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Rotor UNO hydraulic shifting group getting more team testing, launch pushed to April

Written by Tyler Benedict Jan 15, 2016 11:15 a.m. ET

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Rotor UNO, the Spanish brand’s unique take on shifting, made waves when it debuted at Eurobike as the first complete and commercial hydraulic group. At the time, they promised a launch in Spring 2016, with murmurs of a March date. Now, they’re saying it’s more likely to be April, and dates are up in the air for early testing opportunities for us media folk.

Why? Because they wanted their sponsored athletes to get more training time on it before releasing it. Here, in their words:

“Team Dimension Data had one team training camp prior to the end of 2015 and then they will have another one later this month (for the team presentation in Mallorca). This matters because some new team members were still under contract obligations to their current teams until Dec. 31, 2015 and couldn´t provide feedback for UNO, which was something important for ROTOR to have before unleashing UNO to our esteemed distributors and media members. There´s that as well as our other sponsored team that will be riding UNO, Cervélo Bigla Pro Racing, will start training with UNO this month.”

Check the full tech rundown of the group here, and some of Cervelo Bigla’s first thoughts on their Twitter feed.

Tyler Benedict

11,203 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com. He has been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel to killer riding locations throughout North America.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler loves family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part to make his bikes faster and lighter.

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Veganpotter

8 years ago

I love Rotor products but I really don’t believe them. They likely just weren’t ready in general. You get used to using new shifters pretty darn quickly, proven by guys that have switched teams and immediately won on new bikes with different groups, wheels, and cockpits on them. I’m pretty excited to see how this group feels and works. I’m also very likely to buy in at some point if the ergonomics are right but I’m sure they just aren’t ready for production for some unpublicized reason.

Ryneb

8 years ago

The idea of bleeding derrailuers is just ugg..

Randall

8 years ago

@veganpotter, you’re as likely correct as not, but keep in mind that spring doesn’t start until March 20th, so April is pretty close to “Spring 2016” to begin with. If they had a major reason to delay production and were able to get on track with an 11 day delay, that would actually be pretty impressive.

On the other hand, the pros ARE going to have to tell you/everyone how great the system is, so maybe it makes more sense to have a release after we’ve seen them using it on the road a few times first?

Robert

8 years ago

Hydraulic shifting is about 10 years too late as electronic and now even wireless electronic is the way to go.

Veganpotter

8 years ago

Reply to Robert

So, are you saying people won’t be buying ANY mechanical groups(they’ve been around for quite a while) and Shimano/SRAM will stop improving them. And ETap will greatly outsell Di2…forcing Shimano to go wireless immediately? There are benefits to hydraulic and electronic. People can choose when looking at pros and cons

Antipodean_eleven

8 years ago

@Robert Nah. No batteries or electrics or switch boxes or software is a big winner in my books. There’s a place for all of that but in my books, on a bicycle aint it.

Yes, maybe I’m getting old and grumpy but if hydro works and works well, it could be a real winner.

I’m game for it.

bb_nl

8 years ago

Reply to Antipodean_eleven

Same! To each their own, but I like the idea of human powered mechanical “operation” in all respects. Even though it’s only marginal, having electronic motors move certain parts of the bike feels like cheating. I don’t see a reason to cheat (while still healthy and fit).

Now measuring the movement that you have created with your own body, that is a completely different story of course 😉

Veganpotter

8 years ago

Reply to bb_nl

You should send your comments through snail mail. The internet makes life too easy.

Electronic shifting doesn’t make you move faster. It has pluses and minuses lke everything else but the speed advantages stop with a bit of aero savings and not even on all bikes

Bazz

8 years ago

Beautiful system but wireless has made everything else obsolete. Put it another way: would you buy a cycling computer with a cable?

JBikes

8 years ago

Reply to Bazz

But one can ride without a cycling computer. Some people don’t want an electric powered device for use of the primary function of their bike. Be the reasons be ecological, maintenance or plain preference. This is a better mechanical system compared to cables, and it is very light.

PsiSquared

8 years ago

Reply to Bazz

I can think of at least one reason: personal preference. Not everyone wants a wireless system, and not everyone wants an electronic system. I would think that would be obvious to everyone.

Dylan

8 years ago

Reply to Bazz

For total reliability in a bike computer, cable operated is best, in fact why not go completely mechanical? Wouldn’t want your ride to be compromised by a flat battery. I wonder ho this one uploads to strava?
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-shipping-Mountain-Bike-Table-Speedometer-Bicycle-Speedometer-bike-coad-speedometer-Mechanical-Chronograph-Stopwatch/32498251681.html

Chris

8 years ago

“the first complete and commercial hydraulic group”
Somenbody hasn’t done his homework.

http://www.acros.de/PRODUKTE/SCHALTUNG/KOMPLETT/A-GE-Schaltungssystem-rot::1658.html
It works well, but it doesn’t match the price.

endubro

8 years ago

LOL ACROS

Speshy

8 years ago

Hydro groupsets are obviously meant for cyclocross and mtb applications and are superior to mech for their closed sytems ability to remain unfettered from debris. electronic drivetrains in my opinion have no place in cycling. A bicycle is human powered machine. Once you introduce electronics you degrade the purity of a bicycle as such. I also believe this applies to gps comps, power meters, and radios. I’m not a retrogrouch though I believe alternative materials and aerodynamic advancements are good for the sport and should be deregulated by the uci. 3:1 ratio is bs.

Veganpotter

8 years ago

Reply to Speshy

An old TdF winner said the same thing about gears. Basically saying gears are only for the elderly.

AAGG

8 years ago

@speshy, I agree that mechanical will always be around for bikes, and there are certainly advantages to a sealed hydro system. However electronic systems enable some pretty great things that are not possible with a mechanical system, and for PROs who rely on this stuff to work for a living, the precision of an electronic system makes sense.

Maintenance and inherent performance degradation within a cable system over time, however, is the primary driver towards an electronic system for most people. Were there an alternative to cables that was not electronic (hydraulic), i’m sure we would see some people jumping on that.

Veganpotter

8 years ago

Reply to AAGG

Electronic isn’t full proof. There are random failings, typically batteries losing contact. I think we’ll see more common issues when 30-40% of bikes have electronic shifting. It’s still awesome but not without its faults. I’m very likely buying this group but I have doubts it’ll work well on rides that are close to 20F and I’ll have to live with that