{"id":207217,"date":"2025-10-17T19:43:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T19:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/207217\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T19:43:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T19:43:13","slug":"inside-srams-basement-of-brilliant-engineering-failures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/207217\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside SRAM\u2019s basement of brilliant engineering failures"},"content":{"rendered":"

If there’s one area of cycling I love in a disproportionate and nerdy way, it’s the rich history of innovation that stretches across the sport. The first slant parallelogram derailleur, the first aero extension bars, and the first clincher tyre all opened up new dynamics in racing and a world of opportunity for consumers.<\/p>\n

While we celebrate the trailblazers across the sport’s history, some of the most innovative efforts have never escaped the confines of various R&D teams.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I’ve toured dozens of factories over the last seventeen years in this industry, and been prohibited from photographing or even mentioning some of the most absurd innovations.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

Not so at SRAM headquarters, though.<\/p>\n

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\"SRAM's\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Future\/ Peter Stuart)<\/p>\n

Visiting the Chicago base of the American groupset giant in the spring, Kevin Wesling \u2013 Director of Advanced Development at SRAM \u2013 gives us a detailed snapshot of his history of innovative experiments in the Advanced Development team.<\/p>\n

“We got to take that dumb idea and move it off the list, because sometimes you just have to make it to confirm that it’s no good,” Wesling says with a modest smile as he pours components out onto a white table in the company’s main meeting room.<\/p>\n

Arrayed on the table is a living history of SRAM\u2019s ambitions, successes, and near-misses \u2013 some are overtly wild in nature, while others are subtly divergent.<\/p>\n

The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

A story with a twist<\/p>\n

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\"SRAM's\n<\/p>\n

One of SRAM’s digital display Grip Shift innovations (Image credit: Future\/ Peter Stuart)<\/p>\n

SRAM’s roots lie in shifting, so it’s fitting that a gripshift system is one of the first that Wesling shows us.<\/p>\n

“When we started at SRAM, all we made were twist shifters,” Wesling explains. “This was our whole world. And we avoided triggers forever \u2013 we were like, no, twist shifters are better because you can shift ten gears at once. It\u2019s faster.”<\/p>\n

In those days, gear indication was the dominant, albeit relatively random, battlefield. Shimano had visible index windows, so Sram battled to create something better.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important thing was gear indication,\u201d says Wesling. \u201cThat was the big fight \u2013 who could do the best gear indication. So we did a bunch of projects that were a little crazy. We even made a big display that told you what gear you were in.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"SRAM's\n<\/p>\n

A floating dial intended to show gear position in real time. (Image credit: Future\/ Peter Stuart)<\/p>\n

Wesling shows us a floating dial which looks a little like a Christmas cracker present.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt actually just kind of hung out there in space, like your cables went to it and came out of it and just kind of floated in front of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

A slightly more sophisticated solution sits next to it, a large digital dial that shows gear – perhaps more in tune with what we’d expect from the AXS era.<\/p>\n

“I didn\u2019t put a battery in there, I don\u2019t know if it still works, but this was a big display that would tell you what gear you\u2019re in,” Weling says.<\/p>\n

Shifting innovation in the early days had other near-misses, some rather elegant.<\/p>\n

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\"SRAM's\n<\/p>\n

SRAM’s Two-Axis brake was ergonomically advanced, but perhaps too smart for it’s own good (Image credit: Future\/ Peter Stuart)<\/p>\n

In the late 1990s, SRAM acquired Sachs – a German brand famous for upright, utility and trekking bikes. SRAM’s AD team created a raft of products to complete the new portfolio.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe created five products for the trekking industry,\u201d he says. \u201cThe Sparc e-bike hub, the DualDrive hub, the SmartBar, the i-Brake\u2026 and the Two-Axis Brake.\u201d<\/p>\n

The brake lever effectively moved in parallel with the squeezing of the hand. “It was about natural ergonomics,” Wesling explains.<\/p>\n

“It was one of the things I did as a young engineer,” he recalls fondly, but alas, it never saw commercial success. “It was too clever for its own good,\u201d Wesling argues.<\/p>\n

Tapping away<\/p>\n

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\"SRAM's\n<\/p>\n

The DoubleTap shifter was originally an ugly white plastic and metal block (left) while an early eTap innovation attempted self-charging shifting (Image credit: Future\/ Peter Stuart)<\/p>\n

Of course, the failures came alongside major steps forward, which landed. Along the way, of course, iterations fell by the wayside in the name of progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to launch a road group, you can\u2019t start with a twister,\u201d Wesling says. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have a road shifter, and we needed one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe even made a twister that had a lever on it,\u201d he recalls. \u201cYou\u2019d release with a trigger. We called it the Twigger, I\u2019m not making that up.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was that crossbred engineering leap that led to the formation of the DoubleTap concept.<\/p>\n

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\"SRAM's\n<\/p>\n

An early iteration of SRAM’s eTap electronic shifters (Image credit: Future\/ Peter Stuart)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis guy in our group, Brian Jordan \u2013 he\u2019s probably the most prolific inventor we\u2019ve got \u2013 came up with this concept: pull a little to release, pull a lot to shift. One lever, two actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we first brought the idea up,\u201d Wesling laughs, \u201cone guy said, \u2018That\u2019s the stupidest idea I\u2019ve ever heard.\u2019 But once people rode it, they got it. Once it\u2019s on the bike, it\u2019s money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scepticism quickly abated when the models were put to use in practice. “We put that on a bike, and we made prototypes, then we made a road shifter version. And once people rode that around the office, we launched the whole of Force and Rival.”<\/p>\n

While DoubleTap was a resounding success, one of the brand’s failures almost stands out as a more daring innovation. was particularly compelling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is probably one of the first eTap derailleurs ever made,\u201d Wesling says, lifting an industrial prototype, with the circuit board totally detached. “We prototyped the battery, we changed the latch \u2013 you can see the old design in the patents.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"SRAM's\n<\/p>\n

One of eTap’s earlier iterations, with a metallic battery clamp (Image credit: Future\/ Peter Stuart)<\/p>\n

Wesling points to a newer iteration and the handsome but monolithic battery sealing. The product development is mapped out in front of us, and the iterative journey to the first generation of eTap is a characterful one.<\/p>\n

Among the iterative steps, though, one derailleur stands out.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody kept asking, \u2018Why can\u2019t you make it self-charging?\u2019\u201d Wesling explains. \u201cSo we did.\u201d<\/p>\n

He points to a much larger and more complex rear derailleur.<\/p>\n

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\"SRAM's\n<\/p>\n

One of SRAM’s early eTap prototypes (Image credit: Future\/ Peter Stuart)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis whole section had a generator. As you rode, it charged the system. You didn\u2019t use a normal battery; you used a super-cap that could power about fifty shifts. It worked. But when it was charging, it drew four watts instead of one.<\/p>\n

It seems like an innovation too good to have shelved, but the clash or performance and power loss made it a non-starter. “Too much drag,” Wesling explains. “So it never made sense to scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"SRAM's\n<\/p>\n

Sram’s self-changing eTap shifter (Image credit: Future\/ Peter Stuart)Long game<\/p>\n

A characteristic element of the Advanced Development team is that amongst its successes, lots of the key innovations were long, often high-risk solo projects that culminated in major steps forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started Flight Attendant about six years before it launched,\u201d Wesling explains. \u201cWe hired one guy in California and just let him go. He worked on it for five years, iterating at his own pace, outside the pressure of regular production schedules.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flight Attendant may be lesser known to road cyclists, but it’s a huge part of SRAM’s RockShox suspension system, and its ability to deploy an automatic, sensor-controlled suspension system that adjusts in real time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe early version tried to do everything from one sensor,\u201d he says. \u201cJust accelerometers and gyros. But we learned you need pedalling data too. So we added a pedalling sensor. You go through iterations, find what works, what doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the project finally became official, Wesling’s team handed it to the wider global engineering team to turn it into a real-world product.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first four or five years were just one or two people,\u201d Wesling says. \u201cAfter that, it was 10 or 15, and the cost went up fast. But that\u2019s how it should work. Our group proves the concept. Then we let the big teams make it real.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spectacular failures <\/p>\n

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\"SRAM's\n<\/p>\n

The disc brake power meter was more of an R&D tool than a would-be product (Image credit: Future\/ Peter Stuart)<\/p>\n

Sometimes the greatest innovation surfaces when brands stretch a little too far, and often beyond the realms of practical usability. In the case of SRAM’s AD team, that certainty seems evident.<\/p>\n

The most overt example jumps out to me from the array of products, a brake rotor with a Quarq power meter on it.<\/p>\n

“We even did a brake power meter,\u201d Wesling confirms. But my initial impression was a little removed from the reality – the product was never meant to be public-facing.<\/p>\n

“The goal wasn\u2019t to sell it, but to learn.” He continues. \u201cWe developed it mostly for the brake team. It measured braking power directly \u2013 like a hub power meter, but for deceleration. The Quarq unit read torque and rotation, but we had to increase the data rate a hundred-fold to capture it. It was just a development tool.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"SRAM's\n<\/p>\n

The helmet-mounted voice-activated shifter is the most stunning but senseless innovation in the AD department (Image credit: Future\/ Peter Stuart)<\/p>\n

Of the wild and dysfunctional wonders, one truly reigns supreme. SRAM’s voice-activated gear shifting helmet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number of people that asked for voice-activated shifting,\u201d Wesling laughs. \u201cSo we made one. Took a week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Welsing explains that the team rigged a standard helmet with a microphone, a speaker, and a wireless transmitter connected to an eTap system. The prototype recognised two commands: \u201cpeanut butter\u201d to upshift, \u201cjelly\u201d to downshift.<\/p>\n

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\"SRAM's\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople were riding around the office yelling \u2018Peanut butter!\u2019 \u2018Jelly!\u2019,\u201d Wesling recounts. \u201cAfterwards, everyone agreed it was a dumb idea. But it was great, because we could take it off the list. Sometimes you have to build something to prove it doesn\u2019t belong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty funny. And then after they wrote it, they’re like: yeah, that’s a dumb idea. Which was great, because we got to take that dumb idea and move it off the list.<\/p>\n

“Because sometimes you just sometimes you have to make it to confirm that it’s no good.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the most endearing elements of the AD team is how affectionate Wesling is for the team’s creation, both the successes and failures.<\/p>\n

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\"SRAM's\n<\/p>\n

The SRAM blip sat at the back of the helmet (Image credit: Future\/ Peter Stuart)<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery engineer in AD has a box like this,\u201d he says. \u201cOld ideas, broken things, projects that never went anywhere. And every so often, someone pulls one out, dusts it off, and it becomes relevant again. You never know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, amid the failures have been resounding successes. Alongside eTap, DoubleTap and Flight Attendant, the Universal Derailleur Hanger (UDH) is one of the AD department’s more humble achievements.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe full mount derailer came first, and then UDH was created to Trojan Horse the concept into the market,” Welsing tells us.<\/p>\n

“The UDH by itself is still a great idea, that’s why. And the engineer who worked on that is a German engineer named Henrik Braedt, you know, in the AD group. And I say that when he dies, his gravestone should say UDH on it, because he’s saved the world, like, millions of hours of looking for new derailleur hangers, right?”<\/p>\n

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\"Kevin\n<\/p>\n

Kevin Wesling explaining the AD’s departments projects (Image credit: Future\/ Peter Stuart)<\/p>\n

The AD department has a lot to celebrate alongside its more spectacular flops. For a journalist used to seeing polished prototypes and carefully curated creation myths of celebrated products, a glimpse of the less glamorous failures makes for a refreshing change.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlight Attendant, DoubleTap, eTap \u2013 all of those came from this same process,\u201d Wesling says.<\/p>\n

Perhaps a spirit of innovation and willingness to fail has played a part in those commercial successes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re lucky. We get to experiment without pressure. And if something doesn\u2019t work, that\u2019s okay. We learn. That\u2019s the point.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If there’s one area of cycling I love in a disproportionate and nerdy way, it’s the rich history…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-207217","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}