The Spanish brand, Rotor Bike Components have announced that they will release a complete groupset at Eurobike in Germany (which opens next week). Named ROTOR UNO this goes one step beyond the status-quo and integrates hydraulic shifting and braking. That’s right, the shifting is also hydraulic.
“Our initial idea was to improve upon existing shifting systems; we knew that our system was a small step forward with its increased precision compared with other cable-actuated systems but we still suffered the same disadvantages of those systems, like friction, devolving inconsistent force over time, and other inconveniences,” says Pablo Carrasco, co-founder and chief innovation officer for ROTOR. “We knew that disc brakes for road were about to become a reality and we challenged ourselves to further the concept and apply hydraulics to actuate shifting as well.”
Magura partnered with Rotor to produce the brake system though it has not been noted whether Magura also lent their experience in the development and production of the hydraulic shifting. Rotor are promising both a rim brake and disc brake version of the UNO with ‘Smooth activation and low maintenance’ along with a low weight.
They also publicly comment on electronic shifting (which is not included in the UNO groupset), “This entirely human-powered groupset is uncomplicated by unnecessary batteries and chargers”.
Does the advantage of hydraulic braking also transfer to shifting and it is as good as, or better than Shimano Di2? We look forward to checking this out at Eurobike and will report back on the shifting experience.
