Another SRAM prototype has been spotted, hanging from the rear of Troy Brosnan’s Canyon Sender at the UCI Mountain Bike World Series in Lenzerheide.
The new derailleur looks to signify an electronic shift for SRAM’s downhill groupset, and appears to be in the final stages of development, with the now-traditional electrical tape covering the name of the upcoming groupset.
It wasn’t the only prototype technology on Brosnan’s bike, with the Sender featuring a prototype RockShox Boxxer and Vivid with Flight Attendant, as well as a rear end that looks to add stiffness adjustability.
SRAM DH AXS
It’s been nearly 10 years since SRAM released a downhill groupset, and within that time electronic shifting has taken over the sport.
We have seen SRAM prototype wireless downhill derailleurs in the past, but never have they appeared so close to production as this.
The new drivetrain looks to use the brand’s AXS Transmission technology, bolting directly onto the bike via SRAM's UDH (Universal Derailleur Hanger).
It appears to adopt the battery placement of GX AXS Transmission, sitting within the clutches of the UDH mount, rather than hanging off the rear as seen on X0 AXS Transmission.
While the architecture on GX AXS Transmission features pins in its top construction, this new DH AXS looks to be fully cast.
The design looks to be up to the rigours of racing, with the lower portion showing some battle scars.
We’re not yet sure on the capabilities of the derailleur, but Brosnan was running a 7-speed cassette, which looked to push the cage length to its limit.
At the centre of the bike are new cranks that look more substantial than those found on X0, and feature a dark and silver colour scheme.
This is connected to an Ochain device, which helps fend off pedal kickback.
SRAM recently acquired Ochain, so it’ll be interesting to see if the new groupset will come with one as standard.
The bike also uses a RockShox Blackbox-labelled Boxxer fork and Vivid rear shock that feature the brand’s Flight Attendant technology.
We assume the technology will perform similarly to the trail and XC versions, creating a platform for pedalling and pumping while opening up for gnarly terrain.
We’ve seen a few suspension brands trialling electronically adjustable dampers for downhill racing, with Öhlins’ electric shock recently breaking cover at the Les Gets UCI World Cup.
Elsewhere, Brosnan was using a prototype rear end that features a bonded aluminium insert to enable stiffness adjustability.
A number of brands have experimented with stiffness adjustability at the UCI World Cup, but it seems strange to see Brosnan playing with this on the recently launched Sender.
It’s a common thought in cycling that stiffer means better, but that isn’t always the case.
The new rear end enables metal plates to be added to the seatstay bridge to adjust the stiffness, with Brosnan opting for two plates for Lenzerheide.
There are also some unusual cable mounts running down both seatstays, which we assume is for telemetry equipment.
