There’s a prevailing mood in the bike industry that there’s no more space for newcomers in an already saturated drivetrain market, but some company’s like ROTOR are making their own space, in this case enough for 13 gears.
ROTOR has never been a brand to remain stolid, consistently pushing the boundaries of innovation along the lines of power cranks and related components, and most recently, the launch of its all-new UNO hydraulic groupset – a first in the industry.
ROTOR has once again turned the industry on its head, after unveiling a new 13-speed drivetrain during this week’s Eurobike show in Germany that’s compatible across all categories of bikes and cycling disciplines.
According to ROTOR, the premise behind the new drivetrain was to close the gaps in gearing that current 1×11 and 2×11 present, by offering both better matched and spaced ratios for a wider range of riding conditions.
Indeed, ROTOR says its 1×13 drivetrain can provide a 390% range of gearing with a 50t chainring and a 10-39 cassette, as compared to 346% with a 53/39 and 11-28 setup, with closer gaps in gearing ratios than ever before.
ROTOR also says the groupset can be combined with a vast number of chainring sizes ranging from 38 to a whopping 54, along with choices in cassette including 10-36, 10-39, 10-46 and a massive 1–52 for mountain bike applications.
ROTOR also claims the elimination of a front derailleur combined with a clutch style rear derailleur results in a better “chain-line” and minimizes “chain-drop”. Moreover, the fact that the 13-speed drivetrain is used in conjunction with their all-new hydraulic rear derailleur, considerably reduces both set-up and maintenance requirements.
At the heart of the 13-speed drivetrain is ROTOR’s Rvolver hub technology, which has been revised to work specifically with the new cassette body, and is compatible with any of their current range road or mountain bike cranksets and shifters.
There’s no word on pricing or availability from ROTOR as of yet, but more information will likely become available after Eurobike.
Stay tuned.
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