The low season usually sees new gear rolled out for skilled groups, however uncommon prototype gear is barely extra uncommon lately. At instances sure riders are requested to trial or take a look at gear throughout its growth for producers.
The Cyclingnews tech group have been retaining our eyes peeled over the previous couple of weeks to attempt to keep on high of and convey you information of a number of mechanical and pro-rider new tech developments. Together with Mathieu van der Poel’s prototype Canyon and Fabio Jakobsen’s new aero cockpit. There does appear to have been a spate of latest gear silently showing recently forward of the 2023 race season.
Most just lately, now we have noticed some pictures and video of what look to be prototype Sram shifters fitted to at the least one of many current Movistar canyon bikes at a current coaching camp. The images on this article are pulled from one of many current Movistar youtube movies which now we have been poring over with a magnifying glass. You may as well discover a thread on weight weenies (opens in new tab) on the topic which additionally alerted us to this information.
Rumours of a brand new Sram groupset have been swirling for a while now, and the sight of those new prototype levers within the wild may very well be an indication that Sram is getting nearer to launching a brand new groupset/s. If a brand new groupset does seem subsequent yr there’s a respectable likelihood it may very well be within the type of a brand new Crimson groupset that can then share its know-how and options with the lower-tier groupsets.
The prototype shifters within the above photos are a radically completely different design to present Sram choices and draw comparisons with GRX di2 items which have a vaguely related form. The lever our bodies themselves look like slimmer with the brake lever blades themselves having some backward sweep. The tops of the hoods additionally seem smaller, so it seems to be like SRAM is making an attempt to make a extra compact shifter unit.
One other level we picked up on earlier within the yr was the vast majority of SRAM-sponsored groups this yr utilizing gear with bigger and extra outstanding logos than what’s at the moment listed and marketed on the SRAM web site. With shifters and chainsets specifically having bigger ‘SRAM’ logos. Whether or not that is simply pro-only branding or one other sign of a coming redesign we can’t say for now.
With riders already on the gear, we are able to maybe anticipate an official launch within the subsequent few months, so watch this area for the complete story as soon as Sram shares extra particulars of the brand new launch.
