Thanks for sharing. Had not heard the date, hopefully the 17th is real. I’ll be buying the force levers as soon as available for my gravel bike. Or might go with Rival if shape and functionality are same (depending on price diff). The buttons, hood shape, and better braking are all I care about.
Bike shop had told me August. The earlier release is gonna be some holo force set?
Anyone know if the new release will require a udh?
The new xplr 13 speed will, just like red does. Not for the 12 speed stuff based on the pics.
Because its SRAM 
Also interested in levers with the button. I would not be surprised to see that feature limited to Force and above.
Based on the above the Rival doesn’t have the aux button.
I believe only the Red has the contact point adjust.
Thanks, Force it is then for me. I see that one of the packages they highlight is a Force “upgrade kit” that includes a hammerhead computer. I hope they are still going to offer individual replacement shifters/calipers at the time of release and the bundle isn’t a strong arm approach to get people to try the hammerhead. They couldn’t go long after release without offering individual shifters, but they could inflate the price of the individual shifters up to make the upgrade bundle a better path. I’ll be kicking myself a bit if the only path to a Force shifter/caliper upgrade costs as much as upgrading to Red.
From pics the XPLR versions are UDH, but the standard versions are on the hanger.
This also explains why there are no force or rival cranksets to be found anyway. I guess people bought up the previous stock and they are holding back for the launch of the new stuff?
This will be a great upgrade in ergonomics. I did the Red upgrade a couple of months ago and do like the revised lever shape and very light feel at the lever. There will not be an upgrade in braking though which was one of the factors that kept me from waiting for the Force release.
I assumed the new force (and rival) would get the new piston design. And the posted datasheets talk about improved braking, 1 finger braking, etc. and new hood design (which appears to mirror the red design with horizontal piston). What makes you think the improved braking isn’t going to be included with Force or Rival?
Yeah, why do you think this does not have the new improve braking? That is an important part of my decision to purchase. I have the new red and want that braking but not that price
It was in information I previously read about the E1 components, specifically that the Force and lower tiers would not be receiving the skeletonized brake calipers. Improved braking could easily be referring to the easier feel at the lever from increased leverage of the higher pivot point and redesign of the hydraulic cylinder. It seems to be true if the pictures are to be believed as all the shots of the brake calipers show calipers without and cutaways like the Red calipers have. Visually it is very easy to see when comparing D1 to Ei Red calipers.
I thought the “one finger braking” of E1 red was mostly due to the horizontal piston?
I would assume the “skeletonized” red calipers are a weight advantage, but I doubt they have any impact on braking performance. I might be wrong on that, but I’d bet the brakes are functionally equivalent with red being lighter. That’s pretty much been the story of red vs force since axs came out (with red getting improvements first for the early adopters who aren’t as cost conscious).
Well, I cannot say your are mistaken since I don’t know for sure but I can without doubt say the E1 Red brakes are fantastically strong compared to the D1 version, especially in full grab panic mode and are just noticeably stronger overall.
Yeah, i’ve spent some time on the new red e1 shifters and completely agree. Not a just a marginal braking improvement over the old stuff, it’s pretty dramatic. My understanding is the piston orientation change is the big contributor, but I guess I’ll be able to compare soon once the Force stuff is available. Add in the new hood shape and the long overdue control buttons, it’s a pretty compelling update.
Shop dude told me the braking power is from the lever. He doesn’t always switch the caliper, and runs old red/force calipers with the new red levers. Says it feels the same as new red levers/calipers.