The new Red

25/05/24 18:39 Filed in: Gear

How long is too long to go without updating a bike part?
Traditionally most updates come with an extra sprocket. I really strongly believe that 12 sprockets is too many. On the MTB side it does permit decent gaps and 1x drivetrains, which is good. But it came at the expense of wheel dish and axle length; both of which make the rear end of the bike more vulnerable to damage. As much as I'm happy to lose the front derailleur from the mountain bike (frame designs quickly occupied the space where the front derailleur once lived meaning returning to a 2x or 3x system would be impossible) I dislike the compromises made at the rear end to achieve it. Perhaps the gearbox bike will remedy this?
On the road side it is possible to go 1x, but it does limit the absolute range of gears on the bike and that is a handicap for racing. Back in the days I started cycling people used freewheels with 6 or 7 sprockets. On flat races many would run a straight block (a corncob was my favourite term for this) such as a 13-19. And on a hilly race might go to something like a 14-24. Freewheels didn't have 12T high gears nor more than 7 sprockets (I think I read about 8-spd freewheels but don't know if I ever actually saw one). My front derailleurs work very well across my various road bikes. And they greatly expand the range of gearing on the bike at one time. To the point that it isn't necessary to swap cassettes between races.
As well as 12-spd works and lasts, if the same technology was put into an 8-spd drivetrain it could last MUCH longer.
But I digress...
The first indexed Dura Ace was 7-spd. STI came out in 1991 for Dura Ace with a move to 8-spd. Some parts were carry-over. Others were obviously new. In 1992 the Ultegra STI was released, replacing the 7-spd version of that. That carried on unchanged until 9-spd was released. When 10-spd Dura Ace came out it involved a new freehub body design and this decision proved unpopular. A revised 10-spd Dura Ace replaced it and returned to the older HG freehub body. Then came 11-spd. And so on. Most updates involved an additional sprocket at the back and refinement of things like brakes and derailleurs.
As an aside, Shimano's habit of releasing Dura Ace a year prior to Ultegra means that the Ultegra is always a more mature product. Those extra 12 months allow them to work some bugs out of the design before Ultegra is locked in. Those first Dura Ace STI levers looked unfinished compared to the Ultegra units, as an example.
SRAM and Campagnolo were much the same. Campag 11-spd groups were updated when disc brakes were released (new cranks, levers and brake-related parts only) and shortly thereafter all-new 12-spd products came out. SRAM updated Force last year with new components, but not an all-new group, and it remained 12-spd. New Red was leaked in January, seen on pro bikes increasingly as the season went on, and stopped being a hidden thing during the Giro - just ahead of official launch on May 15. Like Force update, it seems to be a revision rather than another sprocket.
Now I've had the now old Red for almost a year. It is brilliant. I like the hood shape (a common complaint apparently). I like the aesthetics. The new Red chain has holes in the sideplates (a few grams weight reduction), bigger holes in the bigger jockey wheels (less weight, lower drag) and revised ergonomics on the levers. Not much else looks changed aside from minor things like less metal in the rear derailleur (another few grams lost). As I'm writing this ahead of the release I don't know all the details. But it looks like a pretty minor update to me.
I assume the tooling to make the pieces is either essential to change every so often - things wear out - or easy to change. So after 5 years maybe it was time? But I think SRAM could have continued on unchanged.
Campagnolo released a new wireless EPS Super Record last year. It moved to the new freehub body introduced for 13-spd Ekar. But it did not move to 13-spd itself. Like Red it now uses a 10T high gear on every cassette. To fit the 10T on required using the new freehub. Thankfully they designed it so it was backwards compatible with the old 11T high gear cassettes. Many changes were made to go with the wireless move (from wired) but choices like changing the shifting button locations from traditional Campag Ergo to more like Dura Ace didn't have to be made and weren't universally well received.

I think the answer is probably "it depends on what your competition has done" and only the new and very expensive Campagnolo EPS is really new, but Dura Ace Di2 12-spd is newer than the RED AXS by a short period of time. Unless Red is hiding some new functionality, and it is really just a rolling update of the 12-spd stuff, it didn't seem necessary. Given how much riders like "new & shiny" I will accept that new for the sake of new is going to happen.

Michael Hanslip Coaching

If you want to go faster, you have to pedal harder

The new Red