They slipped it under our noses inside an April Fool’s tease, but the UK-made Ratio Mech mechanical rear derailleur is real. And it’s coming soon to replace every worn-out or slow-shifting rear derailleur you already have on your bike.
It doesn’t matter if you ride road, triathlon, gravel, cyclocross, or mountain bikes – as long as you are rocking a 1x setup. The number of gears you have isn’t even important, as long as it’s fairly recent. It doesn’t even matter what brand of drivetrain you ride. You can use a conventional derailleur hanger, or if you have a more modern UDH-ready frame, you can opt for the direct mount option. You see, the Ratio Mech is truly modular, able to adapt to pretty much any modern 1x drivetrain, and improve your shifting at the same time.
Ratio Mech: the future-proof UK-made mechanical derailleur
Ratio says their new UK-made Mech makes expensive electronic derailleurs unnecessary. They explain the reason cyclists have been convinced they need to go electronic to get better, faster, crisper shifting. “Bad shifting is often mistakenly blamed on cable drag, when it’s actually caused by friction in the derailleur.”
But the Ratio Mech promises better mechanical shifting by using wide-set alloy links that pivot on stainless pivot bearings to reduce friction. So you get crisp shifting, without having to pay for expensive (sometimes finicky) electronics, and not having to charge your derailleur.
Modular, serviceable, rebuildable, and adaptable
Also, Ratio is very much about building things to last. Say no to disposable components, and to the idea that you have to buy a whole new groupset when one component breaks. Keep what works, service what needs servicing, and upgrade on what’s necessary to get the benefits of new, more modern drivetrains.
“The MECH is compatible with as many drivetrains as possible.”
Ratio built the mech to work with all bikes and with almost all modern flat bar and dropbar drivetrains from Shimano & SRAM. So, they will offer conventional hanger or new direct mount versions, and cable routing fins to match the actuation of all types of shifters to wide-range cassettes. Plus, everything is meant to be user-serviceable, with just a standard multitool.
And of course, Ratio will make available all the modular parts (mounts, fins, replacement parts & service kits) available so the end-user can keep their Mech running for years to come, even if they change bikes or drivetrains.
Tech details
- modular wide-range 1x mechanical rear derailleur, with all-new geometry based on Ratio drivetrain modelling
- 7075 alloy hanger, outer links, cage & pulleys
- alloy parts CNC-machined in-house by Ratio
- Polyamide 12 Nylon polymer knuckles and inner link plates
- Multi Jet Fusion technology PA12 3D-printed in the UK
- self-contained “wrap spring clutch” mechanism built-in for chain retention
- max 46T short cage or max 52T long cage options (swappable with one T25 bolt, without any loose spring)
- Cage Stop lock makes wheel removal and servicing easy
- conventional Hanger mount or UDH-style Direct Mount (aka SRAM Full Mount)
- mounts-type can be interchanged with the appropriate Ratio small parts kit
- modular cage fins available for “all modern 1x drivetrains, including road, gravel and MTB, SRAM and Shimano“
- cable routing layout (with barrel adjuster) designed to be “compatible with all road, gravel, and MTB frames“
- user serviceable and rebuildable with no special tools
Ratio Mech – Options, availability estimates, but no pricing yet
The Ratio Mech isn’t quite ready for the big time just yet, so we don’t yet have a ton of concrete details. For example, we have no sense of pricing. But we do know that their standard cages, ratchets & upgrade kits tend to be some of the most affordable methods to rejuvenate your drivetrain. And because of their broad compatibilities, buying Ratio often means saving money by keeping a lot of the functional parts already on your bike.
We do know there will be a lot of options, though. Conventional or UDH Direct Mounts (which you can even swap in the future). Shimano AND SRAM drivetrain compatibility for use on- and off-road with MTB or dropbar shifters thanks to Ratio’s modular cable fins.
And lastly, availability… Ratio tells us their new Mech will most likely launch in early November, probably with limited quantities at first. Keep your eyes peeled if you have a mechanical shift bike that’s begging for an upgrade.
We’ll let you know, as soon as we know more.
