There is a new player looking to make a splash in the mountain bike drivetrain market, and they've come out swinging with a complete 11-speed groupset to kick things off. With a stated goal of "bringing high quality bicycle components to the market at an affordable price", TRW Active is launching a set of products that work together as a set or that can complement many existing components from SRAM and Shimano. The company is just about to launch an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to get the word out, but it stresses that it already has produced 150 complete drivetrains that will be used to fulfill the first orders.
The 11-speed SRX drivetrain is based around a the classic Shimano freehub standard, and as such it is limited to 11 teeth for the smallest cog on the cassette. To provide enough range the company offers two cassettes, an 11-50 and an 11-52 that requires "an extender" for the derailleur (which we assumes refers to a longer cage). The cassettes are built around an alloy carrier, which supports a combination of cold forged steel and alloy cogs (we have not been able to dig up any information on weights).
The derailleur is based on a parallelogram design and features an adjustable clutch and a "cage lock" mechanism to make wheel removal easier. The shifter features an upshift lever that can be both pushed and pulled, while the other lever is said to be able to deal with 5 downshifts in a single push. Two cranksets are available to complete your drivetrain, a DH/Enduro version and a lighter Trail version. They both use a 24mm axle and work with direct mount chainrings which appear to feature a narrow-wide tooth pattern.
Pricing
Without knowing more about component weights and performance in general, it's hard to offer a definitive opinion on value for money here, but the list prices are in line with competition and the early bird offers in particular seem to be very competitive.
- TRW-2 Groupset (shifter, derailleur, crankset, chain, cassette, and bottom bracket): $414.95 USD (early bird $292.99 USD)
- TRW-2 HD Crankset: $134.99 USD
- TRW-2 11-50t 11 Speed Cassette: $99.99 USD
- TRW-2 11-52t 11-Speed Cassette: $119.99 USD
- TRW-2 Rear Derailleur: $94.99 USD
- TRW-2 11 Speed Shifter: $49.99 USD
More information available at www.trwactive.com and Indiegogo.com.
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