Spanish crank, chainring and power-meter specialist Rotor is developing a brand new high-end groupset that could be unveiled this year, BikeRadar has learned.
A Rotor employee and a European distributor of Rotor products separately both confirmed that the groupset is in development but declined to give further details. It would be the first time an industry heavyweight has entered the road groupset market since SRAM launched Force and Rival in 2006, although FSA launched its Vision Metron TT-specific groupset in 2010.
Given the rest of the company's product, BikeRadar believes the Rotor gruppo is likely to be ProTeam level. It is possible that it could even be used by Dan Martin, Andrew Talansky and others on the Garmin-Sharp team as early as the 2015 season. The squad currently rides on Shimano Dura-Ace with Rotor cranks.
Rotor's groupset could be unveiled as soon as the Eurobike trade show in late August.
Rotor has gathered a reputation for high-performance, innovative products. Its ovalised Q-Ring and Q-XL rings have a following among pro riders, with Lampre-Merida and Garmin-Sharp currently use the Spanish company's products.
It is not known whether the groupset will be electronic or mechanical. Given Rotor's chainring design, however, the group's front derailleur might be designed to work specifically with ovalised rings.
The current road groupset market is dominated by Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo.