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SRAM Corporation is a privately held bicycle component manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1987. The correct pronunciation of SRAM is sram. more...

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SRAM is an acronym comprising the names of its founders, Scott, Ray, and Sam, where Ray is the middle name of company head Stan Day.

Company Beginnings

As a start-up company, SRAM introduced the Grip Shift (or twist shift) gear-change method and technology to the mountain bike market in 1988.

In 1990 the company sued Shimano for unfair business practices, noting that Shimano offered, in effect, a 15-percent discount to bicycle manufacturers specifying an all-Shimano drivetrain and that few companies in the highly-competitive industry would be willing to forego such a discount to specify Grip Shift components. SRAM received an unspecified out-of-court settlement from Shimano in 1991. More importantly, it won the right to compete in the lucrative OEM bicycle components arena.

The years after the Shimano settlement were marked by dramatic growth for the company, as it increased sales organically and added other companies to its portfolio. SRAM now incorporates the former bicycle division of Fichtel and Sachs, Sachs-Huret, and recently acquired component makers Rock Shox, Avid, Truvativ, ZF Sachs and Zipp (see below).

Products

SRAM pioneered what it has dubbed a "1:1 actuation ratio" for bicycle shifting, meaning that for any distance a cable is pulled by the shifter, an equal amount of lateral distance is covered by the derailleur. This approximate doubling of the shifter cable travel reduced it's sensitivity to dirt contaminating the system, a significant issue in mountain biking.

In their road componentry, SRAM introduced "Exact Actuation" technology, similar in some ways to the 1:1 system. A distinctive feature of SRAM's road system is the DoubleTap lever. The unique aspect of this shifter is the use of a single lever for both upshifting and downshifting, rather than two as both Shimano and Campagnolo shifters require.

SRAM bicycle chains are widely used by cyclists, even those not using any other SRAM componentry on their machine. SRAM chains are often called "Sedis" or "Sedisport", which was the original name given to the bushingless design of Sachs-Huret. These chains have greater flexibility than traditional chains with full-width bushings and are very suitable for the operation of modern derailleur gear systems. SRAM more recently introduced the "Powerlink", a tool-free master link for derailleur gear chains.

Read more at Wikipedia.org