Front Derailleur Eulogy

And so it begins, SRAM is kicking off the marketing push prior to the launch of another new 1X groupset. This time they’re saying it’ll be the death of the front derailleur.

Single chainring setups have certainly proven popular and, when combined with a wide range cassette, they can provide a wide enough gear range for most riders and locations. However some still prefer a two (or three) chainring drivetrain for the added range that they offer. With the Alps on their doorstep, many European riders still prefer to have more than one chainring, so what does SRAM have up their sleeve that’ll truly make the front derailleur redundant?