SRAM’s Grip Shift 10 speed is now officially official. They sent out a little press release this AM, and we’ve got some hands on with Jaroslav Kulhavy’s world cup winning bike’s pair.
Compared to the old Grip Shift, the barrel end is a little bulkier, but it’s alloy rather than the composites of past. Click feel is solid enough that it should prevent mis-shifts in most cases (OS downhill drops might be another story), but it still feels easy to dump gears when you want.
The rubber is really grippy, but feels like it’s sitting on a large enough bezel that they can keep it relatively thin. In other words, you shouldn’t be slipping when you try to shift, but it’s not mushy either.
Basically, fans of Grip Shift should be happy when it finally does get into production. While weight isn’t specified (nor is pricing or availability), SRAM is saying they’re answering the call from weight weenie racers.
Kulhavy’s bike had an interesting set up. The saddle was pushed all the way back and the stem was super long and flipped low.
More interesting from a spec standpoint was the Red front road derailleur he was running on it. Like all their 1:1 road and mountain stuff, looks like the Grip Shift twisters will be equally compatible across the board.
Now, we can look forward to a couple years of trickle down…we’re guessing X7 twisters for 2013 bikes!
