Madrone Cycles got its start making parts to repair a variety of SRAM mountain bike derailleurs, but now they’re taking on a much more ambitious project: building their own derailleur from the ground up. Third-party derailleurs had a brief run in the earlier days of mountain biking, but SRAM and Shimano have completely dominated the market for decades now. So why is Madrone taking on the big players now, and what sets their new Jab derailleur apart? We sat down with Madrone founder, Aaron Bland, to discuss all that and more.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Founding Madrone & starting with SRAM derailleur rebuilds (1:57)

Electronic shifting & the resurgence of third-party mechanical derailleurs (4:02)

The hardest details to get right (12:57)

Evolution of the Jab design (17:25)

Serviceability & Madrone’s rebuild service (22:58)

Clutch & pivot designs (27:43)

Modularity (32:26)

Jab options (41:34)

What’s next from Madrone? (47:37)

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