In an astonishing turn of events, the brand new SRAM Red AXS group set, with a 13-speed cassette, just two weeks after SRAM announced the latest iteration of the Red AXS,

The new group set, initially spied by Anne–Marije Rook of sister site Cycling Weekly, was the latest Red group set of SRAM.

As the race has grown into the premier race of the Gravel Season calendar – called the unofficial World Championship by many- Unbound launches for new technology This race attracts great attention every year and the brand knows it. So you can use it to "accidentally" leak unpublished products to the world, censor the details and get excited about what's in the piece without giving too much before launch. 

But of all the new technologies we thought we might find in the race, the new SRAM red Group set was at the bottom of the list. 

The American brand launched only the latest version of the top-of-the-line road Group set at 5.15 am. At its launch, it retained a 12-speed cassette but redesigned the shifter and improved the front shift for those who chose to run it 2x

In last year's Unbound, SRAM-sponsored Gravel Racer introduced SRAM's Eagle Transmission Mountain Bike Cassette and Directv. I was seen running a "mullet" setup, mixing the Red AXS XPLR load shifter with the previous Red AXS XPLR load shifter. Eagle Transmission, like all of SRAM's top products, is a 12-speed glue with a direct Mount derailer hanger known as the Universal Derailer Hanger (UDH) that is well respected for its durability, which is definitely useful in 200-mile gravel races. 

At first glance, it looks like Ryder was doing the same thing this year, but a closer look reveals that SRAM is going a step further by creating an entirely new derailer and adding a 13th cog to the transmission-inspired cassette. 

All riders who saw using the new group set were using the recently launched red Group Set shifters. In particular, the new derailer also has a "red" brand, so it's not a Bola-style road/mountain bike mismatch, which probably looks like it's an all-new 13-speed version of SRAM Red, which is part of the XPLR gravel-focused subsection. 

In the version we were able to approach, the largest sprocket had 46 teeth, but it has not been confirmed whether this is the only 13-speed cassette option SRAM makes. 

Obviously, there are bigger ones coming from American brands, and Unbound Gravel doesn't have to follow UCI's rules of commercializing prototypes for public use within 12 months of use, but this new product looks sophisticated enough to be genuine. We are sure to bring you details when we find more.