Acros has expanded the mounting options for its A-GE hydraulic shifting group. The front derailleur is now offered in standard band clamp for round seat tubes and new high- and low- direct mount versions.
They’ve also added a few color options, in case black and red ano isn’t your thing. The black parts remain black, but blue and “titan” (gray) are also available. Otherwise, the group is unchanged since its launch.
I fooled around with the test bike they had at Frostbike last year. The shifting was amazing, the shifter was pretty slick, and once bled, they claimed that you never have to bleed it again (No more fine tuning your shifting every once in awhile)…Everything was super light, and looked good. Will I ever buy it? Nope, Probably not. It is slick though
@Carl. Hydraulic systems are complex? Ha. Glad you are not an engineer.
Nick-Agree 100%. It’s a fantastic idea and the reports I’ve heard is it shifts like a dream. Now add that it’s made in Germany in small runs vs Taiwan in high runs. Figure in that almost 100% of the cost is materials and engineering where probably a minimum of 30-40% of the cost in a Shimano or SRAM product is marketing dollars (race teams, ads in mags, free product to media/etc…) there is a pretty significant difference in what you are getting. I’m not switching from my XO stuff to this anytime soon because of cost, but if I had the money to build up a forever bike….this stuff would be on it.
If they could get the price down to at least $1500 somehow or take it to Tiawan and get it down to $800-$1000 for the kit it’d be tough to beat. But right now, I’ve only known a handful of people who’ve ridden the stuff. And if I only know a handful, the average person doesn’t even know a person who knows a person that’s even seen it. Thus….the barrier they have to entry.
I tried setting this up on a Trek fuel EX and ran into the exact problems they are trying to fix now. F der couldn’t be placed properly and even the rear derailleur had problems being mounted with the ABP pivot. I had to modify tools to be able to attach the derailleur, and ended up returning it before ever mounting the Front der. QBP stocks this and I spent a lot of time talking to their buyer and to the guys at ACROS. The bleed process was easy and it shifted buttery smooth. Each piece is hand machined and looks amazing in person. Its not for me yet, and I don’t know about absolute compatibility, but once things are dialed in this will be a very viable option. Works great for people with wrist problems or carpel tunnel type problems.
Nobody here sems to remember these guys have been around since the early 2000’s. They went by the name of 5-Rot until 2010, when Acros started selling and distributing the gruppo. If you look around in the web, you’ll find plenty of reviews of the system under the previous brand.
Ten years ago everyone believed 1500 dollars was an unthinkable figure for a MTB shifting group. Today, it looks much more affordable, mainly because of the devaluation of the US dollar.
