FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany (BRAIN) — For 2014, it’s no mere rebadge job at Rotor.
While the Spanish crank and power brand has adopted more subtle graphics for its cranksets, changes go more than skin deep. “We’ve got new materials and a more serious mountain bike line,” said Phillip Lucas, head of Rotor’s U.S. office in Boulder, Colorado.
By new materials, Lucas means different grades of aluminum, as Rotor holds firm in the belief that while carbon fiber may be light and look nice, alloy simply delivers better performance in crankarms.
Though Rotor was a forerunner in offering double-chainring cranksets for mountain use, the company was late to the game in serving the 1-by-11 market, Lucas admits. Now it’s jumping in.
The new Rex mountain line offers 1-by-11 options—as well as 2-by-10—at the top two price points, dubbed Rex 1 and Rex 2. Additionally, Rex 1 has a 2-by option with Rotor’s Micro-Adjust Spider (MAS), a dual spider that enables minute positioning changes of the company’s oval Q-Ring chainrings. All 2-by mountain setups change from a 110/74 to a 100/60 BCD spider, allowing Rotor to offer its Q-Rings down to 22 teeth for the first time—a more attractive option for the 29er crowd.
The price-point Rex 3 line is offered in double- and triple-chainring options with a 24-millimeter steel axle—compared with 30-millimeter alloy for Rex 1 and 2—and 7075 machined aluminum crankarms.
For road, Rotor has slimmed down from four crank models to three. While the Flow aero model had previously worked with 11-speed drivetrains, it is now “officially” 11-compatible, with thinner chainrings. All Flow cranks have the MAS technology.
The lightweight 3D+ line is offered in three versions: MAS, standard and—due to demand from customers in especially hilly terrain—triple.
The final road offering is the 3D, in options in 24-mil axle for track and time trial, as well as two classic road models in either 24- or 30-mil.
U.S. pricing was not yet available at Eurobike, but should be ready in time for Interbike next month, Lucas said.
