No one p*ssing and whining about the price yet........... wow, that does suprise me !!

this system makes a whole lot of sense when compared to di2. no batteries, no electronics to fail, lighter and far more user servicable, no performance loss in the sticky stuff plus it looks a whole lot sleeker due to no hidden motors. another worry for a mtb di2 version is damaging wires when crashing, the hydraulic lines will be a whole lot tougher. the fact that every single part will be available as a spare will be good too. the price is mental but the fact it will adapt to any speed will save money down the line. i really want to try this gear out, if the price ever comes down to around £1000 i will take the plunge. it would also be great if one of the big 3 licensed the design (sram could produce a version to trump shimano's inevitable electronic xtr perhaps)

"once it's set up, there won't be any need to replace cables"

Wow, big savings to be had there!

Is there any indexing on this?

"Wow, big savings to be had there!"

yep most definitely, world elite xc need only apply haha..

lol gotta love cable costs being factored in to try and justify the cost

Can't say why this is more attractive than off-road electronic shifting, even if the cost was reasonable. I'd hope the bleed mechanism was better thought out than a lot of disc brakes as presumably it's more sensitive to small amounts of air in the system than brakes. It will also need bulky full length outers, wires may be more fragile (if unarmoured) but with the trend towards internal cabling they'll only be exposed on short runs. Di2 is already reliably weather-proof and I'm sure that could be further uprated if required.

Given the choice as the same cost I'd go electronic personally...

If I am going to spend a lot of money on a radical gear system I dont want dereailleurs I want a proper automatic gearbox built into the Bottom Bracket.

Di2 and Ui2 have already obsoleted this. Acros can't offer self adjusting mechs, sequential shifting and flexible placement of shifter switches. Di2 is reliable in mud as its been used successfully for cyclocross. Even Di2 is cheaper than the Acros system Ui2 even more so. Hydraulics will only get contaminated with air, water and dirt and need bleeding so more maintenance than electronics. SRAM would be mad to invest in this.

A few points on the above comments:

1) Since when have closed hydarulic systesm, like those used on bike brakes and these shifters, ever got contaminated with "air, water and dirt"? I know some cheap hydraulic disk brakes need periodic bleeding, but anything half decent does not, so long as it was done right the first time. My Hayes 9 brakes have been going since 2005, with a lot of use, and have never needed bleeding. No one I know ever needs to touch their hydrualic breaks.

2) Di2, or any other electronic system, does not make this system 'obsolete' at all. They don't even compete. With an electronic system, you sacrifice some weight for better shifting performance. That's fair enough, and obviously a lot of people like the idea. This hydraulic system is LIGHTER than equivalent cable actuated systems. Significantly so. Add to that the reduced friction (lighter shifting) and you've got a product that stands in it's own niche, not against electronic systems.

In my opinion, $2k US isn't bad for a low production product like this at all. I'm pretty certain my next mountain bike will use it, because:

-- It's significantly lighter than shimano or sram's offerings

-- It should offer comparable or better shifting performance. This is something I'll have to verify before making a purchase, of course. I have no doubt that an electronic system would provide better shifting, and I can see why this would be an advantage in some ways, but it does not interest me, especially on a mountain bike.

-- It is the best looking set of shifters and derailiers on the market BY FAR. I love components machined from blocks of aluminium, and I'm prepared to pay for them!

We need a light weight geared hub not another expensive derailleur shift system........derailleurs are nothing but trail problems waiting to happen......

who's with me?

@mtboaxaca "who's with me?"

Gary Fisher for starter and me too I suppose. I read an article ages back where Gary Fisher was saying how mechs were basically great on road bikes but totally unsuitable for the off road conditions as one good knock and it's all over (this is equally true on road bikes as I found out a week ago). Gary Fisher was desperate for the manufacturers to come out with something more suitable.

Re Di2 and cable damage Campags new electronic uses kevlar outers to be able to take crashes so that's something I would hope to see on an electronic mtb setup also

When something like this appears,there's always the "what I want is a gearbox,screw the derailleurs!" going about.

Well the gearboxes are on the market for years! Is any of you buying one,or at least a Rohloff hub?

Didn't think so.

@Nozes

I looked into this option for my mtb but after test riding an alfine hub and feeling the drag I decided to not go this route. I couldn't test a rohloff and I accept it is probably better than the shimano but the hub gear also felt so heavy on the back as mentioned earlier in the comment "We need a light weight geared hub not another expensive derailleur shift system......" would be a good soloution.

Hydraulic shifting? Wow! I love it. It seem inevitable that such a system would appear on the market since we've now had hydraulic brakes for a fair while. I think this is going to be massive but no doubt it will be a while before we see an affordable Shimano Deore set-up!! :-)