some handlebars yielded an occasionally awkward reach and the rear-exiting derailleur housing sometimes rubbed us the wrong way over time. At 280g, Red will not only cleave 23g from Force per pair, but now will also incorporate adjustable reach on both the shifter and brake levers. Also, just like in the early days of Campagnolo's Ergopower shifters, users will now have the option of placing the derailleur housing on either the front or rear of the bar (sadly, Force and Rival supposedly will not get this feature unless you're feeling brave with the Dremel tool). Even though our experience with Force has proved it unnecessary, rumor has it that the Red front shifter will also now include a conventional trim position for the big chainring.
Last year's OG 1070 cassette was arguably the most glaring hole in the Force lineup. Shared with Rival, the Force cassette mounted just three cogs on an aluminum carrier while the rest were just fairly humble steel plate. We don't have any weight figures for the new OG 1090 cassette, but a carbon composite carrier and a mix of titanium and steel cogs promises to shed a heap of mass. According to our sources, just 11-23T and 11-26 10spd flavors will be on the menu for the time being.
Crankset and brake caliper upgrades sound somewhat more subtle although we honestly don't know the exact details here. Nevertheless, minor weight savings suggested by our information suggest some minor tweaking on the crankset (765g vs. 790g and 765g vs. 780g for standard and compact BCD, respectively). More importantly, though, its GXP external-style bottom bracket will include a standard hybrid ceramic bearing upgrade, also from CeramicSpeed. Brake calipers are still made from cold-forged aluminum and shave about 14g a pair from Force.
Will SRAM's new group leave others seeing Red?
On the whole, SRAM Red will dip a complete component group under the 2kg for the first time. With that lustful figure and its anticipated performance, we'll freely admit that we can't to see it ourselves.
Stay tuned.
