Rotor hydraulic group

[Tickdoc]

Don’t know why I was thinking about this but I have yet to see one of these in the flesh, or in pictures even. Seems like it had some promise as a new group, just wondering if it didn’t work out because it doesn’t work, or it just didn’t take off because of cost, complexity, etc.

Anyone? Bueller?

[Joxster]

Ask again in five years, it was a PR stunt as the big boys had something functionable and it was a "look at us, we've made something worse than eTap"

[smontanaro]

What are the odds that Rotor's hydraulic system goes live before CeramicSpeed's Driven concept?
https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/a22092182/ceramicspeeds-driven-concept-might-become-the-worlds-most-efficient-drivetrain/

[yinzerniner]

Don’t know why I was thinking about this but I have yet to see one of these in the flesh, or in pictures even. Seems like it had some promise as a new group, just wondering if it didn’t work out because it doesn’t work, or it just didn’t take off because of cost, complexity, etc.

Anyone? Bueller?

Don't think it's commercially available, but cycling tips did a first look review and the results were mixed at best.

https://cyclingtips.com/2018/10/rotor-uno-long-term-groupset-review/

[ceolwulf]

I wonder if this will be the next Mavic Zap, in the history of cycling tech.

I really like the idea, and Rotor definitely makes quality stuff. Hope they can succeed with it.

[old fat man]

I tried it at nahbs. No better than a mechanical group and considerably more expensive

[simonov]

Ask again in five years, it was a PR stunt as the big boys had something functionable and it was a "look at us, we've made something worse than eTap"

Huh?

[oldpotatoe]

Don’t know why I was thinking about this but I have yet to see one of these in the flesh, or in pictures even. Seems like it had some promise as a new group, just wondering if it didn’t work out because it doesn’t work, or it just didn’t take off because of cost, complexity, etc.

Anyone? Bueller?

Still vapor-ware along with the FSA group...not sure about the ‘promise’ part, seemed like a pretty complicated answer to a pretty simple question.

[Elefantino]

I tried it at nahbs. No better than a mechanical group and considerably more expensive
Same here. Meh. Would rather have SR mechanical for the price, eight days of the week.

[R3awak3n]

I mean, its a cool proof of concept but silly to think people would adopt it.

Rotor probably working on something else at the same time, probably some sort of electronic group would be my guess.

[kramnnim]

There's a used group for sale here- https://www.facebook.com/groups/onlineswap/permalink/2128081787307225/?sale_post_id=2128081787307225

(probably not visible unless you're a member of the group)

[EDS]

I can't remember where, but there are pictures of the new rotor 1x13 group on the web.

[dookie]

Still vapor-ware along with the FSA group...not sure about the ‘promise’ part, seemed like a pretty complicated answer to a pretty simple question.I know of at least one FSA group in the wild...acquired through team affiliation though. No clue about retail availability.

[hollowgram5]

I know of at least one FSA group in the wild...acquired through team affiliation though. No clue about retail availability.I saw the FSA stuff listed on the 365cycles website the other day when I was looking for something else..

Rotor stuff pops up on eBay every now and then.

[Mark McM]

I tried it at nahbs. No better than a mechanical group and considerably more expensive

Well, I can see a few potential advantages of a hydraulic shifting system. It would give you the ability to use tight bends in the hose without the lose of performance that a cable would suffer. And a closed hydraulic system wouldn't suffer the wear and friction over time that a cable system would either, so once installed there should be less maintentance. (These advantages are similar to the advantages of hydraulic brake hoses over mechanical cables.)

But, these are some of the same advantages that electronic shifting systems have over mechanical cables as well, and as electronic systems have already established themselves, it won't be easy for hydraulic shifting systems to get any market penetration.

On the other hand, I can personally, think of a few advantages to hydraulic over electronic: 1) No need to recharge batteries; 2) multi-sprocket shifting is faster and more straight-forward; 3) it doesn't violate the principle of a bicycles not using stored power sources to operate. Number 1 is very minor, because a battery charge can last a long time, and in this day GPS bike computers and personal electronic devices people have gotten used to routine of charging their devices; Number 2 is only a minor things since riders have already become accustomed to having lost some multi-shift performance, first with STI and then with Di2; and Number 3 has become a non-issue since the industry bribed UCI to change the rules on prohibiting stored energy systems in human powered competition (cycling is the only "human" powered competition that allows externally powered motors - heck, not even very pedestrian sports like golf allow this).

[FlashUNC]

Saw it, was impressed that it wasn't complete junk and seemed functional, but wasn't amazed much beyond that.

[dan_hudson]

Had a chance to play with the group on a trainer at the Philly Bike Show. Wanted to like it but the action on the shifting was very heavy. Other words that come to mind are "slow" and "clunky". Hard to say if more R&D could make it a viable option or if Rotor has the capacity for that investment.

[Tickdoc]

Or there’s this:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs4N6o5Bl1n/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1ug1xex5sjvoo

[livesadventure]

I had a friend sponsored by Rotor who had some serious problems with the group in races. They switched to dura ace mid season...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[shoota]

There's a used group for sale here- https://www.facebook.com/groups/onlineswap/permalink/2128081787307225/?sale_post_id=2128081787307225

(probably not visible unless you're a member of the group)

That's my buddy's. There's a reason it's for sale.

[hollowgram5]

That's my buddy's. There's a reason it's for sale.Care to expand on this?

[shoota]

Care to expand on this?

Our mechanic hated installing it and my buddy hated using it. I recall him complaining about how it "felt terrible", whatever that means. But he hated it from day one and it never got better. Took it off, installed Sram 1X again, and is completely happy.

[MaraudingWalrus]

A Rotor rep brought a groupset by quite a while ago to our shop. I loved it. It was not out of the ballpark price range or orders of magnitude more price wise than the other nonsense we all buy and put on our bikes.

I was told they had groupsets in stock and ready to ship, and placed an order with the traveling rotor tech guy that day. Was promised a groupset, but they dragged their heels on taking my money and actually shipping. Eventually the inside guy just sort of stopped responding. My outside rep eventually said they weren't shipping them because some other shop couldn't follow directions and installation went poorly, so they were revamping their instructions/dealer policy.

Shame. Went Di2 instead. It's nice.

Then I eventually did the same basic thing but with Rotor's RVolver hubs. Except I actually got a set after being told multiple times they had shipped last week and hadn't. Then they showed up and were not at all what their press releases said - supposed to be quiet, drag free. Were absurdly loud and enough drag when coasting that the customer could feel the chain being pushed in his feet, and eventually chain would just sort of pile up by the top of the chainstay at the crankset. In the stand it pedals the bike like a fixed gear.

I have the hubs sitting on my shelf at the shop. Rotor was supposed to credit our shop back and send a label for to get the hubs back. I don't know if they ever credited us, as that's not my purview, but I know they didn't send a label. It was quite a fiasco. But I have a cool looking pair of hubs sitting on my shelf now.

No more rotor stuff for me, even though I absolutely loved riding the UNO group when it was brought by. I really did.