Rotor hydraulic shifting

Well it looks pretty good…

Rotor pumps out new Uno hydraulic shifting road group w/ Magura brakes

With mechanical shifting on top end group sets being so good, and now with electronic shifting, and wireless on the way too, I do wonder who’d bother with more hydraulic faff. Can’t imagine it’ll be cheaper or lighter.

one more thing to bleed? no thanks.

Doesn’t need charging. If it’s less expensive and as reliable as Di2 then it could be a viable alternative

I think the biggest issue that they’ll face is that SRAM and Shimano have both gone electric and people are now designing frames around their systems so hose routing etc will be an issue.

Electronic shifting has made it obsolete before it even gets to market.

I think SRAM Red wireless electronic shifting will be the shifting game changer and I think they’ll announce it at Eurobike.

ARCOS did this a few years back. Now that road brakes are going hydraulic, it does remove an inhibitor.

I think SRAM Red wireless electronic shifting will be the shifting game changer and I think they’ll announce it at Eurobike

I’m not so sure. More batteries, lots to charge, very expensive components and lots of waves flipping around you…nah thanks.

I don’t see the market for this either, I’m a fan of progress but I don’t see what this progresses.

Electronic shifting is already tried and tested for providing lighter-action shifting (it also auto trims which I assume hydraulic doesn’t, haven’t read the link though). It will also allow for wireless shifting in future (less hassle in general, less compromise in frame design, increased aero etc.). Hydraulic shifting therefore doesn’t provide a replacement for electronic shifting.

Mechanical shifting will always have a place due to cost and simplicity – hydraulic shifting doesn’t address those so is not a replacement for mechanical shifting.

Bleeding brakes is also one of the more PITA routine jobs to do and I don’t expect bleeding gears will be any more enjoyable.

I’m not so sure. More batteries, lots to charge, very expensive components and lots of waves flipping around you…nah thanks.

That’s what they said about Di2.

No idea what you mean by waves flipping around.

It will also be dead easy to retrofit especially to bikes without internal cable routing.

will it mean no more wee-ing on mechs to de-freeze them in winter? can you wee on Di2?

😉

Hydraulic shifting is dead in the water before it even gets to the shops, it offers no benefits.

Plus Shimano had their pretty similar Airlines and gave it up as a bad job.

dragon – Member

Plus Shimano had their pretty similar Airlines and gave it up as a bad job.

Airlines was far more mental than hydraulic shift , it was total madness

Rotor have carved a very successful niche by making something that had previously been written off, ie oval rings. Who’s to say they’ll not achieve the same here. IMO making a name for your product in the road market is as much about whose bike you can get it on as the perceived performance advantage.

It will also be dead easy to retrofit especially to bikes without internal cable routing.

I think the number of people buying £2k groupsets and not buying new frames is fairly small, and the number of those that havent bought a new intenraly routed frame in the last 3-4 years they’ve been almost ubiquitous is even smaller. And the last lot of photos I saw, there were still wires between mechs and batteries. All it could skip is the link between headtube and bars (but you still need brake cable).

Like hydraulic, wireless is a problem that didn’t need solving.

And the last lot of photos I saw, there were still wires between mechs and batteries.

No wires at all I think for the SRAM solution. Batteries in each of the mechs and shifters.

Like hydraulic, wireless is a problem that didn’t need solving.

I’ll be all over it if the price isn’t too hefty. Really want electronic shifting one of my bikes that doesn’t have routing for Di2 and the external kit is just messy.

I think the number of people buying £2k groupsets and not buying new frames is fairly small, and the number of those that havent bought a new intenraly routed frame in the last 3-4 years they’ve been almost ubiquitous is even smaller. And the last lot of photos I saw, there were still wires between mechs and batteries. All it could skip is the link between headtube and bars (but you still need brake cable).

But it won’t be £2k for a couple of shifters and a couple of mechs will it. About £600 to upgrade to Shimano Ultegra Di2 so maybe a bit more for SRAM wireless. I’m ready to pull the trigger for my road bike as it doesn’t have internal routing and the frame has lots of life left in it.

The wires you saw in those photos were dummies. The latest units have battery packs on the mechs and have been used in races recently by the AG2R team.

It’s an interesting/slightly strange halfway house really. Interesting to have a powerful way of shifting with no batteries or cables, with what should be exceptional longevity with reduction in performance only coming from wear of chains/rings/cassettes.

Potential to be a real pain to fit and bleed, and is it fixable on the side of the road without a bleed kit!? Also, it seems like it is just as ‘dumb’ as a cable, and doesn’t have the flexibility of Di2 that can auto-trim and other features. Wireless seems like the best way to go, and with further innovation and reducing prices from the likes of shimano, it’ll be a fairly niche (and expensive) thing.

The Acros shifting is very light, so if not write this off as being heavier than Di2

I got all excited when I first saw this (as I use a lot of Rotor on my bikes), then wilted.

Wireless is where da’ akchon is innit.

Nice bit of kit mind, I like the look of it anywhoo’s…

I see it having a place on mountain bikes. Reliable, no batteries, simpler more durable than electronics (perhaps), cheaper (perhaps).

I’d buy them as an alternative to cables (electronic or other).

The Acros stuff seemed behind the curve on mtbs when it was released, what, 3 years ago? With electronic now gaining even wider acceptance I don’t see a future for hydro shifting on the road.

Be perfect on touring bikes and commuter/utility bikes though. No batteries to charge. Potentially fully integrated, full internal hose runs for both brake & gear. Never needs adjusting, never degrades. OK, maybe a once every 18months bleed which should still be less maintenance than cables.

It’s certainly an interesting concept. For those that haven’t looked into the workings the “shifters” are basically just master cylinders, the magic happens in the mechs, similar shifting style to SRAM. Wouldn’t fancy ripping a rear mech off and having brake fluid getting sprayed about, paintwork blistertastic.

Can remember thinking ages ago why the hell would Cervelo keep banging on about hydraulic shifting compatibility.

I’m not sure how this managed to get off the ideas table

Sure I read it had been 6 years in the making. Probably seemed like a good idea 6 years ago!

Never needs adjusting and never degrades but needs a bleed every 18 months? What happens? It’s perfect shifting then all of a sudden it stops working, you change the fluid and it’s bang on for another 18 months?

I’m not sure how this managed to get off the ideas table

Very, very slowly. And late.

I remember a German firm who tried to market hydraulic shifters about 5 years ago – probably the same one others have mentioned above – reviews were good, it was expensive and heavier than Shimano / SRAM cable stuff, but I reckon it wasn’t that, that killed it off, it was the fact it wasn’t Shimano, SRAM or Campo.

Every coupe of months I see a new kind of mech or groupset that’s not from a major player, that offers amazing weight, or super sharp shifting or other useful feature but you never here of them again.

I wonder if that the reason why Hope have never tried that market, despite nibbling around the edges for years.

Every coupe of months I see a new kind of mech or groupset that’s not from a major player

Really?

Apart from the following, who?
Microshift, Acros, Box, Rotor.

Never needs adjusting and never degrades but needs a bleed every 18 months? What happens? It’s perfect shifting then all of a sudden it stops working, you change the fluid and it’s bang on for another 18 months?

‘Cos that’s what happens to brakes?

The shifting happens in the mechs, the hydraulic ness merely operates the shifters remotely if you like, much the same as electric.

Apart from the following, who?
Microshift, Acros, Box, Rotor.

FSA?

Older than old news….

hydraulic shifting would have been an interesting proposition if Di2 hadn’t hit the market when it did…

That said I could never see it being totally faultless fine control functions aren’t really what hydraulics are best at…