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SRAM Unveils Via GT Urban & Trekking Groupset – 2×10 Gearing, Disc Brakes

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SRAM Via GT Right Brake Lever Shifter

SRAM announced a new groupset, the Via GT.  It’s said to complete SRAM’s 2×10 road and mountain bike range by bridging the gap to include other disciplines of cycling.

Via GT is built for trekking and urban bikes. Tech is integrated from both RED road and XO mountain bike groups. SRAM’s sticking to their guns with a 2×10 setup – 2 chainrings on the front with 10 cogs on the cassette. The gear range definitely looks wide enough to handle the stress that trekking entails with the cassette ranging from 11-36 teeth and a choice between a 48/32 or 48/34 chainring setup on the front.

Pictured above, Via GT gets trigger shifters of the same design as XO with a super readable gear indicator. Two color schemes are offered – Icelandic Black and Falcon Grey. Availability is set for September of this year and it’ll show up on bikes by Specialized, Merida, Lapierre, Giant, Raleigh, BMC and many more.

Click ‘more’ for full tech…

SRAM Via GT Rear Derailleur Cassette

With 20 gears total, SRAM promises that there are no duplicates and that all gears are accessible without chain rub. SRAM wants stiff shifting, and cage length on the aluminum derailleur is a long 93mm to help with that and pick up the chain slack.

SRAM Via GT Rear Disc Cassette

Via GT has two options for brakes – hydraulic disc brake and V-brake. The disc brakes are, according to SRAM “Urbanized”, meaning they don’t grab as hard as do standard discs and instead slow the bike gradually. Total weight of the group with disc brakes equipped is 2691g. With V-brakes the weight is 2448g.

SRAM Via GT Group

   SRAM VIA GT Shifters Black

Trigger shifters come in black and grey. They’re ball-bearing mounted ergo shifters and SRAM describes them as changing gears “quickly and precisely”.

SRAM Via GT Brake Lever Sram Via GT V Brake

SRAM Via GT Disc Brake

Ergonomic brake levers can be adjusted to match your hand. They offer a choice of V-Brake with replacement brake shoes or a mechanical 160mm rotor disc brake.

SRAM Via GT Rear Derailleur Black SRAM Via GT Front Derailleur

 SRAM Via GT Dynamo Hub

Yep, Dynamo hubs too. Two hub dynamos of different power run the lights. SRAM writes, “the optimized coil doesn’t flicker, even at slow speeds”.

SRAM Via GT Crank Chrome Compact SRAM Via GT Crank Chainguard

The crankset with or without the protective aluminum chainguard.

SRAM Via GT Crankset 48T

The chainguard above is compatible with both single chainring and 48/32 teeth cranksets. Aluminum CNC machined chainrings get SRAM’s X-glide tech, which makes shifting quick and easy and comes standard on SRAM’s high end Red groupsets.

SRAM Via GT Crank Closeup

There’s no pricing yet and the set isn’t on SRAM’s website. We’ll keep you updated as more info becomes available.

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feg
feg
11 years ago

really love the ultra wide range 48/32 chainring option. would prefer the disc brakes be mechanical but i guess that’s what the old bb7’s are for.

Obi
Obi
11 years ago

Having drop shifters would be nice also, instead of just flatbar. sounds like a great option for building a gravel grinder.

Atomkinder
Atomkinder
11 years ago

I’m with feg. I very much like the wide-range chainrings. About two years ago I swapped out my triple on the touring rig for an Apex group 2×10 with a White Industries crankset and 46/30 gearing with an 11-32 cassette, and I must say it’s amazing. I still have a reasonably high large ratio and a smaller than 1:1 low gear for climbing walls fully loaded. Any lower and I just walked anyway. Any news on whether this stuff is road-lever compatible? I would assume that it is.

Walter
11 years ago

It is a good thing SRAM pays attention to bicycle trekking, but I don’t think they’re on the right track. First, on a trekking bike you want a triple, not a double. I know you can have a wide range with a 2×10-set up, but a wide range is not the whole story. The lower velocities mean longer climbs, so a close-ratio cassette is desirable to find a good rhythm for a period of hours. You also need a really low gear for the rare 20+% climbs, and a seriously high one to keep your legs warm on slow descends in cold countries.

Further, on a trekking bike I want the cable routed like X-series does, to prevent water getting in. And a trekking bike asks for mechanical disk brakes, not hydraulics. The former are a lot easier to repair with simple tools.

So actually, SRAM has everything to build a good trekking bike except for the triple crankset. They have the best mechanical disk brakes, the most reliable rear derailleurs and a very strong 11-32 cassette. But none of it is in the trekking-group…

My trekking bike has a BB7 on the front wheel, an X.0 rear dérailleur, PG990 cassette and flat bar double tap shifters. Two long journeys in Scandinavia and not a single problem. Would make a excellent groupset together. Crankset is a FSA 55-39-30 by the way.

Atomkinder
Atomkinder
11 years ago

Walter: I disagree with the triple, at least in 95% of cases. Having previously had a triple, I hated it. I hate that the chainlines are wrong and that crosschaining becomes a very real issue. I hated the wider q-factor, and I hated the larger derailleur. It was all very nice stuff (first and second generation XTR), but it really isn’t for me. I am much better off with a wide range 10-speed group. Mind you I do not live in the Pyrenees, though, in which case I’d shoot for an even smaller double! 😉

Walter
11 years ago

Atomkinder: Like most people, I want to use my trekking bike in very different places. That is the whole point of bicycle travel, isn’t it? Where I live a speed bump is the toughest climb, but I rode to the North Cape and two weeks ago I did the Stelvio. My trekking bike needs gears for all of it: the long climbs of the Alps, the short ones of Norway, the slow cold descents of Sweden and the straight flat roads of the low lands. A double can never accomodate this the way a triple does.

Crosschaining is never an issue for me. I see it as one of the minor flaws of the upright-concept 😉 My trekking bike is a Fujin SL1 semi-lowracer and I use 55-32 almost daily.

Cleanton
Cleanton
11 years ago

Walter: 48/32 crankset with 11-36 cassette isn’t it enough for climbing 20+% climbs?

Kent
Kent
10 years ago

Nope, 32×36 is way too high for doing really hard, long climbs with a full touring load, unless you’re in super-good shape. Last year I did a fully-loaded tour, bike weighed 80-85 lbs with load. My low gear was a 24×34, and there were times I would have used something lower if I had it (e.g., 1 hour+ at ~20%, 100+F).

Wv Cycling
7 years ago

If anyone decides to read this and has black via gt crank they want to sell, get a hold of me on my blog!

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