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Zipp VukaShift AXS 90 puts complete wireless shift control directly in the aerobars

zipp vukashift axs 90 carbon aerobars with integrated wireless shifting for sram etap and axs groups
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Trying to hide every last wire and cable on your triathlon bike? Or do you need to easily add aero bars to that Continental Divide flat bar speed machine? The new Zipp VukaShift AXS 90 aerobars completely integrate the wireless shift buttons, battery and transmitter directly into the beams. That means no more BlipBox, which means no more worries about where to mount said BlipBox.

Even better, they ship with a set of the new MultiClics so you can position a second set of shifters near your brake levers. They’ll mount directly into any standard bullhorn handlebar with aero extension mounts, and look particularly svelte with that Vuka Aero carbon base bar launched last year.

They’re designed primarily for TT and Triathlon bikes, but you can use them on regular road bikes running Red or Force AXS or flat bar bikes with Eagle AXS…with one very interesting caveat. We’ll get to that in a minute…

zipp vukashift axs 90 carbon aerobars with integrated wireless shifting for sram etap and axs groups

The VukaShift AXS 90 includes two sets of buttons. Two fit flush into the bar ends, plus the two MultiClics to place near your brake levers on the bull horns:

sram vukashift axs 90 aerobars come with sram multiclic wireless shifter buttons for axs and etap shift control

The VukaShift AXS 90 pairs with any AXS component, from the Force and Red AXS groups to the Eagle AXS mountain bike rear derailleur and Reverb AXS dropper seatpost. This gives you the flexibility to set up your controls exactly how you want…sort of, keep reading.

You can also plug Blips into the VukaShift AXS 90 arms if you prefer those to the new MultiClics, but you’ll have to buy them separately.

VukaShift prices, specs & weights

  • Weight: 390g
  • Length: 410mm
  • Trimmable: 10mm off front, 90mm off rear
  • Evo extension shape w/ 90mm rise
  • Eliminates need for BlipBox
  • Integrated rubber grips
  • Price: $850 / €850 / £750 (including VAT)
  • Ships: April 2020

zipp vukashift axs 90 aerobars with remote wireless shifting for sram etap axs derailleurs

The pairing button and battery access panel are on the insides of each arm. They use a standard, user-replaceable coin cell battery.
zipp vukashift axs 90 aerobars come with an integrated removable gps cycling computer mount for Garmin Wahoo and Bryton computers

They include a removable GPS cycling computer mount that’s compatible with Garmin, Wahoo and Bryton computers (and any others that share those brands’ mounting pattern).

Will VukaShift AXS 90 work on a road bike? Or my mountain bike?

zipp vukashift axs 90 aerobars with remote wireless shifting for sram etap axs derailleurs

Here’s where things get interesting. First off, unlike the standalone MultiClics that are sold separately, the VukaShift AXS 90 is AXS only. Meaning, it won’t work with the original Red eTap…only with parts labeled AXS. Why? Because there are slight differences in the transmission protocol, and they wanted it to be as fast as possible (and bring it to market quicker), so they limited it to AXS only.

The other “limitation” is that these are designed to be a primary shifter on an AXS bike. Meaning, you can choose to use these as the Master component on a bike, or you can choose to use your AXS drop bar or Eagle AXS shifter as the Master. And a bike can only have one “Master” shifter…and no other shifters.

What does that mean?

It means you can either run your regular shifters, or you can run these. So, for a drop bar bike, you’d probably want to run their standard aerobar extensions and add MultiClics or bar-end Blips.

For a mountain bike, you’d simply remove the Eagle AXS shifter buttons and add the included MultiClic buttons on either side of the bar. Want to also control your Reverb AXS? Just use the AXS app to set a “double click” (meaning, push both buttons simultaneously) to control the dropper seatpost.

zipp.com

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Shafty
Shafty
4 years ago

Looks like Di2 has this beat. You can add all the shifters you want in Di2 without worrying about a “master” shifter. You can also use ANY extension with Di2 without any ergonomic compromise. Also, there’s single and dual button shifters. Sure, you have to route wires, but you do that once when you build the bike. Most bikes accommodate it cleanly, so it’s not really an issue.

They did address one complaint with this though. Before, any tt/tri setup with dual shifters was only half wireless. At least now they can say you have a fully wireless system. Oh, wait, MultiClics are now a thing. What a stupid way to flip that around. Just make the blip box smaller so it can more easily be hidden. And improve blips. And make the road derailleurs shift faster. There, perfect.

mateo
mateo
4 years ago
Reply to  Shafty

You’re complaining that blips/clics have wires, but you’re lauding Di2?

Shafty
Shafty
4 years ago
Reply to  mateo

Yes, because it’s executed better and every part of it works together. As long as it’s etube you’re basically good. I’m complaining that they’re creating new things *with* wires, that now have compatibility issues with their other new things *without* wires. Convoluted? Yes, it’s stupid.

I’m saying, why bother with this cockpit if a fully decked out version needs wires anyways. Wasn’t that the selling point of AXS? Just go with Di2 at that point.

DS
DS
4 years ago
Reply to  Shafty

The cases where anyone would want that many shifters seem very few and far between. And picking a master component for the 30-second pairing process… oh no! How long does it take you to run Di2 wires for a whole bike?

Shafty
Shafty
4 years ago
Reply to  DS

Of course the paring is easy. The point is you can’t have all the shifters active with these extensions. They’re trying to sell these as an add-on for all types of bikes, but that’s a bit deceptive when you can’t use your old shifters once these are installed. Yeah, the answer really should be “pick your primary shifting position and shut up”, but that seems kind of lame for this price point. These are great for tt when your only other shifters will be Blips/MultiClics, but THOSE ARE WIRED.

I think this is just their way of nudging the Blipbox out of existence, since it doesn’t do anything else that the other shifters didn’t do. It would be awesome if you could simply bolt on these extesnions for long rides/tts and gain a set of shifters, but there’s no allowance for that.

Also, routing Di2 is not hard or time-consuming from scratch. It can take a bit of time as an upgrade, but so does replacing any complete drivetrain.

Fil
Fil
4 years ago
Reply to  Shafty

what do you mean you cant use your old shifters? if you have road shifters you don’t need the vulka shift, you just get a regular vulka with the areo clicks at the end and route that to your road shifters, along with any blips or multiclics.

this just gives you another choice in how you want to lay things out

Gary P
Gary P
4 years ago

The whole discussion about the potential “master device” conflicts is silly. These are clearly aimed at dedicated TT/triathlon bikes, as a cleaner alternative to the Blip Box. If you already have eTap road brifters, there’s no need for something like this; a set of ~$100-200 extensions with a ~$100 set of blips or clics will do the trick.

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