Last week in Santa Cruz Seb Kemp went disguised as me to the SRAM Trail House product launch. A bunch of rad new trail goodies from SRAM were unveiled but today we can only talk about one thing, but it’s a pretty exciting thing all the same. When I think of Type 2, two things come jump to mind: diabetes and VW Kombis. But in April there will be a third popping up and that’s SRAM’s new rear mech. Now we brought you a sneaky pic of it a while ago when SRAM Black Box manager Jon Cancellier had it parked up in my living room but as you can see from the pictures the production model has changed a bit.
It’s definitely got the hyped up and much speculated about clutch mechanism, which is pretty much a high speed dampener for your rear derailleur. It utalises SRAM’s new roller bearing clutch technology to keep the derailleur and chain taut eliminating chain slap, chain suck and derailleur bounce. There’s no switch to engage the clutch, it’s on all the time; its one-way roller clutch controls the chain tension for consistent shifting. It’s not something you’re going to be fiddling with, in fact SRAM don’t really want you touching it at all and to that end the tension is factory set and say it will remain constant and smooth (it runs on a needle bearing) for its life.
The early Prototype version that we played with and checked out back in December was ludicrously quiet to ride on and from what Seb has said the production model is an even further refinement on that.
Now you may have spied that little padlock logo at the top of the cage, that’s the Cage Lock. You may have seen the SRAM infomercial floating round the net and this is what it’s all about. The video pretty much says it all but here’s some pretty pictures to really explain it for you. Personally I’m hyped on it, the car I’m driving at the moment has no towball so I’ve been having to remove the wheel every time I want to ride and it sucks, Cage Lock is definitely a solution for a problem I didn’t really know was there. But if I’m getting a sweet as non-chainslapping clutch thingy at the same time, well that’s just multiple thumbs up.
The new type two rear derailleur will come in three cage lengths and in XO and X9 configurations. Oh and they fit the bike you have right now…
SPECS
X0 TYPE 2 Rear Derailleur
• Exact Actuation for precise and dependable 10-speed performance
• Focused chassis design for all conditions and usage
• 235g (medium cage) clutch adds 30 grams to a standard RD
• 36-tooth cassette capable
• 3 cage lengths available: short for DH, medium for 2X10 and long for 3X10
• 3 graphic colors available: Silver, Black, Red
X9 TYPE 2 Rear Derailleur
• Exact Actuation for precise and dependable 10-speed performance
• Focused chassis design for all conditions and usage
• 250g (medium cage) clutch adds 30 grams to a standard RD
• 36-tooth cassette capable
• 3 cage lengths available: short for DH, medium for 2X10 and long for 3X10
• 3 graphic colors available: Grey, white
AVAILABLE April i’ll check on price and get back to you…
Not made for 29’ers. Ride 26