Yeah, def a possibility. I do wonder if they want to do that though as the chain line at the lowest gear becomes more crossed and inefficient.
It seems maybe SRAM is actually taking advantage of the nature of wireless shifting to make the same shifters able to operate 2x12, 1x12 or 1x13. Thatâs honestly pretty nice! If theyâve managed to make it compatible with the same chain/chainrings as the rest of the Flattop ecosystem this seems like a huge win for everyone with a UDH-compatible frame.
I also assume most manufacturers will now do running updates to UDH next model year. I wonder which will offer retroconversion kits for existing bikes (or in which cases thatâs even possible.)
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Thereâs no technological reason not to do this. The shifters just send a âshift upâ or âshift downâ signal. All the thinking is in the derailleur.
In fact, we know this already since the derailleur beeps when youâre in the largest or smallest cog and try to go one more.
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I wouldnât take it for granted that 2x13 is technically feasible with current road hub spacing. I would be surprised if SRAM didnât at least explore the idea, so maybe they hit roadblocks in shift quality or durability. In that case 2x12 is still an important market.
Your RD beeps? Isnât it the head unit?
I thought it was the derailleur, but I guess it could be the head unit. Iâm going deaf in one ear so who knows. 
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Thereâs no technological reason but there sure is a financial one!
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Or maybe they are at the same spot they were with xplr two years ago - no frames with UDH. Now gravel has adapted to UDH and road bikes are in transition. In 2 yrs weâll see UDH road bikes and possibly 2x 13
Not taking anything for grantedâŚ.it just seems odd to introduce a road group at 12 spd and then two weeks later introduce a gravel version at 13spd. You are just pooping on your own product introduction.
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Unless their long term plan is to stick with 12 speed on road (2x).
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I like having no adjustment screws but man, transmission is annoyingly the loudest clunky, crunchy drivetrain I have every used. Yes shifting under power is awesome. But I have much quieter shifts on my mechanical. If I am going to drop $4200 for a group-set (assuming a similar price to their current Red release) it better not sound like that.
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Itâs the head unit but thr RD is still receiving the shift signal so shifter doesnât have a clue about hwrre the RD is so definitely compatible with 13s as well
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Agreed, Campag did it with a good old rear hanger
But it could be that SRAM feels that with the tolerances need for 13 speed, and the risk of bent hangers in Gravel, the best way to avoid issues for riders during events, forums full of â13 speed SRAM sucksâ and to encourage the take up of UDH for gravel and road (before shimano comes out with their own standard) is to give buyers of new bikes a reason to look for bikes that have a UDH hanger ⌠e.g, you can have an extra gear, people are talking about the extra gear, not the benefits of direct mount in gravel
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If SRAM feel that it best to have 13 speed on UDH (see previous post) why ? there are no UDH road bike frames (as far as I know) and there is no reason you wonât able to use this (with the 36 ?) on your road bike
Itâs also worth noting that SRAM have not introduced this two weeks after RED, there is no conformation that you can or will be able to buy it, with the difference in profiling between XPLR and MTB cassettes, I find it interesting that itâs using a MTB cassette and not a 13 Speed Red XPLR cassette, maybe if that are going to release it, it a way off
Because, letâs be honest, the XPLR casette doesnât really make sense for steep gravel. MTB casette has more range and almost the same cogs in the fast gears. Most 1x Sram Gravel setups are/were mullet drive trains with eagle derailleurs and big rings up front.
If thatâs really 13spd, it will sooner or later come to MTB and/or will be compatible with mountain derailleurs. Maybe we can finally have something back like the XG1199 for XC Racing where I donât need 52t but want closer spacing up front and a lighter cassette.
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Yeah with Di2 they are way behind the curve on 1by and I hate that their stuff is not all interoperable⌠On the other hand they actually provide a good and affordable mechanical Mullet setup with GRX which was imo missing from the market. Sadly very few manufacturers are actually speccing the long cage RD and MTB cassetteâŚ
I really like that SRAM makes its stuff interoperable which should be standard for electronic stuff.
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Definitely interested in this set up and what the capacity of the new Red Xplr derailleur will have. Would be very cool if it could handle a mtb cassette (12spd) and use the same chain, would make swapping gearing pretty simple. (although chain length and chain width would be a factor?)
If SRAM can really lean into the flexibility of the 1x system it will be quite interesting.
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I didnât mean it from the best product point of view, just that this might not be the complete finished product, as in the when it is launched it will come with a RED XPLR cassette, and this is not that, POWER13 said that this was a release, I was saying it wasnât, and part of that argulment was that the entire group set isnât here (cassette missing)
The XPLR cassette is 10-44. Iâve heard that the XPLR rear derailleur can accommodate up to a 50 cog on the back. I havenât tried it myself, but have seen a bunch of Facebook posts on it.
I opted for the eThirteen Race Helix (9-45) cassette for just a little bit of extra climbing, but also have plans for a 38T chainring. In this setup (38 / 9-45) I get the same top end as the ânormalâ XPLR (40 / 10-44) and a lot bigger climbing gear.
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Seems like new Zippâs coming soon too (see 5:11 mark).