Yikes! Issues with the new SRAM RED 22!

So this bike here, a special edition Specialized Tarmac, was bought as a gift by one of the heads of SRAM Corp for his neighbor, a land developer in charge of the new Google campus that's being moved to Chicago.

Since it was bought by Sram it's built up with all Zipp components and wheels, and of course the new Red 22 -eleven-speed- group.  Comes in at 14.72 pounds once finished.

 I rode the new SRAM Red 22 group when I was at Interbike on a Specialized Tarmac and I really liked it. In fact, at the time I thought it was the best 11-speed mechanical group.

But this Red 22 group on the Specialized above has a serious problem. At the shop we installed all the components to the factory specifications, as we've done a zillion times before with past generations of SRAM components: the chain is cut so that there is an extra inch, the b-screw has the upper pulley 6mm away from the big cog, the frame/hanger alignment is fine, the cables are all in the right spot and the shifting is actually excellent most of the time.

BUT, when we cross-chain in the big chainring to big cog combo, the chain pops off the lower derailleur pulley and won't hop back on, even in the smaller gears.

The main symptom of this issue is a loud grinding noise and noticeable drag while pedaling. It's especially prominent in the work stand but I was able to re-create the problem outside on a test ride as well.

The other mechanic at work said that if the pulley cage was metal we could bend it into place, but as the cage is carbon there is nothing we can do.

One solution to this problem that I'm sure seems obvious is to just never cross-chain. Though that's great advice, in the real world cross-chaining happens and it's something drivetrain designers need to plan for.

To me this skipping pulley issue is a glaring design flaw that should have been remedied long before Red 22 ever hit the market.


This could be an isolated problem. The factory workers in Taiwan or China or wherever could have done a poor job with this particular derailleur. But that's a serious problem too. There should be quality control to insure that your $375 derailleur comes out of the box perfect every time.

Furthermore, as a shop worker how does it make us look when a customer commissions us to build a $10,000 super bike and it rolls out with shifting problems? Now we have to spend a day on the phone with SRAM Corp customer service (who have always been great, by the way- nothing but love for them) and then wait for a new derailleur that might not work or a SRAM company mechanic to come by when he feels like it and on and on with time wasting that could have been avoided if the SRAM engineers and product managers had spent a little more time perfecting their product.

And this is not the first time SRAM has put an unfinished product on the market. I'm thinking of the Hydro-R brakes that are recalled, the Avid disc calipers that jam, the carbon Zipp Vuka tri-bars that come out of their collets, their early carbon rims that disbond, and the second generation Rival shifters that break apart, just to name a few.

In conclusion, it appears that the new SRAM Red 22 group is not done yet. Maybe next generation they'll get it right, but until then I'm riding Campagnolo.