the

power

of

SRAM, for example, brought CHAIN AND DRIVETRAIN know-how. TRUVATIV gave SRAM a headstart on CRANKS AND BOT-TOM BRACKETS. ROCKSHOX gives the company a unique in-side line on SUSPENSION TECH-NOLOGY, and AVID was renow -ned for its DISC BRAKE savvy for years before it wound up under the SRAM umbrella.

DRAINBRAIN

SRAM

AVID

SRAM, for example, brought CHAIN AND DRIVETRAIN know-how. TRUVATIV gave SRAM a headstart on CRANKS AND BOT-TOM BRACKETS. ROCKSHOX gives the company a unique in-side line on SUSPENSION TECH-NOLOGY, and AVID was renow -ned for its DISC BRAKE savvy for years before it wound up under the SRAM umbrella.

The Power of 4 - the four most innovative brands in cycling have come together behind one singular goal: to craft the most advanced cross country group ever.

BRAINROCKSHOX

TRUVATIV

SRAM

brought CHAIN AND

DRIVETRAIN know-how.

DRAINBRAIN

The Power of 4 - XX was a project that covered two years and thousands of hours, spanning six countries on three continents. It took the product and design expertise of SrAM shifting, rockShox suspension, Avid

braking, and truvativ engineering working united as one to create the lightest, most technically advanced group conceivable. And we delivered. this is XX.

TRUVATIVgave SRAM a headstart on

CRANKS AND BOTTOM BRACKETS.

AVID

was renowned for its

DISC BRAKE savvy for years

before it wound up

under the SRAM umbrella.

ROCKSHOX

gives the company a unique inside line on

SUSPENSION TECHNOLOGY.

CRANKS AND BOTTOM BRACKETS.CRANKS AND BOTTOM BRACKETS.

tho

ught

. “A

t

the

Wo

rld

Cha

mp

ions

hip

s la

st y

ear

in It

aly

I to

ok

a b

unch

of

pho

tos

of

2x9

bik

es f

or

the

[dev

elo

pm

ent]

tea

m. I

t w

as p

rett

y cl

ear

that

qui

te a

few

peo

ple

wer

e ju

st t

akin

g t

he

gra

nny

gea

r o

ff –

whi

ch is

gre

at if

yo

u’re

a

wo

rld

cla

ss a

thle

te,”

he

laug

hs, “

but

… ”

and

he

leav

es t

hat

tho

ught

unfi

nish

ed.

“The

y w

ere

loo

king

to

go

fas

ter,

per

iod

,” a

dd

s

Ro

n, “

at a

lmo

st a

ny c

ost

. The

y w

ere

taki

ng a

com

pro

mis

e in

gea

ring

, a c

om

pro

mis

e in

shi

ftin

g,

a co

mp

rom

ise

in b

rake

per

form

ance

– a

ll to

go

fa-

ster

.” It

was

cle

ar t

hat

a ne

w, l

ight

wei

ght

gro

up b

a-

sed

on

two

cha

inri

ngs

up f

ront

and

10

sp

rock

ets

at

the

rear

was

the

way

to

go.

“W

e d

idn’

t ju

st m

ake

the

two

cha

inri

ng c

onc

ept

up,”

sta

tes

Ro

n.

“The

re’s

tra

cks

in t

he s

now

up

to

whe

re w

e ca

me

fro

m,

and

we

tho

ught

. “A

t th

e W

orl

d C

ham

pio

nshi

ps

last

yea

r

in It

aly

I to

ok

a b

unch

of

pho

tos

of

2x9

bik

es f

or

the

[de-

velo

pm

ent]

tea

m. I

t w

as p

rett

y cl

ear

that

qui

te a

few

peo

-

ple

wer

e ju

st t

akin

g t

he g

rann

y g

ear

off

– w

hich

is g

reat

if

you’

re a

wo

rld

cla

ss a

thle

te,”

he

laug

hs, “

but

… ”

and

he

lea-

ves

that

tho

ught

unfi

nish

ed.

“The

y w

ere

loo

king

to

go

fas

ter,

per

iod

,” a

dd

s R

on,

“at

alm

ost

any

cost

. The

y w

ere

taki

ng a

co

mp

rom

ise

in g

eari

ng, a

co

m-

pro

mis

e in

shi

ftin

g, a

co

mp

rom

ise

in b

rake

per

form

ance

– al

l to

go

fas

ter.”

It w

as c

lear

tha

t a

new

, lig

htw

eig

ht

gro

up b

ased

on

two

cha

inri

ngs

up f

ront

and

10

sp

ro-

cket

s at

the

rea

r w

as t

he w

ay t

o g

o. “

We

did

n’t

just

mak

e th

e tw

o c

hain

ring

co

ncep

t up

,” s

tate

s

Ro

n. “The

re’s

tra

cks

in t

he s

now

up

to

whe

re

we

cam

e fr

om

, and

we

raceCRANKS AND BOTTOM BRACKETS.

CRANKS AND BOTTOM

BRACKETS.CRANKS

“they were changing everything without any of it being optimised.” Paul Kantor

headsra

cehe

ads

CRANKS AND BOTTOM BRACKETS.CRANKS AND BOTTOM BRACKETS.

CRANKSCRANKS ANDCRANKS AND

CRANKS AND BOTTOM BRACKETS.CRANKS AND BOTTOM BRACKETS.

tho

ught

. “A

t

the

Wo

rld

Cha

mp

ions

hip

s la

st y

ear

in It

aly

I to

ok

a b

unch

of

pho

tos

of

2x9

bik

es f

or

the

[dev

elo

pm

ent]

tea

m. I

t w

as p

rett

y cl

ear

that

qui

te a

few

peo

ple

wer

e ju

st t

akin

g t

he

gra

nny

gea

r o

ff –

whi

ch is

gre

at if

yo

u’re

a

wo

rld

cla

ss a

thle

te,”

he

laug

hs, “

but

… ”

and

he

leav

es t

hat

tho

ught

unfi

nish

ed.

“The

y w

ere

loo

king

to

go

fas

ter,

per

iod

,” a

dd

s

Ro

n, “

at a

lmo

st a

ny c

ost

. The

y w

ere

taki

ng a

com

pro

mis

e in

gea

ring

, a c

om

pro

mis

e in

shi

ftin

g,

a co

mp

rom

ise

in b

rake

per

form

ance

– a

ll to

go

fa-

ster

.” It

was

cle

ar t

hat

a ne

w, l

ight

wei

ght

gro

up b

a-

sed

on

two

cha

inri

ngs

up f

ront

and

10

sp

rock

ets

at

the

rear

was

the

way

to

go.

“W

e d

idn’

t ju

st m

ake

the

two

cha

inri

ng c

onc

ept

up,”

sta

tes

Ro

n.

“The

re’s

tra

cks

in t

he s

now

up

to

whe

re w

e ca

me

fro

m,

and

we

tho

ught

. “A

t th

e W

orl

d C

ham

pio

nshi

ps

last

yea

r

in It

aly

I to

ok

a b

unch

of

pho

tos

of

2x9

bik

es f

or

the

[de-

velo

pm

ent]

tea

m. I

t w

as p

rett

y cl

ear

that

qui

te a

few

peo

-

ple

wer

e ju

st t

akin

g t

he g

rann

y g

ear

off

– w

hich

is g

reat

if

you’

re a

wo

rld

cla

ss a

thle

te,”

he

laug

hs, “

but

… ”

and

he

lea-

ves

that

tho

ught

unfi

nish

ed.

“The

y w

ere

loo

king

to

go

fas

ter,

per

iod

,” a

dd

s R

on,

“at

alm

ost

any

cost

. The

y w

ere

taki

ng a

co

mp

rom

ise

in g

eari

ng, a

co

m-

pro

mis

e in

shi

ftin

g, a

co

mp

rom

ise

in b

rake

per

form

ance

– al

l to

go

fas

ter.”

It w

as c

lear

tha

t a

new

, lig

htw

eig

ht

gro

up b

ased

on

two

cha

inri

ngs

up f

ront

and

10

sp

ro-

cket

s at

the

rea

r w

as t

he w

ay t

o g

o. “

We

did

n’t

just

mak

e th

e tw

o c

hain

ring

co

ncep

t up

,” s

tate

s

Ro

n. “T

here

’s t

rack

s in

the

sno

w u

p t

o w

here

we

cam

e fr

om

, and

we

raceCRANKS AND BOTTOM BRACKETS.

CRANKS AND BOTTOM

BRACKETS.CRANKSheads

THE XX FACTORCompletely new groupsets don’t come along all that often – and ones that shake things up are even rarer. What’s more, you-know-who has dominated mountain bike transmission and brake systems for so long it’s a wonder there’s room for anyone else in the market. But SRAM’s XX groupset – which launches the concept of 2x10-speed transmission and a whole host of high-end refinements on an unsuspecting world – looks set to redefine expectations.Uncompromisingly efficient in use, light and different to look at, XX represents a radical rethink of what’s needed from a high-end, speed-orientated component group. A wide-ranging cassette paired with twin chainrings and new, patented front shifting technology delivers smooth, precise shifts at both ends, even under full power. We know because we’ve tried it. And did we mention it’s light? Although UK riders are likely to end up spending close to £1 for every gram of a complete XX groupset, there’s no doubt it is a new benchmark in lightweight performance. So how did SRAM do it? We sat down with several of the XX design team to find out.

CRANKS AND BOTTOM BRACKETS.CRANKS AND BOTTOM BRACKETS.

CRANKS

//copy//

CRANKS ANDCRANKS AND

Compared with its closest, much larger competitor, Shimano, SRAM is a rela-tively young company whose growth over the past decade has largely been fuelled by acquiring other component manufacturers – and the expertise that helped build them.

less more

Sachs, for example,

brought chain and drive-

train know-how. Truvativ

gave SRAM a headstart

on cranks and bottom

brackets. RockShox gives

the company a unique

inside line on suspension

technology, and Avid was

renowned for its disc

brake savvy for years be-

fore it wound up under

the SRAM umbrella.

So all the engineering teams for a new component group were already under the same roof, but it wasn’t until SRAM had com-pleted development of a couple of road groupset projects that the company felt ready to tackle the complexities of a mountain bike group. Paul Kantor, product manager for brake systems, explains the background. “We were at a bit of a crossroads with X.0 [SRAM’s existing high-end 3x9-speed MTB transmission],” he tells us. “People were asking for an X.0 front derailleur and we had to take a hard look at where we wanted X.0 to go. We decided we’d get to that, but in the meantime we decided to make something more kick-ass than X.0, and make it a complete groupset.”This represented a radical shake-up of the way SRAM’s eight component design teams had worked in the past.

“they were looking to go faster, period.” Ron Ritzler

“There’s tracks in the snow up to where we came from, and we just kept going forward.”

But XX needed a new approach so that, in de-

sign engineer Scott McLaughlin’s words, “what

we ended up with was a groupset and not a

bunch of individual parts that work together”.

RaceheadsLogistics aside, the goals for the project were

daunting. According to Ron Ritzler, category

manager for MTB drivetrains: “We weren’t

going to make a group that was going to end

up on bikes at $1000 [£608]. We could have,

with offices and engineers spread across the globe from

Colorado, Illinois and California to Germany and portugal,

previous mountain bike components had been designed

more or less as standalone units.

and it’s something we may do at some point,

but we were going to make a group suited

for $6000 [£3647] bikes. And that made a

statement to the market that we were incred-

ibly serious about this. [Shimano] XTR is the

benchmark for cross-country racing,” he adds.

“We looked at XTR and what it offered and

what it didn’t offer, and we put it right in the

crosshairs.”

“We wanted to set a new standard for front shifting.” Scott McLaughlin

2

1

4

3

2

1

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

XX

X

X

1

Coming up with something better than the acknowledged market – and technology – leader needed a fresh approach, so the SRAM team went back to basics. They travelled to races, talked to the riders, looked at their bikes and found out what they did and didn’t like about the existing kit. And what they found was quite sur-prising: many racers were hacking their sponsors’ groupsets to a surprising degree, making modifications to better suit their needs. But it wasn’t always performed elegantly. “They were changing everything without any of it being optimised,” explains Paul, with a look of horror only an engineer could muster at such a thought. “At the World Championships last year in Italy I took a bunch of photos of 2x9 bikes for the [development] team. It was pretty clear that quite a few people were just taking the granny gear off – which is great if you’re a world class athlete,” he laughs, “but… ” and he leaves that thought unfinished.“They were looking to go faster, period,” adds Ron, “at almost any cost. They were taking a compromise in gearing, a compromise in shifting, a compromise in brake performance – all to go faster.” It was clear that a new, lightweight group based on two chainrings up front and 10 sprockets at the rear was the way to go. “We didn’t just make the two chainring concept up,” states Ron.

“There’s tracks in the snow up to where we came from, and we just kept going forward.

There’s the stuff that Tom Ritchey did 10 years ago. There’s Thomas Frischknecht positioning 2x9 as the right way to go. They took us to the edge – we just took that next step.”

//boxout//

4

3

X

X

X

X

The goal was to create a new 2x10-speed component group that would satisfy the

racers’ need for lightweight performance. But SRAM’s engineers were adamant that

the weight savings would have to be achieved without sacrificing function. “You

can’t just strip parts out and say, ‘oh, we delivered a lightweight group’,’’ says Ron.

“We wanted to set a new standard for front shifting,” explains Scott. In many ways

this wasn’t just another tick box on the wishlist; it was a requirement. With just two

chainrings and no conveniently positioned middle ring to cover most eventualities,

the need to shift cleanly under pressure up front was going to be paramount.

The goal was to create a new

2x10-speed component group

that would satisfy the racers’ need

for lightweight performance. But

SRAM’s engineers were adamant

that the weight savings would

have to be achieved without sacri-

ficing function. “You can’t just strip

parts out and say, ‘oh, we delivered

a lightweight group’,’’ says Ron.

“We wanted to set a new standard

for front shifting,” explains Scott.

In many ways this wasn’t just

another tick box on the wishlist; it

was a requirement. With just two

chainrings and no conveniently

positioned middle ring to cover

most eventualities, the need to

shift cleanly under pressure up

front was going to be paramount.

It wasn’t until some time had elapsed that SrAM’s

engineers realised that they’d already patented the

concept that would help deliver this performance over a

decade ago. By matching two teeth on the small chainring

with three teeth on the big chainring, they could create a

‘slice of pie’ that would allow clean shifting at almost any

point. And, by a happy coincidence, multiples of 13, 14 or

15 pie slices delivered exactly the gear combinations that

they were looking for.

throw in bigger bolt circle diameters and 50% thicker

chainrings for added rigidity, double up on shift pins and

ramps and sweat the front mech design, and XX’s

extraordinary front shifting performance was in the can.

80

A GROUPSET WITH A fORK? Well, almost. The new hydraulic fork lock-out shaves 60g over an equivalent cable-operated lever, so it fits well with the XX ethos, and it’ll only work with XX-compatible forks. But unlike the transmission, which is an all-or-nothing choice, you don’t have to run the lock-out with XX... or a RockShox fork.

//boxout//

SID

XX

Wor

ld C

up

SID

XX

REBA

XX

REV

ELAT

ION

XX

100150

80

less more =

stronger than the traditional Allen key alternative. Carbon fibre, titanium and forged magnesium abound. The new lever blades, for example, are 3g lighter per blade than the levers on which their design is based. The rear mech’s aluminium cable clamp bolt is 1.5g lighter than a steel one. Trivial weights on their own, but together they add up to a significant overall saving.Racers are likely to be very happy with the new group – it’s light, it works brilliantly and it looks great. But re-latively few people are going to be able to afford it. And, in a bizarre twist, XX’s remarkable simplicity and ease of use will, it seems to us, appeal just as much to newer riders as it will to speed freaks, both on and off-road. We ask Ron whether we’re likely to see a stripped-out, cheaper version of XX for the masses. He laughs: “That’s never going to happen.” Then he pauses. “But we’re not going to not use the technologies we’ve developed,” he adds, with what looks suspiciously like a wink…

Achieving functional goals such as significantly better front shifting while simultaneously saving weight proved one of the XX project’s biggest head-scratchers. “We didn’t want to achieve our weight savings by removing ergonomic adjustments or other useful features,” explains Scott, “so we weren’t going to be able to take away 20g without working at it very hard. Not only was it necessary that we kept all the features, but it also had to be strong and tough and durable. And if you’re not compro-mising on any of those, then you have to be very careful about every half gram on every part.”The result is undoubtedly one of the most thoroughly engineered groupsets of all time. Cheap it most certainly is not – a replacement cassette, for example, will retail at over $300 (£182). But every single component, right down to the smallest pivot and fastener, has been examined and sweated over for any potential weight savings. Fasteners are aluminium or titanium TORX T25 bolts, which are lighter and

has

bee

n e

xam

ined

an

d s

wea

ted

ove

r fo

r an

y p

ote

nti

al w

eig

ht

savi

ng

s.

//end//

Story

: What

Mounta

in Bike

No. 9

8, Summer 2

009

Copy: Seb R

ogers - D

esign: D

EEPRED

Thank you!