Back in early September, a few weeks before cycling’s biggest new product introduction every year at the Interbike International Expo, I wrote, “As we do every fall before the show, John Marsh and I have been predicting what we might see, and a funny thing happened. We both expressed concern that it might be an uninspiring show, like the last couple we’ve attended.”
This proved to be the case. While we found plenty to write about, we didn’t spot any game-changing new must-have products. So our interest was piqued by a recent email from Paul Gallagher, inventor of the Xshifter. It turns out that it was shown at Interbike. We just missed it.
Paul calls the Xshifter “the world’s first wireless shifting system, crowdfunded in only two days on Kickstarter and compatible with road, mountain, tandem and recumbent bicycles.” Plus, it only runs about $339 (for a road bike Dual setup – and down to about $200 for other bikes).
The Xshifter is available as a Dual unit with both front and rear wireless shifting, and a Solo that provides rear wireless shifting for single-chainring drivetrains. The Xshifter system uses “actuators,” mechanisms that attach near the front and rear derailleurs.
The actuators are made of tough reinforced nylon and are waterproof. Ingeniously, they operate with standard derailleur cables, which lets the system work just like with standard lever and cable shifting to change the front and rear gears. The shifting is done by pressing buttons on the “Xremote,” which mounts beneath the right brake lever (there’s a different Xremote shifter for flat bars).
The Xremote wirelessly sends signals to the actuators to shift. The system runs on batteries inside the actuators that can be charged while on the bike through their USB ports. Should you ride on and off road, Xshifter can even be used to operate a dropper seatpost wirelessly. The system is light, too, at only 110 grams for two actuators and the Xremote.
You can also program the shifting timing and how many gears each press shifts. By holding a button it will shift across the entire cassette, too. And the derailleurs also auto-trim to prevent chain rub and will avoid cross-chain shifting, saving wear and tear on the drivetrain components.
Overall, Xshifter looks like an ingenious alternative to the much more pricey mainstream wireless systems. It’s especially clever how it uses your existing derailleurs and cables. And because it’s compatible with all types of bicycles and components, there’s no need for anything but the Xshifter kit. We’ve requested a product sample and hope to try it ourselves sometime soon so we can tell you more.
In the meantime, here’s the link to the Kickstarter page where you can see the Xshifter in action and learn more.
This really looks like an interesting system for any future upgrades you might consider for any bike, really. In most cases, the cheapest parts of a drivetrain are the derailleurs, and the most expensive are the shifters. If all you had to do to upgrade was install this kit (and maybe buy new derailleurs, too, if you wanted), you could easily save hundreds.
We’re very much looking forward to testing this system as soon as it’s available. We’ll keep you posted.
This could easily turn out to be a vaporware product and not live up to the hype.
Of course, that’s a possibility. But with nearly 3 times the funding goal raised, it seems they’ll have ample cash to take it into production. And the company says they have suppliers and components lined up.
It’s the nature of the beast these days in the cycling industry that nearly all startups raise at least their initial capital through crowd funding. So there are certainly some swings and misses re: bringing product to market. We should know for sure re: this one by January or February.
Thanks to RBR for the nice write up. Certainly we understand the skepticism. But this is definitely not vaporware. We’ve got proven prototypes and are very close to releasing production tooling. I’m in this for the long haul. It’s a deceptively simple product. It’s not going to be a huge challenge taking it to the market. This is really just the beginning of something very exciting. You all can imagine the possibilities of a simple system like this.
It looks good, if not a little noisy. It will be interesting to see what the V2.0 shifters will look like.
I don’t get how it works. Does it use your existing derailleurs? So it just exchanges cables for the electronic shifting?
Just curious how this distinguishes between 10 and 11 speed derailleurs
I have been waiting for my unit for a long time. Dual unit is not being made. They made many missteps along the way having to switch software designers and hardware manufacturers many times. When it seemed they were close they decided to design and make a proprietary battery, which slowed things down and will be a continuing problem for anyone who actually gets one of these. I thought I was buying through Kickstarter, but apparently some orders went directly to the company. This means I rarely get updates and don’t know if I will ever get my shifter. They have an agreement for international sales now and I have been told they will send me a shifter. Keeping fingers crossed