Prototype SRAM Red road shifters spotted – is a new high-end groupset coming soon?

By Simon von Bromley

Published: Wednesday, 21 December 2022 at 12:00 am

A number of professional riders have been spotted using prototype SRAM Red road shifters at training camps and at cyclocross races in recent weeks.

Movistar Team riders have been seen using unbranded road shifters with a different shape to the current-generation SRAM Red eTap AXS shifters at a training camp in Alicante.

In a video posted on its YouTube channel, several riders from the WorldTour team are using the new shifters, while the rest of the group are on the current-generation version.

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Is this Movistar Team rider so happy because he’s testing new SRAM shifters or because he’s on a training camp in Alicante? Possibly both.
Movistar Team

Shirin van Anrooij, a Dutch cyclocross rider, was also seen using shifters with hoods similar in form to those seen on SRAM Rival eTap AXS, but with a carbon brake lever and enlarged ‘pro’ branding.

In both cases, the bikes with the prototype shifters otherwise use current-generation SRAM Red eTap AXS components.

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Shirin Van Anrooij has been using what look like SRAM Rival eTap AXS shifters with carbon lever blades during recent cyclocross races.
Luc Claessen/Getty Images

Could SRAM be trialling a number of different new shifter designs ahead of a refresh to its top-of-the-range road bike groupset? It certainly appears so.

Let’s have a look at what we can decipher from the images we have so far.

SRAM is trialling at least two new shifter styles

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Standard SRAM Rival eTap AXS brake levers are relatively heavy and don’t have carbon lever blades with such prominent branding.
DAVID PINTENS/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images

Van Anrooij’s Rival/Red shifter hybrid suggests SRAM may have simply explored taking the updated shifter body shape from Rival, and applying its best weight weenie technology to that form factor. This may be to satisfy the demands for ever-lighter components from professional riders.

While it does look like a finished product, it’s also conceivable this is something of a stop-gap.

Van Anrooij may simply prefer the slimmer and shorter shape of the Rival eTap AXS shifters, prompting SRAM to make custom models with carbon levers to save weight and oversized branding to maintain their prominence in photographs.

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Van Anrooij’s bike is otherwise built up with current-generation components.
Luc Claessen/Getty Images

The shifters spotted on Movistar Team bikes, however, look completely new.

The shifter bodies appear to have been slimmed down compared to the current versions, with a smaller bump on the top.

The DoubleTap shifter paddles have also grown in size significantly, now reaching much further up the brake lever than before.

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The unbranded levers suggest these are still in prototype form.
Movistar Team

We don’t expect SRAM to change from its DoubleTap shifting logic (right button for a harder gear, left for easier, both to shift at the front).

Instead, we expect this to simply be a refinement of the system, making it easier to reach the shift paddles with different hand positions.

The brake lever also appears slightly elongated, curving out a little more towards the top of the blade, before swooping back in and then out again to create finger hooks when riding in the drops.

One blurry image also suggests there could be a new auxiliary button on the inside of the shifter hood.

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It looks as if SRAM has added an extra button to the hoods of its prototype shifters.
Movistar Team

This could be intended to function similarly to the buttons on the top of Shimano Di2 shifters, which are generally used to control bike computers without moving your hands from the brake levers.

In fact, this shifter design shares a striking overall similarity to Shimano GRX Di2 shifters. Perhaps no bad thing, because our tester, Warren Rossiter, called those “the star of the show” in his first ride review.

What could this mean for a new SRAM road groupset?

Given the current generation of SRAM Red eTap AXS was released four years ago, it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine an updated groupset is on the horizon.

As already noted, the bikes used by both Movistar Team riders and Shirin van Anrooij were otherwise built up with current-generation components.

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The Movistar Team bikes have current-generation tech other than the shifters.
Movistar Team

However, given the tech-obsessed team here at BikeRadar (and other journalists) are constantly scouring social media for new kit like the Eye of Sauron, it wouldn’t be surprising if SRAM is being more careful about keeping any new drivetrain parts under wraps.

Since shifters are such a crucial contact point in a road groupset, however, SRAM likely wants to gather feedback from its sponsored professional riders before committing to a final form factor.

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Only a select few riders in this group are using the prototype shifters, perhaps to prevent nosy journalists ruining the surprise.
Movistar Team

Overall, though, it looks as if 2023 could be a big year for SRAM.

We’ve already seen some details of what could be a new Apex eTap AXS groupset leak, and reigning Tour de France champions, Jumbo-Visma, are switching to using the American brand’s components for the upcoming season.

SRAM last won the Tour with Andy Schleck in 2010, in its pre-electronic groupset days. Could a first Tour win for eTap be on the cards in 2023? No doubt SRAM is hoping so.