By Jack Evans

Published: Friday, 24 June 2022 at 12:00 am

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This week marked the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year in the UK, and the BikeRadar team has enjoyed some suitably long, sunny rides. I hope you have too.

Like any other week though, shiny, exciting tech has arrived at BikeRadar along with some handy-looking bikepacking bags and a book from a celebrated cycling author.

But before we take a peek at those, let’s go over what’s gone up on the site in case you missed any of our captivating content.

Strikes may have disrupted the UK rail network this week, but we haven’t downed tools here at BikeRadar and the content locomotive has been full-steam ahead.

First out of the station was Simon von Bromley with a news story on the new Pinarello Bolide time trial bike spotted at the Tour de Suisse.

Veteran mountain bike racers Rob Weaver and Alex Evans dispersed the smoke surrounding MTB racing in their guide to the competitive strands of the sport.

There’s no stopping technical writer Oscar Huckle, who explained the differences between mineral oil and DOT fluid in his buyer’s guide to brake fluid.

As our Bike of the Year coverage chugs on towards its conclusion, Rob Weaver reviewed the Whtye G-180 RS MX, which he described as a “serious big-hitting enduro machine”.

Along with a news piece on the new CeramicSpeed OSPW Aero derailleur cage, we published a buyer’s guide on bike computers, weighing up the Wahoo and Garmin offerings.

SRAM Red eTap A2 11-speed rear derailleur and cassette

The SRAM Red eTap A2 rear derailleur provides easier gearing for cyclists, like myself, who are still riding the original 11-speed version of the groupset.

The first iteration of the SRAM Red eTap wireless groupset was 11-speed and the rear derailleur had a maximum sprocket size of 28-tooth.

As a result, the largest possible cassette was 11-28t. Although generously sized by historical standards, it seems small today as road bike gearing gets easier.

The launch of 12-speed SRAM Red eTap AXS in 2019 brought wider gear ratios to the brand’s marque groupset.

But original Red eTap users could not upgrade for compatibility reasons.

Jack Evans / Our Media

The following, year SRAM updated the 22-speed rim-brake version, boosting the rear derailleur capacity to 32t and allowing an 11-32t cassette.

The SRAM Red eTap A2 rear derailleur has an anodised alloy finish, a carbon pulley cage and ceramic pulley bearings.

It works with older SRAM Red eTap batteries as well as 12-speed Red and Force eTap AXS controllers and eTap AXS blipbox.

The SRAM XG-1190 is made from “heat-treated, high-grade tool steel” for durability.

The cogs and rear-cutouts are CNC-machined to add stiffness without weight, according to the brand.

This is one of the modifications I’m making to my Canyon Ultimate CF SLX in order to make scaling the Swiss Alps a little easier later this year.

Look out for my Horse for the Course feature on the BikeRadar website to see how I, and the bike, fare.

• SRAM Red eTap A2 rear derailleur: £587 / €656 / $698
• SRAM XG-1190 cassette: £334 / €372 / $339