It’s been quite a few years since we last saw a Rotor Uno drivetrain update, but thanks to Wheeltop joining as a partial owner of the Spanish manufacturer last year, this new Uno version is electronic and wheel fully wireless. Combining a Rotor-refined update of the Wheeltop components, you get a new wireless derailleur matched to existing Rotor carbon powermeter cranks and their 12-speed cassette – the core of a modern wireless off-road groupset. Pair that up with refined Wheeltop dropbar levers & brakes for a gravel setup, or add in your preferred 3rd-party brakes to go mountain biking.
Either way you look at it, this appears to be a slick new alt drivetrain option from the trusted development team at Rotor.
New Rotor Uno wireless MTB & gravel groupset with Wheeltop
Official details on the new Uno Wireless group are still relatively thin – we’re missing important info like real weights, pricing & consumer availability. But we recognize the Wheeltop-style derailleur, and know it is still modular – mix-and-match for gravel or mountain bikes, and even 10-13-speeds.
I have a meeting with Rotor later today, and hope to get more answers, plus a first hands-on look at the next-generation Rotor Uno wireless groupset.
It might be easy to count Rotor out when talking about big drivetrain makers – they are certainly smaller and less established, making shifters & derailleurs than say Campagnolo, Shimano & SRAM. But let’s not forget that Rotor were the first to market with a viable 13-speed group 7 years ago when they updated their already established hydraulic shift Uno groupset that debuted 3 years earlier. Not to mention that they’ve been one of the longest-running producers of power meter cranksets for decades.
So what else do we know now?
Rotor Uno is a modular groupset.
That means it is not just a single group with one possible setup. Instead, most of its individual components are designed to be mixed and matched to get your ideal setup. Medium or long derailleur cages, tight or wide-range cassettes, dropbar or flat bar controls, standard cranks, or a spider-based power meter. You can already pick gravel or mountain bike setups, with a road version coming “very soon”. It is 12-speed out of the box, but can also be run with any other 10 to 13-speed cassette, too.
Gravel gets a refined version of Wheeltop’s drop bar controls – now with carbon brake levers – and their mineral oil hydraulic flat mount disc brakes. There are no mountain bike brakes, though, with Rotor suggesting riders pick their preferred 3rd-party brakes.
Tech details
- aluminum and “high-tenacity fiberglass-reinforced nylon” derailleur bodies
- fixed battery on the derailleur, USB-rechargeable with proprietary magnetic cable
- 10-13-speed compatibility (12sp standard in complete groupsets to fit Shimano HG freehub bodies)
- Bluetooth & ANT+ communication with groupset brain in the rear derailleur
- app-based controls and customization (including compatibility with other manufacturers’ cassette spacing)
- 453g Rotor Uno long cage mountain bike rear derailleur, claimed with 600mAh battery
- 15,000 shifts per charge at 150ms/gear shifts
- 93mm MTB long cage up to 52T cassette cog
- 75mm Gravel medium cage up to 46T cog
- flat bar shifter powered by CR2032 battery
- dropbar shifters powered by CR1632 battery in each lever
- 26mm drop bar lever reach adjust
- IP67 waterproof
Rotor Uno Wireless – Pricing, options & availability
We don’t yet know pricing. But Rotor describes it as a range of affordability options based on your selected components – from “mid-range to the highest“. For example, on the mountain bike setup, start with the new Uno wireless derailleur & shifter, add the ultralight 314g Rotor 12-speed 11-52T cassette, then pick your preferred crankset. The carbon Kapic cranks are the lightest option, and an INspider power meter is the premium choice, then match it to your desired round or oval chainring. Cheaper alloy cranks could certainly lower costs quite a bit. And brakes are up to you.
For gravel, it’s the same basic idea. Start with the shift/brake levers, brakes, rear derailleur, and ultralight 294g Rotor 12-speed 11-46T cassette. Then decide how fancy a crankset you want.
Availability is still a bit vague, too. But we are in Spain today to meet with Rotor. And they are already offering the new groupsets up for consumers to test, starting today at Sea Otter Europe in Girona. So we expect some almost immediate availability, even if it might be in limited quantities at first.
