Photography by Angelica Dixon

In the wild: SRAM Wireless Electronic Groupset

by Wade Wallace - August 26, 2014

Back at the Tour of California the SRAM electronic groupset was spotted on some of the Bissell Development Team’s Trek Madones but it was up for debate whether or not it was true wireless as anticipated, or if indeed there were cables. The prototypes we saw in California had wires coming from the front and rear derailleurs and a junction box on the stem, but were they fake? We found out later that they were.

We spotted a fresh view of SRAM’s new groupset (still in the prototype stage) at the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado, and this time there are no fake wires or junction box. From what we understand, it’s as simple as putting on the derailleurs, adjusting, and off you ride. No cables to connect whatsoever.

No cables also means that each hood and each derailleur needs to have its own source of power. Whether this is a good thing or bad thing remains to be seen. It also means that the shifting signals need to be transmitted via Bluetooth Low-Energy, ANT+ or SRAM’s own proprietary wireless protocol. My guess would be Bluetooth LE so that it can easily interface with smartphones or computers for diagnostics or other information.

Also, from what we understand the way that the shifting works is that there is one button on each of the brake levers. The left lever shifts up, the right lever shifts down (or vice versa). Press them both at the same time and the front derailleur shifts up or down.

How far away from production is it? No idea, but it still looks like it’s in the prototype stage.

Tags: 2014 USA Pro Challenge, SRAM

RC TD

Its about time someone figured it out. I have SRAM 22 and love but if I were to jump to electronic this is the way to go.
inopinatus

Holding out for wireless disc braking in 2016.
- Nitro
  
  With ABS I’m assuming…
- Bracksy
  
  Holding out for frame-less bike riding in 2016.
  - Dave
    
    Wiggle already has a section devoted to it: http://wiggle.com.au/run/
- Chris_E_Dub
  
  It’s happening…
- Arfy
  
  As fantastic as it would be, the issue is what fail-safe mechanism to apply - if the brake unit fails to receive messages from the wireless transmitter, should the brakes be applied, and by how much? It wouldn’t be much good if wireless interference in a peleton resulted in several riders’ brakes being applied by the fail-safe mode, this would certainly cause a major crash. Similarly it’s clearly dangerous if you go to apply the brakes and nothing happens.
  - inopinatus
    
    I’m always surprised when someone takes me seriously. Thanks, Arfy :)
echidna_sg

less cables sure make the bike look cleaner…. but can you mix and match 1 rear D across multiple bikes/shifters? if they get it right, It could be a 5 minute job to swap from bike A to B… add in interaction with power meter/heart rate/cadence readings and you could do away with shifters altogether!

still, I love the simplicity of mechanical ;-)
Steve G

I like the SRAM stuff, but there isn’t enough here to make me want to swap out Di2 for this… yet. I’m guessing weight weenies will be counting that cable weight.
It might be a bit painful to have to connect each part at a time to configure via BTLE (if it doesn’t have some junction box) and also for firmware updates, plus having to charge and/or change batteries for each piece… mind you, I guess that doesn’t happen often.

I guess all will be known soon enough.
Nitro

Doesn’t this just mean people now have 4 batteries to keep track of ? I run Di-2 and have no problem checking / charging the battery, but with batteries all over the place…?
- Tony Abbott
  
  Give it a couple of years and it’ll be totally integrated.
- Hamish Moffatt
  
  Yes. Stupid isn’t it?
- Arfy
  
  I’m thinking someone will come up with an after-market solution for a centralised battery, probably in the seatpost. Most frames already support running cables so should be no problem.
  - Nitro
    
    Agree… however wouldn’t that then imply wires - which kind of negates the whole “Unique value proposition” of SRAM’s whiz-bang wireless system?
    - Arfy
      
      I’m thinking they’ll sell a few bikes with the first-gen system, then owners will get sick of charging several batteries and want a single-battery solution. I suspect the real SRAM die-hards would consider it sacrilege to put wires in the system and just put up with the pain.
- Brad Scarfe
  
  I would assume they use BLE, meaning you would only need to charge 2 batteries, font and rear mech’s to run the motors. The levers would likely just use a coin cell.
DaGoose

I thought Trek was sponsored by Shimano? I guess that’s not happening next year.
Perhaps with Samsung sponsorship next year smartphone integration will happen quicker than we think. I’m visualising images of Cancellara taking stem selfies through the Arenburg.
- Sramano
  
  The Trek Factory Racing Team is sponsored by Shimano. The photo above is of a Bissell Development Team rider (which use Trek bikes with SRAM Components).
  - http://www.cyclingTipsBlog.com cyclingTips
    
    That’s correct.
Hamish Moffatt

Wow, four batteries to keep charged for the lifetime of the bike is much more convenient than installing the cables once!
- Nitro
  
  Pre ride checklist….
  
  Tyres inflated to correct pressure: Check.
  Front light charged: Check.
  Rear light charged: Check.
  Front derailleur charged: Check.
  Rear derailleur charged: Check.
  Right hood charged: Check.
  Left hood charged: Damn it, not charged.
  
  Swear a lot, then go back to bed…
  - RayG
    
    I’ll stick to wires. My checklist will be:
    
    Signal jammer charged - check.
    - bits n stuff
      
      It uses bluetooth parsing technology. So not always on, but very quick and memorizes the signal with unique identifier. This means very long battery life and therefore batteries small (Think CR2032 in the hoods) and weight advantages for those weenies.Plus no longer do you need that specific Di2 frame. So can see some retro frames mixing with new at some stage
      - Paul Jakma
        
        Given SRAMs’ patent, it seems to be IEEE 802.15.4 LoWPAN, not Bluetooth.
Anonymous Alpaca

The amount of rear Di2 cables I’ve seen crimped on trainers is too damn high! (insert meme pic here). As long as there is a diagnostic app/function to check battery level of all components, it’d be the way to go…. assuming cost wasn’t a concern.
- Steve G
  
  That’s a pretty tenuous reason for changing out a groupset… I’d suggest people using their eyes to make sure a cable isn’t in the way, but hey, a new groupset will work as well I guess.
Sam

The way batteries are going wireless charge pads are the way forward. No need to plug anything in, simply wrap the charge pad around the shifters and derailleur and all good to go. No plugs to worry about. Mobile phones are already there
- Arfy
  
  The issue at the moment is the size of the antennas needed for efficient wireless charging are bigger than the SRAM units. That’s not to say they won’t evolve to something that will fit, it’s just that today they’re not there yet. But I hear you, no plugs means nothing external to break, and the unit can be made fully water/mud/dust proof.
cc

I’m holding out for wireless brakes…
CiclismoEspresso

I wonder why there’s the cable regist (donno the exact name, sorry) on the RD.
- Ulrich Läderhosen
  
  Perhaps a connector for the charger/data link?
  - RayG
    
    Looks like they’ve just used the parts from a mechanical derailleur to build this prototype.
Scott McGrory

Right lever changes up the cassette and left lever changes down. Like the paddle shift in a car. As soon as you use it you get that, why didn’t someone think of think of that before feeling.
2Ventoux

With the rear (only), this is very similar to what Mavic did 15 odd years ago with mektronic (wireless electronic). I have 2 sets that still work brilliantly (and 2 that don’t…). Carry spare button cell battery, not a problem
BrosEmpire

Is it just me or do the black boxes (for lack of a better name) look to be the same on the RD and FD? They look to have a lever on top (perhaps as a fastener) and i would almost suggest that they may be removable, so that they can be docked into a charger. That way i’m guessing you could run 3+ batteries and when one gets low you already have one charged up ready to swap out the dead one. No plugging chargers in etc, or mid race the mechanic could swap out a dead battery with the rider still on the bike!

The sequential shifting is a great idea and makes so much more sense. If it also shifted from the small - large all the way through the ranges to large - large that would be even more amazing (insert the technical ‘ratio expert’ that will talk about the limited ratios as you move through a cassette here!)

i have the old sram red and this wireless would make me upgrade with little hesitation (other than the required $$ of course), whereas Di2 just doesn’t have the appeal for me. Several updates to the Di2 system already (cable changes, junction changes etc) just sound to me like they haven’t quite worked out a system that works well yet. Not to mention the issues with wiring/frame limitations, excess wiring inside frames rattling etc.
Paul Jakma

SRAM have a patent that seems to describe this system. It’s using IEEE 802.15.4 low-power networking on the unlicensed 2.4 GHz band. I’ve got a bit more and some analysis of the protocol it uses on my blog at: http://paul.jakma.org/2014/08/26/srams-wireless-bicycle-gear-shifting-protocol-analysis/ - executive summary, it can’t support more than a double front chain-ring, and it can’t support (intentional) simultaneous shifting of the front and rear.
- Hamish Moffatt
  
  Nice analysis Paul. The decision to go with a single shift button on each shifter and the impact on the front shifting implementation seems like a nightmare. And you reminded me how glad I am not to work on ZigBee any more :-)
Wifiall

When are they launching wireless chain? That way, I can just pedal easily and the rear wheel will spin wirelessly.
mt

Wonder if it was the same when phones went wireless?