SRAM

Red 22 Shift/Hydraulic Brake Levers - Rim

In addition to Red 22's new gearing configurations made possible by its 11th cog, we would argue that the biggest impact of the new group comes from the introduction of integrated hydraulic brakes. Just as the 11th gear marks a first for its road groupsets, SRAM's integrated hydraulic road braking options mark a first for any of cycling's major component companies. Both of SRAM's Hydraulic Road Rim (HRR) and Hydraulic Road Disc (HRD) options were engineered to complement the new 11-speed Red 22 drivetrain, and they both use SRAM's newly designed levers and hood bodies to produce more braking force, with less hand effort, than any mechanical system.

Upon first glance, you'll notice the Hydro R hoods look substantially larger than Red's Ergofit bodies. In reality, this boxy-looking hood shape is only slightly taller than the mechanical hoods, but the master cylinder head unit lends itself to the more prominent appearance. However, with all of the hydraulics housed within the hood, SRAM's able to keep its comfortable Ergofit hood feel with the new shifter construction. Like the Ergofit design, the padded, textured rubber and narrow profile carry over to enhance grip and reduce hand fatigue. Moving down from the hoods, you'll notice the front half of the levers keep the contoured shape of the Ergofit bodies, but the pivots have been lowered to accommodate the newly designed hoods. The back half of the levers remain unchanged, providing you with the same large carbon shifting paddles and crisp DoubleTap mechanism found in the mechanical bodies. Similarly, the independent reach-adjustment screws are still conveniently located on the inside of the levers. Cable routing, however, for both the shifter and brake is restricted to the inside of the bars.

For the Hydraulic Road Rim Calipers, the overall system is not overly complex. As you pull the lever, the plunger within the master cylinder moves upward and directs oil straight into the hose. At the single pivot caliper, fluid enters, makes a U-turn, and pushes a small piston up to engage your brakes. This minimal movement of the piston becomes the key to the HRR's incredible modulation. With just a couple of millimeters of piston travel, the wheel will lock up. But this action only occurs deep into the lever's pull, providing you with fine control over how much power you put into the brakes. In other words, this system provides a large amount of movement at the lever compared to the small but powerful movement at the caliper. Additionally, because it's fully closed with no cable friction, it's incredibly smooth and requires just a light amount of pressure to rapidly scrub speed.

The HRR calipers' appearance doesn't deviate too far from the Red's Aerolink design. They're still very svelte and lightweight, and they are compatible with standard pads, frames, and wheels (up to 28mm rim widths). At the top of the calipers, you receive a barrel adjusters and quick-release levers. The large barrel adjuster works just like a cable-actuated lever and provides you with a large range of adjustment, making it easy to control how much pre-movement you prefer before the brakes engage.

Like SRAM's Avid brakes, the Hydraulic Road line uses DOT5.1fluid and uses Avid's bleed kit. The bleed port is located at the top of the master cylinder, and it’s kept separate from the brake fluid’s normal path. SRAM's new Connectamajig (yes, you read it correctly) is the coupling hose that makes initial setup easy, as it easily pushes in and twists into place. With this Connectamajig, you can now recouple the hose after running it through the frame, without the need to fully bleed the system. And because hydraulic hoses are easily swapped out, SRAM gives you the option of running standard and "moto" (left hand brakes the rear wheel) setups.