Small-Frame Brand vs Big Derailleur: How Rodeo Labs views SRAM UDH
Rodeo Labs just dropped another podcast episode featuring an internal discussion on “Big Derailleur”, namely SRAM, and how industry standards like the Universal Derailleur Hanger (UDH) can disrupt a small-frame brand. Rodeo Labs currently makes the Flaanimal 5.0 available in steel or titanium, and the Trail Donkey 4.0, their carbon adventure bike. While the Flaanimal is currently compatible with SRAM UDH and T-Type drivetrains via the Rodeo Labs Universal Gravel Hanger (UGH), the Trail Donkey is not compatible with the UDH standard. In the interview, Stephen Fitzgerald acknowledges that the brand likely sells only about 50% as many Trail Donkeys as they could if the frameset were UDH compatible. He explains that when they were developing the frameset, they had no idea SRAM would push the industry so strongly toward adopting the new standard.
“With the information that we had at the time, we set to create something that was mechanically optimized and visually barely there, and we nailed it… If some SRAM guy had done us the courtesy of letting us know how mandatory UDH was going to be in 3 years when we started developing that bike, I would have been a fool to be stubborn and try to resist it.”
Stephen mentioned that he didn’t notice much of a difference when initially testing a prototype Show Pony MTB with SRAM Transmission, but did see the benefits of crisper shifting when he used T-Type on a recent bikepacking trip with his Flaanimal in the White Mountains region of California. Stephen is currently working on a new build where he plans to install RED XPLR AXS, the new 1×13 groupset that leans into the SRAM Transmission style rear derailleur for drop bar bikes. The conversation highlights the challenges that small frame builders face when big component companies have such an outsized influence on trends in the industry. In this episode, Logan Jones-Wilkins sits down with the Rodeo founder, as well as Rodeo employees Drew van Kampen and Cameron “Coco” Lindberg for a lengthy conversation on the topic.
UGH?
UGH is a slider system sold by Rodeo as a complete set including drive-side, brake-side, axle, and some bolts. It replaces the traditional Flaanimal slider set in its entirety. Rodeo Labs made the UGH available for Flaanimal owners as new SRAM Transmission requires a UDH mount to secure onto a bike. The UGH is a UDH mount, and you can mount a UDH hanger to the UGH slider if you want to run any traditional mount derailleur that is not SRAM T-Type.
Listen to the latest Rodeo Labs Podcast, Ride, XPLOR, CREATE here:
Notes from a recent internal discussion at Rodeo Labs where Logan Jones Wilkins sits down with Stephen Fitzgerald, Drew van Kampen, and Cameron “Coco” Lindberg to discuss how the industry transition to UDH has impacted the small frame brand.