Trickle-down technology is a beautiful thing, and it may have taken SRAM eight years to get here, but this season the American component manufacturer (finally) introduced a wireless electronic groupset at the entry level.
For those unfamiliar with SR AM’s product hierarchy, ‘Red’ identifies the top-tier products, followed by ‘Force’. Then there’s ‘Rival’ and ‘Apex’ as the entry-level groupsets.
When SR AM first introduced its wireless, electronic shifting back in late 2015, it only did so at the top-tier level, Red eTap. A hydraulic disc brake version soon followed, as did a so-called WiFLi rear derailleur, which was compatible with a wider range of gears. The eTap A XS (pronounced ‘access’) ecosystem in use today was introduced in 2019 with again, the Red and Force level first, followed by a third tier, R ival A XS, in 2021. With this Apex AXS release, a full four-tier line-up of SR AM wireless electronic products is now on offer.
While an Apex-level electronic groupset had always been part of the long-term plan,
