The off-season often brings new equipment to professional teams. Occasionally, a particular rider is asked by a manufacturer to try out or test equipment under development.

The Cycling News technical team has been keeping a close eye on several mechanics and pro riders over the past few weeks to bring you news of new technological developments. From Mathieu van der Pol's prototype canyon to Fabio Jacobsen's new aero cockpit, there seems to have been a quiet flurry of new equipment recently, ahead of the 2023 race season.

Most recently, we found images and video of what appears to be a prototype Sram shifter on at least one of Movistar's Canyon bikes at a recent training camp. The photos in this article are taken from one of the recent Movistar YouTube videos we peruse with a magnifying glass. We also discuss this topic in the weightweenies thread (opens in new tab).

Rumors about new groupset(s) for the slam have been swirling for some time now, and the fact that these new prototype levers are seen in the wild may be a sign that the slam is getting close to announcing a new groupset(s). If a new groupset is to appear next year, it will most likely take the form of a new Red Groupset, which will share technology and functionality with the lower groupset(s).

The shifter pictured above is a radically different design from Sram's current offerings and compares to Shimano's GRX Di2 unit, which is somewhat similar in shape. The lever body is slimmer, and the brake lever blades extend rearward. The top of the hood also appears smaller, suggesting that Sram is trying to make a more compact shifter unit.

Another point we covered earlier this year is that the majority of Sram-sponsored teams this year are using equipment with larger, more prominent logos than what is currently listed and advertised on the Sram website. In particular, the shifters and chainsets have the larger "SRAM" logo. Whether this is simply a pro-only brand or another signal of a redesign remains to be seen.

The fact that riders are already using the equipment suggests that it will probably be officially announced in the coming months.