Back at Sea Otter earlier this year, Archer Components broke onto the scene. Based out of Santa Cruz, CA, the small company was gearing up to go head to head with the other wireless shifting conversion kit – the XShifter. While neither company has launched their system just yet, both are getting very close. Archer Components just posted the photo above to their Facebook page stating that they are testing out the final enclosure for the rear shift pod, which means they’re nearing production.
They also posted this photo which shows a complete redesign of the shifter itself.
The original shifter had a rocker switch to move up and down. The new shifter (shown as a 3D printed prototype) appears to have two separate round buttons. Archer is also claiming their current prototype yields over 25,000 shifts per charge – which if true, should mean you won’t have to be recharging the system very often. Unlike the X-Shifter, Archer is only going after the 1x market with a single shifter to work the rear derailleur.
Perhaps most interesting though, is the video they just posted to Facebook showing a mashup of a SRAM Eagle 12 speed cassette and chain, and a Shimano XTR 11 speed rear derailleur. Somehow it all works together quite smoothly on a bike with a direct mount rear derailleur hanger. If you look closely, you can also get a glimpse of what is likely the final enclosure for the shifter as well, which still has two circular push buttons, but has mounting holes that likely play well with the various MatchMaker/I-Spec/standard clamp set ups on the market.
Hopefully we get to check out the final version soon!
