SRAM road and gravel groupsets: All of SRAM's 1x and 2x groupset options

SRAM road bike groupsets offer the most diverse range of options of all the big three brands. Its groupsets have eclipsed both Shimano road groupsets and Campagnolo groupsets in the sheer range of offerings. They cover both road riding and gravel biking, where SRAM was a pioneer with wider range 1x options well before Shimano gravel groupsets or Campagnolo Ekar and Ekar GT came to market.

SRAM offers fully wireless electronic shifting with its AXS groupsets, and, until the most recent iteration of Shimano Di2, had the lead on in-built configuration via a Bluetooth app.

SRAM groupsets are used by six Women's WorldTour teams and in the men's WorldTour by the Lidl-Trek, Movistar and Visma-Lease a Bike teams, the last of which swapped to SRAM from Shimano in 2013.

Here's a run-through of the SRAM road bike groupset range and what it offers. But first, a quick guide to SRAM's groupset terminology.

SRAM road groupsets: Terminology and hierarchy

SRAM divides its road bike groupsets into four ranges. At the top is 'Red' which is its premium groupset used by its sponsored pro teams. Next down is Force, then Rival, and finally Apex. The same hierarchy is applied to its 12-speed AXS electronic groupsets and its older 11-speed and 10-speed groupsets.

AXS is SRAM's name for its 12-speed wireless electronic groupset tech, and its accompanying configuration app. The 11-speed SRAM Red electronic groupset was labelled eTap and SRAM ported this label to its 12-speed eTap AXS groupsets too, but it's now dropping the eTap from the nomenclature, just calling them Force AXS, etc. 

Within each groupset tier, there are double chainring (2x) and single chainring (1x aka one-by) options. AXS groupsets also add wider range XPLR cassettes and derailleurs, aimed at gravel riders. 

In August 2024, SRAM launched its latest iteration of Red XPLR AXS for gravel riders. This 1x groupset adds a 13th sprocket in a cassette with a 10-46t range. There's also a new Full Mount rear derailleur configuration, ported from the brand's latest Eagle Transmission MTB derailleur. 

SRAM road and gravel groupsets: Range overview

SRAM 12/13-speed groupsets

Red AXS is the second generation of SRAM's wireless groupset which in 2024 saw the entire system overhauled from the ground up. Now available in disc brake only, the 10-tooth smallest sprocket only allows it to be used with an XDR freehub and there's a specific flat top chain to match. 

At the back, the rear mech features Orbit - a speed-sensitive fluid damper which does the same job as a roller-bearing clutch. The fluid damper allows the derailleur cage to rotate forward smoothly during shifting so as not to overtax the motors or battery. This system also eliminates chain slap and improves security, meaning the same derailleur can be used with both 1x and 2x front chainrings. 

The standard rear mech works with cassettes up to 36 teeth and one or two chainrings. Front and rear derailleurs have their own separate batteries attached to the back of the derailleur body to power their shifting for a claimed 60 hours. They are quickly removable for recharging on a USB powered cradle and swappable if one (usually the rear) gives out. 

The cranks will accept both single and double chainrings, which are all single piece in construction - you can purchase them with a built-in Quarq power meter. While this creates a stiffer and lighter unit, if you wear out or damage one of the chainrings, you'll need to replace the entire unit, including the power meter. The retail cost is over €1000, although SRAM offers a 50 per cent discount on a replacement unit. 

SRAM is offering four one-piece cassettes milled from a single steel billet; 10-28t, 10-30t, 10-33t and 10-36t, which combine with both 1x and 2x chainrings — the jumps between the 2x chainrings are 13-teeth in every combo. 

Even if you opt for a smaller chainring at the front, the 12-speed cassette offers an extensive spread of ratios thanks to the 10-tooth smallest cog. In most cases, this offers a broader range than traditional road gearing. There's a new iridescent option and a matching chain too, if you want to show off a bit. 

Complete Red chainsets are available in 46/33t, 48/35t and 50/37t. This sounds as if it would give low gearing, but when paired with a 10-tooth cassette sprocket, this still offers a bigger top gear than the more commonly found 52x11t. You can also buy a separate power meter kit, which adds 52/39t, 54/41t and 56/43t options, designed for pro riders and time trials.

SRAM sells single chainring cranksets with between 36 and 50 teeth in two-tooth increments as they feature a narrow-wide tooth profile to better mesh with the chain,  and 48t, 50t and 52t power meter kits. All have filled-in, rather than drilled chainrings to up their aero quotient.

To make room for that extra cog at the back, the gear spacing has once again got smaller resulting in a narrower chain. SRAM has bolstered the chain by introducing a new flat-top construction, which is claimed to add strength and improve shift performance.

The second-generation Red AXS has a new lever design with a less pronounced rise at the front. SRAM has repositioned the brake lever pivot and brake fluid reservoir so that there's now greater leverage. It boasts light touch, one finger braking as a result.

The new groupset is integrated into SRAM's AXS ecosystem, meaning it will play nice with the Eagle AXS derailleur should you want to use the 12-speed MTB cassette on your gravel bike, or the RockShox Reverb AXS dropper post should you feel the need to get extra rowdy. 

AXS can also talk wirelessly to a companion app and allows you to customise the shifting controls, including the Blip remotes as well as monitor the battery life and firmware updates. 

Most Red AXS groupsets are supplied with SRAM HRD hydraulic disc brakes and levers, but you can also purchase Red rim brakes and the associated mechanical shift/brake levers. SRAM sells aero brake levers for TT bars as well as wired and wireless Blips satellite shifters that can be linked into the AXS system.

The latest edition of SRAM Red XPLR AXS has grown from 12 speed to 13 speeds. There's a new derailleur to change gears across the 10-46t cassette, which mounts directly to the rear axle, removing the mech hanger. Since this was designed to be the weakest link in shifting, bending or breaking if the derailleur took a hit, its absence can allow more precise alignment.

The Full Mount derailleur connects to either side of the frame's dropout, so the connection is very sturdy. It's the same design as SRAM's Eagle Transmission MTB derailleurs and SRAM has videos on its site of riders standing on that without impacting its shifting. Full Mount also means that a host of adjustment screws are not needed.

The switch to 13 speeds means that Red XPLR AXS has lost some cross-compatibility with Red AXS 2x, although both use the same shifters, chain and brakes.

There's only one cassette, with a 10-46t range which gives a good spread and close ratios at the top end and only two chainring options, 40t and 42t. The non-power meter crankset has direct mount replaceable chainrings, as used in road-going SRAM Red; the power meter uses a new Threadmount standard, which makes them replaceable separately from the power meter, unlike with the road chainrings.

The Full Mount derailleur will only fit on a bike frame that follows SRAM's UDH derailleur hanger standard. There's a good range that do, but equally plenty that do not, although more gravel bikes are being launched which have a UDH dropout. There are also chainline and chainstay length constraints.

SRAM Force AXS is the perfect example of trickle-down technology. It had an upgrade in early 2023, which has given it a new look and simplified some components.

Yes, it's slightly heavier and less bling than the Red equivalent but on the road, Force AXS offers more or less the exact same performance. The new Force AXS groupset even looks more like Red than its predecessor. Instead of the separate chainrings and crank spider, it gets the one-piece direct mount chainrings used by Red. As with Red, the power meter is integrated, so you need to replace the whole unit once it's worn out. 

All the electronics are the same, but the new Force groupset has had its shift levers slimmed down. This makes them easier to grip, but removes bite point adjustment for the brakes and the option to fit wired Blips satellite shifters, although you can still use wireless Blips.

Other differences carried forward from V1 Force AXS include the cassette, which is pinned together as opposed to a one-piece machined unit. 

Like the Red AXS groupset, the rear derailleur also employs the Orbit fluid-based damper meaning the same derailleur works for both 1x and 2x applications and offers added chain security. There's also a 1x-only XPLR derailleur which works with a Force-level 10-44t cassette.

The crank arms are aluminium wrapped in carbon rather than hollow carbon fibre. Force eTap AXS still gets a flat-top chain, though the pins are solid and the chainrings are stamped rather than milled. 

Force AXS Wide

With its emphasis on gravel riding, SRAM offers single chainring and double chainring Wide cranksets. These have a 5mm wider axle than a standard chainset that shifts the chainline 2.5mm outboard, allowing you to fit wider tyres. They also offer lower gearing, with a 40t single chainring chainset and power meter and 43/30t chainset and power meter (with separate chainrings and spider) sold. There's a Wide front derailleur that's needed to work with this. Wide chainrings are not compatible with non-wide ones due to a different bolt circle diameter.

As part of the AXS ecosystem, Force AXS components can talk to Red AXS and Eagle AXS parts and can be mixed and matched without concerns about compatibility. The new Force AXS groupset is disc brake only.

SRAM Rival AXS ports the brand's 12-speed wireless electronic shifting to a third price point. It uses less exotic materials than Red or Force AXS - think steel instead of alloy for the front derailleur cage, alloy instead of carbon fibre for the brake levers and a weight that increases by around 230g over Force and 700g over Red. 

The Orbit rear mech damper from SRAM's pricier options is replaced by a mechanical clutch. The hydraulic disc brakes don't feature SRAM's Bleeding Edge design, making it a bit harder to bleed them and they too are heavier than Red or Force AXS components.

You still get much of SRAM's 12-speed functionality though, with the same wireless gubbins and AXS app compatibility, as well as mix-and-match potential if you fancy a bit of Red with your Rival or a mullet build with an Eagle AXS MTB rear mech and cassette.

As with the new Force, you can't use wired Blips with the shift levers and there's no bite point adjustment to the (disc only) brakes. There's only a single sided power meter option, which is also available as an upgrade (although all Force power meter configurations except the normal width double chainring are also single sided).

Also similar to Force, there are Wide single and double chainring options and a Rival XPLR 1x-only rear mech and 10-44t cassette for gravel riders.  

SRAM's fourth tier Apex groupset is 1x12 speed only and offers both AXS electronic and mechanical shifting options.

For each, there's a narrower range XPLR variant which uses a 10-44t or an 11-44t cassette. There's also an Eagle variant, which works with Eagle MTB cassettes to offer wide ranges with 50 or 52 tooth largest sprocket cassettes. XPLR and Eagle variants use different chains and cassette spacings, so you choose one or the other.

The crankset uses the Wide spacing and as with Rival, there's a single sided power meter option. The 11-tooth smallest sprocket cassettes make Apex compatible with standard Shimano/SRAM freehubs, rather than requiring an XD or XDR wheelset.

SRAM legacy groupsets

SRAM continues to sell its older 11 speed groupset components. While electronic Red eTap AXS 22 is essentially discontinued, you'll still occasionally find 2x11-speed or 1x11-speed mechanical groupsets specced on new bikes. Apex 1 11-speed, in particular, is sometimes specced on entry-level gravel bikes.

SRAM's Red eTap was the first commercially available wireless road groupset, which laid the groundwork for AXS. While it's been superseded for a couple of years now, it's still available and an option for roadies looking for electronic shifting and content will 11 speeds. Red eTap marked SRAM's intuitive shifting system; push the paddle on the right shifter for a harder gear, the left shifter for an easier gear, and both together to shift at the front. 

Available in both rim- and disc-brake HRD versions, it was the first product to feature SRAM's Airea wireless protocol. According to SRAM, it decided against Bluetooth or ANT+ because the company wanted to avoid interference and stave off would-be hackers, too. 

Red eTap turns 11 cogs at the back and is compatible with brakes, chains, chainrings and cassettes from the Red, Force or Rival mechanical groupsets if you're hoping to mismatch and save cash. 

There are no cables connecting the shifters to the derailleurs. Each derailleur is powered by a separate battery and SRAM says the rechargeable cells should last about 1000km. In contrast, the shifters are powered by CR2032 coin cell batteries but only need to be replaced every couple of years. 

Unlike the AXS kit, Red eTap is not equipped with any sort of clutch or damper, so there's no 1x solution. There are standard or WiFli versions of the mech which can handle up to 28t and 32t cogs respectively, offering less range than the newer AXS groupsets. 

Red 22 is the most weight-weenie friendly groupset out there, weighing in about ~200g less than Dura-Ace 9100 and mechanical Super Record. Mechanical shifting is also still a hyper-reliable method of shifting that can be fixed at the roadside using traditional methods. 

The DoubleTap shifters move the chain with a positive click; half a push shifting the derailleurs down to a smaller cog, and a longer stroke pushing it up the cluster. Red 22 also allows cross-chaining without the need to trim the Yaw front derailleur — though SRAM doesn't necessarily recommend riding this way.

The rear derailleur is available in a standard- and a long-cage WiFLi version which allows for a 28t or 32t cog at the rear, and there are front chainrings available from 39t up to 55t. 

Remember what we said about Force AXS eTap and that it's mostly the same as Red just a bit heavier? Well, the same applies to SRAM Force 22. It uses the same DoubleTap mechanical shifting, features the Yaw front derailleur and there are both standard and WiFLi versions of the rear derailleur.

Available in both rim- and disc-brake versions, Force 22 is lighter than Shimano Ultegra too, but it's also more expensive. 

With carbon-fibre cranks, Force sees a two-piece arm and spider design which adopts the hidden bolt design used in the previous Red 10-speed crank. Chainrings come in combos ranging from the burly 53/39t, down to a mountain friendly 46/36t.

Previously known as CX 1, SRAM Force 1 takes the same materials and performance as Force 22 but ditches the front derailleur. SRAM forced the extinction of the MTB front mech as well as leading the road/gravel/CX 1x movement. 

Only available with hydraulic disc brakes, the main differences between Force 22 and Force 1 are in the rear derailleur and 1x crankset. Force 1 is designed for bikes likely to spend most of their time away from paved roads, so it's no surprise to see it borrowing design features from the brand's MTB derailleurs, including a roller-bearing clutch. This system adds a bit of friction to shifting but drastically reduces chain bounce and dropped chains.

The second big difference is the narrow-wide X-Sync tooth profiles found on the front chainrings and jockey wheels. Alternating between tall square teeth and traditional triangles, the wide edges grip the chain and prevent it from falling off, while the sharp teeth keep everything running in line. X-Sync chainrings are available in sizes from 38t up to 54t. 

The rear derailleur can handle both an 11-36t road cassette and a 10-42t MTB cassette, granted you fit an XD driver body and long cage.

Occupying roughly the same space as Shimano's 105 groupset, Rival 22 leans heavily on technology from Force and Red. With the 22 moniker, you get a double chainset paired with 11 gears at the back, utilising the same DoubleTap trim-free shifting over the entire cassette.

The levers feature the same ergonomics as their more expensive cousins in both the rim-brake and hydraulic-disc versions, but all the carbon bits have been replaced by aluminium. If we're honest there's no real loss in performance, the scale just reads a bit higher.

At this level, a 52/36t is the largest chainring combination available, along with 50/34 and 46/36. At the back, the cassette is available in 11-26t, 11-28t and 11-32t and can be had in both short cage and WiFli rear mech options. 

Just like Force, Rival is also available as a 1x specific group. There are no carbon bits to be found here but, most importantly, the Rival 1x rear mech features both a roller-bearing clutch and the X-Sync narrow-wide jockey wheels and chainrings. Available as a short- and long-cage version, the derailleur can accept a 36t or 42t 11-cog cluster. 

Like Force 1, Rival 1 is only compatible with hydraulic disc brakes. 

Apex occupies the entry-level step of SRAM's road groupsets. There are only 10 sprockets on the rear cassette but Apex still sees crisp DoubleTap shifting. The derailleur hasn't been updated to the Yaw profile, so to avoid chain rub as you move down the cassette, you'll need to trim as you go. 

Apex was the first to offer a 32t rear cog, though it didn't take long for Shimano and Campagnolo to follow suit; the rear derailleur is available in short- and WiFli long-cage varieties. The crank looks a bit dated, but the chainrings maintain SRAM's Powerglide teeth and are available in 50/34t and 48/24t sizes. 

SRAM no longer lists Apex 2x10-speed on its website, although you can buy replacement shifters, so it looks as if this groupset is ripe for retirement.

Trickling all the way down to the entry-level Apex is the roller-bearing clutch rear derailleur and its long cage capable of accepting a 42t cassette. The front chainrings still have the narrow-wide X-Sync teeth but are backed up with a chain guide for added security. Confusingly, although 2x Apex is 10-speed, Apex 1 is 11-speed. That means that the two Apexes are not compatible, but Apex 1 will work with Rival 1 or Force 1 bits.

Even as an entry-level option, the SRAM disc calipers are hydraulic, though they do offer a cable-driven lever should bikes be equipped with a mechanical actuation. 

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