The Detail’s in the Dirt
It’s been with us for about 100 years, and many believe there to be a better solution but the humble derailleur is still going strong. We get the lowdown on the why and the how courtesy of SRAM’s race coordinator Todd Anderson and the Santa Cruz Syndicate team.
Cool slo-mo footage of World Cup chains just smashing around like nobody’s business… how’s your derailleur doing?
Comments
rob c
10 years, 10 months ago
@craw
I was a big fan of gearbox, hub gears and belt drives (in the 90's I rode for a DH team sponsored by Sachs i.e. now SRAM and we had a full choice of all their geared systems including hub gears and derailleur systems, we tested them all…)
the video shows both SRAM and Shimano derailleur systems being used, so it cannot be discounted as just a marketing video for SRAM to sell more derailleurs?
gearbox bikes are fantastic in principle, just like hub gears (Rohloff and Shimano Alfine which make sense for niche usage)
but ultimately the bushingless chain and derailleur system simply cannot be beaten for efficiency?
which is everything, when talking about a human powered vehicle where strength to weight ratio of the bicycle, and drivetrain power efficiency are very critical, bearing in mind the limited power output of the average cyclist…
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Cr4w
10 years, 10 months ago
I suppose it's in a SRAM representative's best interest to push the benefits and value of derailleurs.
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