Hot on the heels of their MTB and cyclo-cross single chainring groupsets, SRAM have taken the next step and brought that technology to the road, launching 1x Force and Rival groupsets.

Essentially the 1x drivetrain does away with the front derailleur in favour of a single chainring, which SRAM offer between 38-54 teeth, depending on intended use. Paired with a wide or super-wide cassette which comes in 10-42, 11-36, 11-32 or 11-30, that chainring gives a comparable range of gearing to traditional double chainring systems.

The rear derailleur will come in standard and long cage varieties to cater for those wide-range cassettes as well as a few other smart features. One of these is the roller bearing clutch, designed to eliminate derailleur bounce and chain slap.

Another difference is the left shifter will only have a brake lever, as it obviously won’t need anything else, which will simplify the system. You can also get the 1x groupsets with either mechanical braking or SRAM’s HydroR  system.

Outside of the drop bar shifters, there will also be flatbar shifting options so the group can be used on a wide variety of bikes.

SRAM are aiming the 1x road groups at everything from ‘cross bikes all the way up to triathlon machines, making 1x arguably the most versatile option around.