SRAM Product Manager for MTB Drivetrain, Chris Hilton

Chris Hilton, a long-time mountain bike industry figure, left his Alabama home in the 90's to pursue mountain bike racing. When he realized he wasn't cut out for competitive XC racing, he found his way into the business side of our sport, eventually landing at SRAM some 10 years ago. Getting his feet wet with SRAM XX 2x10 drivetrain development, he's a big reason why 1x drivetrains are so successful today. Chris would dig through the boxes of random products that SRAM engineers had collected over the years, questioning if these unused technologies could be used on mountain bikes. Chris and his team pushed the development of wide-range 1x drivetrains into production as riders and racers were already running cobbled-together 1x drivetrains on their own. From XX1 through Eagle (which he originally didn't embrace), Chris has been there for some MTB's most important drivetrain refinements. Enjoy the past, the present and the future of drivetrains and bike development with a passionate rider who's inspired to make bike riding better.