SRAM E - Electronic shifting and braking SRAM component group

Apparently this was a very elaborate and time consuming april fools joke...

Saw this at hkfixed and just had to steal it.








but unlike his post i will analyze what these pictures probably mean:

1. looks really messy, but i dont see this being a problem given that cables can be hidden easily .
2. Looks like braking is also actuated electronically, as opposed to the dura ace system.
3. the control box in the 2nd pic appears to only provide power, which is why it has 2 cords per component (8 cords total, 4 components: front der, rear der, front brake, rear brake) EDIT ** looks like an AC wall charger !.
4. The shifters probably work wirelessly because they have a battery in them, this is a little different from the dura ace setup since i think the shifters are connected to the battery pack/front deraileur.
5. There is no front derailleur or left hand shifter in the pics, maybe their system cant handle that yet, since i know for the shimano and campy electric systems the shift between small ring and big ring on the front is the most costly in terms of energy.

Overall this is obviously a prototype, and as we know campy was the first to introduce electric shifting on the race circuit, with shimano following close behind (i think around 2003). We all know that shimano has beaten campy to market, although i would expect to see a campy solution soon.

so this probably means that we wont see this SRAM E in stores anytime soon, let alone on test bikes, but these parts look far enough along that they could make it onto some bikes in the big grand tours this summer (EDIT: maybe not the grand tours, but i would expect to see it on some pro bikes). Probably not on any famous or contending riders bikes.

My opinion: looks ugly looks awesome (but a little bulky), electronic braking is dumb, wireless is cool, electric shifting is cool, looks expensive, dont get your hopes up, dura ace di2 better watch out.

EDIT ** Alexfry alerted me to the fact the wired unit is actually just an AC wall charger. Therefore all of the components would appear to work wirelessly! I still think the dura ace looks awesome, and i dont know how i feel about wireless electric braking, i mean shifting is one thing but braking ??!