{"id":410351,"date":"2026-02-06T02:14:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T02:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/410351\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T02:14:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T02:14:17","slug":"troy-brosnan-teases-new-sram-dh-axs-on-red-bull-hardline-tasmania-bike-and-thats-not-the-only-unreleased-thing-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/410351\/","title":{"rendered":"Troy Brosnan teases new SRAM DH AXS on Red Bull Hardline Tasmania bike \u2013 and that’s not the only unreleased thing about it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Red Bull Hardline Tasmania returns this weekend, with some of the rowdiest riders descending on Australia\u2019s island state to compete in one of the world’s toughest downhill races.<\/p>\n

The event is invite-only, with the biggest names in downhill, freeride and slopestyle battling it out on a huge purpose-built course in Maydena Bike Park.<\/p>\n

One of those riders is Australian Troy Brosnan, whose Canyon Sender CFR is tricked out with unreleased SRAM and RockShox electronic components.<\/p>\n

The bike looks to be a glimpse into the future, with electronic tech seeping into its suspension and shifting.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a closer look.<\/p>\n

Canyon Sender CFR
\n\"TroyTroy Brosnan’s Canyon Sender CFR is one of the most advanced bikes in the pits. Canyon<\/p>\n

Brosnan is riding Canyon\u2019s Sender CFR<\/a>, the brand\u2019s full-carbon fibre, high-pivot downhill bike<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Canyon has engineered adjustable geometry into the frame, with adjustable cups enabling Brosnan to fine-tune the reach of his bike by 8mm fore and aft.<\/p>\n

Last year, we caught up with Brosnan\u2019s bike in Lenzerheide<\/a>, where he appeared to be experimenting with a different rear triangle featuring a bonded aluminium insert to enable stiffness adjustability.<\/p>\n

\"MassiveThis brake mount looks huge. Canyon<\/p>\n

It appears he’s still using this setup, with the rear brake mount looking oversized compared to the stock option.<\/p>\n

RockShox Flight Attendant Boxxer
\n\"UnreleasedThe RockShox Boxxer Flight Attendant looks ready to take off. Canyon<\/p>\n

Brosnan has been using an unreleased RockShox Flight Attendant Boxxer fork and Vivid rear shock since the middle of last season. However, the fork no longer features the Blackbox label that indicates RockShox and SRAM prototypes, meaning we could see it on the shelves in the not-so-distant future.<\/p>\n

\"RockShoxThere are still Blackbox stickers on the rear shock. Canyon<\/p>\n

The system looks similar to the brand\u2019s current XC and enduro Flight Attendant<\/a> range. However, we don’t know how it operates the damper.<\/p>\n

\"UnreleasedThe damper settings look similar to those we’ve already seen. Canyon<\/p>\n

Current systems use data collected by accelerometers to set the damper to Open, Pedal or Lock, depending on the surface or position of the bike.<\/p>\n

With downhill riders rarely needing a lockout, we’re unclear as to when this option would be selected.<\/p>\n

Other brands have been experimenting with electronic dampers, with Finn Iles teasing an \u00d6hlins electric shock at the Les Gets UCI World Cup last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"UnreleasedWe’re not sure what this is. Canyon<\/p>\n

There’s a mystery bump at the bottom of the fork stanchion, labelled Linear XL, which could be a tiny supplementary air chamber that gives compressing air more space at the end of the stroke, reducing ramp-up.<\/p>\n

SRAM DH AXS Transmission?
\n\"UnreleasedThe new groupset keeps the black with silver accents of SRAM’s other flagship groupsets. Canyon<\/p>\n

We spotted this derailleur on the bike last year, with only a thin piece of tape veiling the new groupset’s name.<\/p>\n

With SRAM having given the rest of the mountain bike world electronic shifting, it seemed a matter of time before AXS would make its way to downhill racing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been 10 years since we\u2019ve seen SRAM release a downhill groupset, with many riders still riding it to this day.<\/p>\n

\"TroyThe new derailleur looks strong and stubby for gravity racing. Canyon<\/p>\n

The electronic groupset<\/a> carries over the design principles of Transmission, bolting directly onto the bike via a UDH<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It shares the battery placement of GX AXS Transmission<\/a>, sitting within the bracket connecting it to the UDH mount, rather than hanging off the rear as seen on X0 AXS Transmission.<\/p>\n

The range appears to be seven-speed, with the derailleur matching the new crankset’s design.<\/p>\n

\"TroyThe bike features an Ochain. Canyon<\/p>\n

Brosnan is using an Ochain device at the centre of his bike to reduce pedal kickback. The brand was bought by SRAM<\/a> last year and already looks neatly integrated into its design.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Red Bull Hardline Tasmania returns this weekend, with some of the rowdiest riders descending on Australia\u2019s island state…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-410351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410351","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=410351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}