ALL-NEW SRAM RED: COMPLETE REVOLUTION
Introducing the all-new SRAM RED AXS! This long-awaited release has been the subject of speculation and anticipation, with teasers and leaks circulating throughout the internet for months. Last year, on March 2nd, the release of SRAM Force D2 left many expecting RED coming soon. Recently, during the past two weeks, we've witnessed the debut of the new RED on World Tour bikes in the Giro d'Italia, igniting conversations about what's on the horizon. Well, the wait is finally over. Here's a comprehensive look at the all-new SRAM RED, making its debut after more than five years of current RED. SRAM feels that the new RED covers it all for pure road performance, the World Tour Pros and all-road performance.
The Details
The design of the new RED is a complete overhaul. Everything is new! No small changes here. Starting with the levers and talk about a visual change!
The new RED levers significantly changed ergonomically, making the hood a decent bit longer with the pommel of the hood getting shorter. Plus with more of a “swoop” in the lever, it should be more comfortable for the vast majority of riders. The new levers flare out slightly, so the brake levers line up with flared bars which seemingly is becoming the norm. The girth of the hoods are slimmed down because of the loss of external blip-button plug-in ports. This might be seen as a downside to some people. However, this is due to the introduction last year of wireless blips, making those ports redundant. There are also auxiliary AXS buttons to shift with on the sides of the pommel.
Along with the new lever shape, the brakes see significant changes. The new hood shape means that the piston now sits behind the lever, instead of above it. This also means the piston is now a “push” piston vs the previous “pull” piston. The caliper has also been reworked from the ground up, and is lighter and stiffer than the old RED calipers. Stiffer = less system flex, which equals a more direct and snappy lever feel. The redesign of this piston layout in combination with the calipers leads to a claimed brake power increase of 80% in the drops and 20% in the hoods. Along with this are new rotors with a redesigned brake track, called the Paceline X. These brakes are still DOT-specific.
With the cranks and chainrings, they're fairly similar to the old ones, but with a different "finish". Now, they are offered all the way down to 160mm lengths and they still use the SRAM 8 bolt pattern for chainrings and power meters. The new chainrings have new ramps to improve shift speed. This all-new chain is similar to the old one, with some slight reshaping to the plates, and has cutouts in the inner and outer plates, for weight reduction. Old RED chains are cross-compatible. New SRAM RED cassettes and chainrings are offered in the same sizes, with the addition of a 36T RED cassette. Cassette ranges will be 28, 30, 33, and 36.
The new front and rear derailleurs were redesigned with cassette range in mind. Now, there is only one RED rear derailleur for every cassette size from 28t-36t and no more short or medium cages. This derailleur uses the same orbital-fluid clutch and is just as quiet! The rear derailleur has some material taken out of the parallelogram for weight and the cage is longer for the extended range, while the lower pulley has an extra two teeth.
All new front derailleurs have improved shifting, and significantly faster shifting times. The combination of the new chainrings, chain, the redesigned front derailleur, and the all-new firmware should make for a much faster and smoother shift on the front when compared to the current RED. There are two front derailleurs, one for OEM rings and one for the bigger after-market rings.
Almost everything is backward compatible as the new chain works well with the old group. All those weight savings tactics made this system 153g lighter than the current RED, which for a group as light as it already was, is remarkable.
Other Releases and Etc
Along with the new RED, SRAM released a new Hammerhead Karoo head unit. This new computer is designed to work seamlessly with the new RED and be interconnected. The computer can configure AXS on the unit without a phone.
Concurrently, Zipp released a new Zipp SL80 race handlebar designed to integrate seamlessly with the new hoods. The new bar comes in 36-44cm widths and flares out 8 degrees. The bar has a pre-cut groove in it to install AXS wireless blips as well. Finally, using a new install procedure, the new hoods are designed to sit 7 degrees upwards and there are lines on the hoods that will show you when it is level.
Questions?
Have any questions or want to get a new RED-equipped bike or groupset for yourself? Let us know! Chat us here on the site, or call in. Groupsets and complete bikes with the new SRAM Red are in stock now.