Yesterday was spent in the workshop, then on the trails, as we’ve managed to get a bunch of the new SRAM gripshift equipment for test. First fitted to the editorial testbench (currently an Orange E4) was a set of the Rocket shifters, which are the Shimano compatible Gripshift units that replace the Sachs units in SRAM line up (as far as we can tell).They’ve come on loads in the last couple of years – the action was light and positive, thanks to their dual-spring internals. The range of movement was small, which meant that there was no need to release-regrip to change the full range of gears.

Biggest problem so far is that the long barrel of the shifter means you only run a very short fixed grip section. SRAM might make one specially for the job, but our cut-down Orange grips didn’t work well when they were half their original length.

We’ll persevere with the grip thing, as the shifting is so good there must be a way
round this somehow.We’ll keep you informed…