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looks like this is confirmed! Just wish I could get a release date!
google search link
I just finished an article about SRAM's new brake rotor. They've created a 2-piece aluminum and stainless steel rotor without any fasteners. They're doing this by creating an aluminum core that bolts to the hub and then using a thermal spray process to apply liquid stainless steel to the outer portion of the rotor. This should be lighter and have better thermal properties compared to current rotors. It's actually kind of amazing. I haven't seen this one yet, so let me know if you have.
https://wheelbased.com/2021/01/05/bicycle-disc-brake-rotors-by-sram/
Magura:”Sure just change it up a bit”
Regarding the Norco, it's a horst link, the Druid is a single pivot. Owen Pemberton is the Founder, CEO and design engineer of Forbidden and he was part of the AUrum HSP project. The druid design was a collaboration with
Alastair Beckett of Redburn design, who also did the Privateer bikes (I think it's no coincidence both have very steep seat tubes but very short top tubes...).
As for the Norco, like I said, the Aurum is still in the lineup as the DH bike.
As for Sram, it's actually relatively similar to what Shimano is doing regarding the sandwich construction, just achieved differently. And honestly it could all just be a patent to cover competitors off. For one thing I'd love to hear an expert regarding spray welding of stainless steel to aluminium. If nothing else the galvanic potential of aluminium and stainless steel is quite a bit apart. I wouldn't be surprised if these two metals were less than happy to be joined together?
There have been aluminium rotors in the past, but they were ceramic coated. And there have been aluminium rotors seen in the past, the first gen Lotus Elise had them, where they were used for lightness reasons. The facelift ditched them, most likely due to sourcing issues (cast iron rotors are supplied in huge quantities, I'm guessing it wasn't as easy to get a supplier both for the rotors and the pads. Continental (yeah, the tyre company - tyres are only ~30 % of the total revenue for the conglomerate) has suggested aluminium brake systems for EVs to prevent rust (EVs don't use brakes as much as ICE cars do, so the brakes are usually more rusty). So it appears to be possible to have straight aluminium rotors. For bikes the thickness is an issue as there's no way you'll stop anything with 2 mm of thickness. Given ~1/3 of density of aluminium you could go to almost three times the thickness, gaining a lot of stiffness with no weight penalty. Plus the specific heat (the amount of heat absorbed by the material) is roughly double per gram for aluminium than it is for stainless steel, plus the heat transfer factors are better - more heat can be absorbed at the same weight by aluminium and it is thrown away quicker.
What a thick aluminium rotor would require though is a wider brake caliper. And of course special brake pads as well.
Another point of contention would also likely be flatness. Steel is relatively hard, meaning it's possible to grind it to achieve certain dimensions. I'm not so sure what is possible with aluminium due to its softness, I wouldn't be surprised if it would be much harder to get it flat than it is to get steel to be flat.
It looks like it is possible to bond different metals, but yeah, the question is how strong that bond is. And how thick the SS coating will be? Shimano's stuff is relatively thin if I remember correctly. But yeah, the SS coated variant could probably be ground to thickness.