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SRAM touts German Engineering in the optimization of 1x Eagle drivetrains

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In the latest behind the scenes video from SRAM, they bring us all in house for a look at the development of their recently introduced ultra-wide range Eagle 1×12 groupsets. At the heart of the move to the wide Eagle drivetrain was SRAM’s desire to improve on pretty much all aspects of the single ring solutions that they pioneered for mountain bikes. Focusing heavily on the precision German engineering that went into the groupset from their development center in Schweinfurt, Germany, SRAM went about making the  group quieter, longer lasting, better shifting, and lighter. They achieved all that by more deeply integrating all aspects of the design from chain plate shaping to chairing and cog teeth profiles, to make a better performing whole…

SRAM’s Schweinfurt development facility is said to be the largest worldwide in the cycling industry, so there’ll likely be plenty more innovative engineering to come out of these workshops.

SRAM.com

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Fritz
Fritz
7 years ago

SRAM made SACHS great again!

Double ZZ
Double ZZ
7 years ago

SRAM….innovation, engineering, performance. Shimano…in the rear view mirror.

haromania
haromania
7 years ago
Reply to  Double ZZ

Maybe in your rearview, but not mine. I love both groups. Shimao is more affordable, fits more bikes currently on the trail and their brakes still reign supreme. Plenty of room for both groups and I’m glad we have competition to keep both of them on their toes.

sad
sad
7 years ago
Reply to  haromania

try SRAM guides brakes.

2008SOBO
2008SOBO
7 years ago
Reply to  Double ZZ

I recently switched back to Shimano from SRAM and SRAM is now in my rearview mirror!

axle
axle
7 years ago
Reply to  Double ZZ

Having Shimano and Sram competing with each other makes better parts for everyone. Sram is finally making good disk brakes after years of garbage elixirs. Now they are finally making a 1x drivetrain that can has the same range as a 2x. I think it is great, but I am not going to buy a system that requires a $420 cassette which might only last one season. My XT 2×11 is flawless and a replacement cassette is $65. I am sticking with Shimano, but I am glad Sram is around, innovating and making some great stuff.

JBikes
JBikes
7 years ago

“German engineering”…one of the best marketing campaigns ever.

brettrobinson
7 years ago

I like SRAM and all, but using the term “German Engineered” as a marketing technique gives me a bad vibe.

James Fryer
7 years ago
Reply to  brettrobinson

Why? German engineering is world-renowned for it’s excellence.

Shafty
Shafty
7 years ago

So they made the rear derailleur accept a larger sprocket…and? It doesn’t do it in a revolutionary way, so what’s the big deal? The engineering seems like it would be relatively straightforward as well.

tyler
7 years ago

sooo its going to be overcomplicated and prone to failure due to poor execution via overreliance on plastic. got it.

Jase
Jase
7 years ago
Reply to  tyler

And don’t forget unreliable electronics while being more expensive than American and Japanese versions.

sam
sam
7 years ago
Reply to  tyler

where?

Skip
7 years ago

German engineered, but still manufactured in Taiwan.
Sram’s problems don’t usually relate to how its designed, but how it’s design is executed (like poor seals in otherwise fine hydraulic brakes)

Woody
Woody
7 years ago
Reply to  Skip

This ^^^ German Engineering subbed out to 3rd part vendors and suppliers whereby all it falls apart.

James Fryer
7 years ago
Reply to  Woody

Ah, no. You don’t just send a drawing to the factory. The product engineers work with the production engineers to spec our materials and tolerances and it all gets checked and tested. If a product is failing, it’s the responsibility of the entire engineering group. Though it is more on the product engineers to set the specs and the production engineers to meet those specs.

And let’s not pretend that the best Taiwanese manufacturing is anything but first rate.

dave
dave
7 years ago
Reply to  Skip

The 12x chains are made at SRAM’s factory in Portugal.

Mike
Mike
7 years ago
Reply to  dave

Portugal’s right next to Burma right? It’s all SE Asia.

Pedro
Pedro
7 years ago
Reply to  Mike

Hi, Mike, you should go get that dusty geography text book of yours and give it a good read this time around. Portugal is the western-most country in Europe.

James Fryer
7 years ago
Reply to  Pedro

Woosh

Smokestack
Smokestack
7 years ago
Reply to  Skip

Seals aren’t the only issue. One of them was a design issue- specifying nylon composites for master cylinder pistons again, leading to the piston swelling issues of the Juicy series, again. Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it…..

Mercianrider
Mercianrider
7 years ago

Is it me or is that removable chain link a Wippermann link?

Dave
Dave
7 years ago

Good. Another proprietary group that doesn’t work with anything you now have.

the biz
the biz
7 years ago

the armchair engineers/product managers/global supply chain experts are out in full force as usual!

OldTimerCat1
OldTimerCat1
7 years ago

How to trick stupid Americans: Call your product “German Engineered.”
We all know that the German cars never have any problems right?

Robin
Robin
7 years ago
Reply to  OldTimerCat1

It’s a popular variation on a debate fallacy, “argument by authority”.

rider
rider
7 years ago

I was just going to say the same. Im glad there’s so many engineers on this forum!

arp
arp
7 years ago

I trust all of those that put down this product have ridden it extensively. Am I right? I haven’t, so I guess I will trust your expertise. I have used other SRAM and Shimano drivetrains extensively and they are both awesome, though they have their unique characteristics. Note, we would all be fiddling around with triple cranks still if SRAM hadn’t introduced double ring cranks, then single. Shimano has been playing catch up. Do they have nicely refined components? Absolutely. SRAM is playing catch up on the electronic shifting side, though personally I don’t like the ergonomics of di2 mt shifters. Admittedly the old SRAM brakes were a big miss, but Guide brakes have been awesome…and that’s coming from a hardcore Shimano brake fan.

John
John
7 years ago
Reply to  arp

SRAM did not invent the double chainring, and single chainrings are as old as the original “safety” bicycle.

James Fryer
7 years ago
Reply to  John

They popularized it for mountain biking. You know that’s what he meant, so don’t be a jerk.

Nick
Nick
7 years ago
Reply to  arp

Cannondale beat SRAM to the double ring crank game.

TimB
TimB
7 years ago
Reply to  Nick

I believe the Original rings for the Hollowgram 2×9 System on the F3000SL and F5000SL CAAD4 Hardtails were made by Sachs -Huret (now SRAM). Some of the models even had SRAM 9.0SL shifters and rear derailleur specced as OEM.

sad
sad
7 years ago
Reply to  arp

i rode the eagle for a while now. everything they say in the video is true regarding its advantages: it is quieter. it is more reliable. it is lighter. it has more range. it does shift better than xx1. oh and of course, as for xx1, the XD driver body is better. it doesnt get dirty, its easier to put on/off, and it has a better interface altogether.

it doesnt make 1×11 less good or shimano (including non-XD) groups less good though. 1×11 is still great and a much more economically-sound choice. shimano’s version is pretty much just fine. 2x shimano setups are quite fine too, though i prefer 1x for their simplicity and reliability (a 2x setup that’s well maintained works fine, but its just less maintenance on my 1x and less dropped chains due to higher tension.. as well as better mud clearance)

finally, you can’t do electronic with eagle, you can with di2.

Fantomphish
Fantomphish
7 years ago
Reply to  arp

Ummmm…. no I was using single chain rings on my bikes a good few years before it became popular and as it’s been already said single ring setups have been around a lot longer than sram has even been in business

arp
arp
7 years ago
Reply to  Fantomphish

It was never stated that they invented it. I set my mt bike up as a double in the last 80s and as a single ring in front in the early 90s. That doesn’t mean I invented it and certainly didn’t make it popular. SRAM was the one that championed the concepts and got them on as OEM with the mfgs.

Jon
Jon
7 years ago

I’m wondering if they’re still using the “ceramic” jockey wheel bearings from XX that each contain 1 ceramic ball.

OldTimerCat1
OldTimerCat1
7 years ago
Reply to  Jon

that’s pretty hilarious.

TheKaiser
TheKaiser
7 years ago
Reply to  Jon

Are you serious? You’re saying the bearing cartridges have 6 or whatever steel balls, and then a single ceramic one? If that’s real, then Sram really needs to fess up, or if you’re spreading a bike releated “fake news” story, then the bike industry is about to get a whole lot weirder.

nightfend
nightfend
7 years ago

Just waiting for the X1 version of the Eagle group before I buy in.

Duzzi
Duzzi
7 years ago

Yes, wow! What a technological progress: a 50 teeth cog!!!!!!!!! Really something to be proud of!

vinny
vinny
7 years ago

looks very much like a praxis chainring.

badbikemechanic
badbikemechanic
7 years ago

I am in IT and label “user” is such a pejorative term. Sram is basically saying we are not smart enough to shift a front derailleur and instead! they gave us a GIANT granny gear that requires a special hub.

sad
sad
7 years ago

i work in IT and user is no pejorative. noob is. you’re a noob.
2x means you have to time and choose when you shift the front ring. its not a huge deal with 1x is simpler.

anyone who has ever used 2x had a misshift on the front ring at least once. im waiting for my 1x misshift. its been 2 years.

Andrew Spaulding
7 years ago

Ugh, you’ve got it all wrong. Simplicity is always better.

iperov
iperov
7 years ago

no thx,
3×1 enough for trail, less weight on wheel, less maintenance

Nick
Nick
7 years ago

*yawn* wake me up when SRAM(or anyone for that matter) produces something truly innovative. Rear derailleurs have been around for more than 100 years. They are the achilles heel of the mountain bike. If someone can create a small, lightweight, gearbox or IGH on par weight-wise with a traditional cassette/derailleur setup, I might actually pay a stupid amount of money for it. The amount of money SRAM is asking for the old school technology they are actually offering is an insult.

TimB
TimB
7 years ago
Reply to  Nick

Rohloff compares favourably. Slightly heavier and they last forever

Nick
Nick
7 years ago
Reply to  TimB

A 1 to 2 lb weight penalty is pretty significant from a racing standpoint. Don’t get me wrong, the technology is good. They just have to slim it down a little more.

Andrew Spaulding
7 years ago
Reply to  Nick

This is one of those things where crappy tech wins because it has less friction, not because it’s better. All the internal gearboxes in the world can’t match the efficiency of a clean old school derailleur.

blah blah blah
blah blah blah
7 years ago

people who use 1x usually walk or chair lift up hills

arp
arp
7 years ago
Reply to  blah blah blah

Like the vast majority of xc racers?

Mike D
Mike D
7 years ago

How many years were 11spd drivetrains around before 12 spd were rolled out? Just long enough for most “users” to drink the kool-aid, then the 12 spd stuff was launched. Why couldn’t they have made all these new-fangled improvements to an 11 spd group? I would have been fine if they made a wide range 10 spd and left it at that. It all leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I just want to ride my bikes! Less compatibility headaches please…

Robert
Robert
7 years ago
Reply to  Mike D

I agree. Everything is so marketing-driven today. Barf. At the end of the day, early adopters don’t sweat any more or less than I do.

edgar
edgar
7 years ago

Born in the USA, enginered in Germany by Slovakians, manufactured in Taiwan

Andrew Spaulding
7 years ago
Reply to  edgar

(deleted)

Eddie Smith
Eddie Smith
7 years ago

Funny thing is this: I haven’t seen anything regarding 1X until all of the SRAM road chain dropping incidents (Including Andy Schleck). I even had my friend’s TT bike and I dropped her chain within the first drop down in to the small ring. Granted, I’ve dropped chains in Campy and Shimano, but the first time? Come on…

Moral of the story is this: If something doesn’t work right, get rid of it.

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