Bike Press Camp: Acros makes a major shift in mountain bike drivetrains

Bike Press Camp was my first introduction to Acros, a Stuttgart, Germany based manufacturer of mountain bike components ranging from pedals to headsets, grips to hubs. The biggest news for Press Camp was their all-new hydraulic shifting system for mountain bikes.

Acros A-GE system combines hyraulic performance with precision German engineering. The system achieve’s Acros’ goal of being the lightest, most reliable and powerful shifting system on the market. The system is 175 grams lighter than Shimano’s XTR system and 200 grams lighter than SRAM’s X0 group.

The advantages with the A-GE system are myriad.

• No Cables. The A-GE system uses hydraulic hoses for all of the gear action. There are no cables to stretch and no effect on shfting from the weather. Because the system is capsuled, protected and friction free, it is essentially maintenance free.
• Precision Engineered. Because Acros is first and foremost a CNC shop, their approach to design and engineering is to find improvements in everything that they make. This is reflected in the construction of their derailleurs, wherein every part is user serviceable and replaceable.
• It’ll get you home. Even if the system is damaged, the indexing for the shifting is in the rear derailluer. If the system is somehow damaged, you can push the derailleur into place and it will stay in gear.
• Flexible. 3×8? 2×10? Something in between? The Acros A-GE system easily converts to work with whatever crank and cassette you have. Clamp and e-type mounts are currently available and a post mount is in the pipeline.
• Linear Force: The trapezoidal movement of the A-GE rear derailleur ensures that the chainline is always aligned and that chain tension stays constant throughout the range.

Acros precision focus and engineering is also reflected in their new 29″ RTR (Ready to Ride) wheelset. Built with Acros’ hubs and rims and shod in Continental rubber, these wheels are ready to throw on your bike and go.

• The rim features a special profile to better hold the tire bead.
• The rim surface is shot peened after machining to make the surface stronger. This allows the use of lighter 7000 series aluminum, resulting in a 1580g wheelset in the 29 inch size.
• The freehub features a 5 pawl freewheel system that results in 30 engagement points for moving you forward.

One last impressive piece was their headset. While not a great leap forward in headset design, theirs feature elastomer stops built into the race that keep you from overturning your bars in the event of a crash. While not sexy, it’s well thought out and reflects Acros’ goal to find room for improvement in everything they do.