SRAM Red 2012 Availability and Tech Docs

In the music industry new albums are released on Tuesdays. SRAM released their new rock star Red group on a Wednesday. I guess in the bike game releases are now on Wednesdays. I am not grumbling "just sayin" back in the early 90's I owned record stores and would never have believed this is how the bike game has evolved.


We got our first group on release day, shot a short video and took some pics.  What about pricing? What about compatibility with existing SRAM Red and when can you get your hands on some?
 We will keep updating this thread so please ask questions and view comments at the bottom of the page.


About the group

SRAM are still the new kids on the road group block but have made advances in the last 6 years that make them perhaps the industry leader but certainly the industry hot shot. The new Red group is called SRAM Red 2012 and the original group is called SRAM Red Black 2011. In the same way that Shimano and Campa keep Dura Ace and Super Record as their flagship model names SRAM have committed to Red as theirs. 

Superlight, 10 speed, cool looking and all the bugs worked out. Basically the new Red is fundamentally the same as the original Red just EXTRA. 
Front shifting was always the weak spot for the first SRAM Red groups but no more the new "Yaw" Front derailleur is stiffer and does not require trim when shifting to the extremities of the cassette. The brake calipers are also much improved and have a cam actuated design that allows for a smaller frontal area, offers more power and opens wider to accommodate new style wider rims. We feel this caliper is a dealmaker for us and is perhaps the biggest performance improvement of the new group. 

Other neat features are a cassette that has elastomer rings that reduces chain noise. These rings are optional and I expect will be removed by the weight weenies. 


Cranks also get a new look and are lighter and stiffer than before thanks to a new carbon manufacturing process, the chainrings are much improved and it looks like a lot more attention was given to the new rings. Following in the footsteps of Campagnolo the 5th chainring bolt is reversed into the crank arm thus saving weight giving the crank a minimal look. "Very nice!" 

What stays the same. 
Bottom bracket options which are BB30 and GXP stay the same and the chain is unchanged. This leads us to believe the crank will work on the older groups but only a field test will confirm this. 


Compatibility: 

SRAM has created a nice looking diagram to explain this. Basically you cannot use the 2012 crank, shifters or front derailleur with existing SRAM components. Real world testing might show us something else. 


Hydralics and the shift/brake levers. 
It just makes sense that we are going to see disc brakes on road bikes in the next few years and it would seem that the new Red shifters are going to be able to accommodate a cylinder for this. No dates, no prices at this time and no good road frames with the hardware to accommodate but just taking a guess SRAM/Zipp are going to be first to market on this one while the other guys chase down the electronic dream. 




But when? 
First groups arrive end of February but very limited numbers and the mass product arrives months later. We have a few open groups at this time, contact us if you want to be one of the first.