Unbound Gravel is just wrapping up with another round of spirited racing right to the line. The event has also acted again as a launchpad for a new gravel drivetrain seemingly in development. This year, it seems that a new SRAM group has broken cover after being spotted on multiple bikes.
Despite SRAM remaining coy on the new components, it seems that by the time the race rolled around, none of the riders were really trying to hide anything. In the case above, Keegen Senson posted photos of his Santa Cruz Stigmata on social media, with the new rear derailleur on full display.
The key takeaway here is that the derailleur is visually different than any of the current MTB-focused SRAM Transmission options, and it appears to have a battery mounted to the top of the body like the current (and most recent) GX Eagle Transmission. Word on the street is that this derailleur is paired to a 13-speed cassette, which gives it one more than the recently updated SRAM RED road group.
Judging by the graphics on the shifters, it seems that the group still runs the newest SRAM RED shifters with updated ergonomics. Since electronic AXS shifters are just buttons essentially, it should be no problem to change the shifter to a 13-speed with a firmware update.
Keegan opted for a rigid post for the race, but the lack of a front derailleur means that the now-unused double shift function could be used to activate a RockShox Reverb AXS dropper post like existing XPLR 1x groups.
For Keegan, he wasn’t able to repeat his 2023 Unbound win, finishing with a respectable 14th for the 200-mile Elite race after Lachlan Morton blazed to the finish with a time of 9:11:47 — the fastest time to date.
