Rotor go 13 speed with launch of new 1x hydraulic groupset for all disciplines

Yep, that's pretty cool.

Quite refreshing to have another groupset manufacturer on the market doing something not done by the big three!

Personally I don't see the point in a triple, but do I see this as just an extension to choice and there's nowt wrong in that. Rotor seem to have made the Q-ring stick where others have failed.

I spent a year riding one of the mountain bikes on a 32x16 singlespeed set up, without that much of a time difference on a 75km route. Use the gears that make you happy.

Is it really that long ago that we just had a choice between 5 or 10 speeds?  Some advances are good, others less so. I don't think the boys from Alcala have gone too far wrong with this.

...if a triple or a double is cheaper and the parts are cheaper and the gear range is bigger and/or has smaller jumps compared to 1x of equal quality with any number of sprockets... maybe 1x isn't the end of the front mech after all.

I'm useing a Deore-equipped 29er as a commuter. Its nice to have a triple chainring up front. Zero problems with the front mech.

I'm useing a Deore-equipped 29er as a commuter. Its nice to have a triple chainring up front. Zero problems with the front mech.

alu sprocket cluster made from a single bilet, that'll be cheap to replace then!

The jumps between the 11-10 and the jump between the 28-33 and 33-39 (IF you are using the no.2 smallest cassette) are still much bigger than on a 2x or even 3x system at those extreme ends. On the bigger cassette the jumps at the bottom end are absolutely massive and transitioning between gradients/going a different speed is going to be an issue finding the right ratio for your temp/revs, even more so if you are riding in a group or worse in a race.

And their comparison chart , who uses a 53*39 with an 11-28 anymore in the pleb ranks here, can't be many so to use that gearing to make their point is garbage. I use a 50/39 (on my winter/audax/tourer) with an 11-28 BUT only because I have a 24 inner and that 39 is only there as the triple came like that, I will swap it to a 36 (it's a compact triple) when I wear it out.  

The 24 inner gives me a 22.9" low and a 121.3" top, if you need more than that you're racing at a very decent level/doing a TT, in which case you will absolutely not be wanting those ridiculous wide jumps at your low gears nor the 11-10 top (IMHO) OR you like pedalling downhill at over 35mph. Froome was pedalling at least 120rpm on his downhill attack on the crossbar in 2016, even on a measly 50-11 that'd be 43mph, who else needs a 133" top (using 50x10/28mm tyre/172.5mm cranks)

For hilly riding on the bikes set up as a double I'd much rather have a 50/33 with an 11-32 or even 12-32 which gives a 27.5" bottom roughly compared to having a 26.7" bottom using a 50/50! 

I don't mind the idea of 13 gears, I've said on the CUK forum when 12 speed was first talked about that a perfect touring bike with a 2 or even 3x13 set up could get you some silly low gears for loaded touring without having the big jumps. Which just as the jumps at the high end for a sprinter are not great (so why do Rotor say this and then think 11-10 is more preferable to 12-11!!) it's the same going up hills, keeping your cadence when loaded and moving through different gradients and also when you are dog tired is actually very important, that's why having these big dustbin lid cassettes is crap.

Oh and will it work on a current wheelset, answer no, it's a completely new design and only for those with a 142mm/148mm OLN bikes. Thanks but I'm out.

No one will want to use it until all the number 13's on the rear derailluer are written upside down. 

When Shimano makes it, I will buy it.  When the big S makes something you know you will be able to get parts and it will actually work...  (ask the guy running 1x that has cost them results...). 

13 sprockets on a cassette? Whatever next...?

Oh no, the end of the world is coming, new technology to frighten the people who cant handle progress or choice.  No cables, no small ring, no front mech.  If only I could combine this with the CeramicSpeed Driven system...

This is too much, I think my head is going to explode!

The derailleur is not exactly the most aesthetically pleasing but from an engineering point of view I think this is quite impressive.

The modular approach is also a refreshing change.