Hydraulic shifting- the future of shifting??
Will the recently released hydraulic shifting from Acros be the future of shifting? Well I sure think so. Probably the most innovative improvement in bike technology in some time.
The creator Christophe Muthers probably explains it the best in the video below, but hydraulic shifting offers a couple of major advantages.
#1 NO CABLE MAINTAINCE
There are no cable to maintain, the hydraulic lines are seals and robust. This means no derailleurs going out of adjustment, no housings wearing needing to be replaced, and no gumming up of your shifting. There is no shifting only under spring load - everything is done under positive pressure in both directions. So you can push a shift through all sorts of mud build up and the shift effort is low and consistent.
#2 Configurable/Repairable
I like that is it easily configurable. Riding 8 speed now but want to go 10 speed later? Hey just rebuild the index in the RD. Bend something? Get replacement parts. Want a “goofy” shifting setup, just swap sides with the shifters, you can even reverse shift orientation.
#3 Quality
Fully CNC macined, anodized colours, bearings at the pivot points
The down side? All that German quality is expensive, very expensive. But most new tech normally is and they have built a very high quality system.
I hope they are going to do cost reductions and use things like Asian construction and forged parts etc, all that German CNCing is too expensive for mainstream. I’m also hanging out for a road setup. Great for the road, but the main market would be cyclocross riders.
Tags: drivetrain, shifting
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