Knob Magazine

The Avid XX brake? A recent illustration from a recent SRAM patent application

I may have jumped the gun the other day by posting this photo of a what I thought would be the newest Avid Ultimate brake lever.  Apparently SRAM sent out word earlier this week that it is planning a  entirely new XC group called XX.  There is no shortage of speculation as to what the new group will include, but my guess is the following:

• XX will be a 2 x 10 setup.  Forget about the debate here.  Not only does the name mean twenty, but this is in keeping with SRAMs current strategy of building dicipline specific products.   A 2 x 10 setup would not only be lighter but allow a narrower q-factor.   Moreover, SRAM has recently filed patents on a new chain and a revision of their power dome cassette technology.
• Hate to throw cold water on all the folks out there hoping for a XC version of Hammerschmidt, but its not happening.  Not only would the technology be fighting an uphill battle in the XC market, but you have the more practical problem that there are no XC frames on the market with ISCG mounts.
• As I mentioned earlier there will be a new brake system to go along with the group.  While it is unclear whether the new brake will be sold under the SRAM or Avid name, it will be a perpendicular master cylinder setup similar to the Hayes Stroker.  Like all avid products, there will be an adjustment dial to set pat contact.  As for the caliper my bet is that it is new, but really what can you do with a caliper other than make it smaller.  In this case I would hope that SRAM does away with the stupid orbitals that mount the brake to a post adapter and just make the brake mount directly to a post mount style fork.  Also, don’t bet on any super funky rotors.
• As for derailleurs and shifters, be ready for much more of the same with updated materials.  I would expect the XX rear derailleur to get the ti pivots and spring of the RED derialleur.  Most people anticipate that the new group will use more carbon to bring the weight down.  From what I can tell this is true, but I expect to see carbon used in some unorthodox ways, namely a lot of co-moulding carbon and alloy parts together.
• The biggest changes are likely to come in the crank department.  As of now the SRAM family lacks the 5 bolt mountain crank necessary to run a gear smaller than 30T.  I would guess that we are going to see either a return to five bolt, or more likely a new standard for the two ring setup.  My bet is that the crank will simply be an adaptation of current technology, rather than a the oversized standard used on the Zipp zukka.
• Finally, the biggest change will be in the wheel department.  You can almost bet we will be seeing a SRAM XX wheelset as part of the launch, I would almost go so far as to say that it will feature carbon rims.