Are these even close? How much more would one expect to pay for Ultegra?
I’ve used both. The SRAM Rival was very good for the 5,000 or so miles I had it on my road bike. I can’t remember many problems, but occasionally it would skip around or have trouble shifting while standing or under heavy loads. All things considered, it worked great. I use it on my Tri bike and see no reason to upgrade.
My most recent road bike had Ultegra 6700 and it was flawless–shifts up/down whenever, where ever, no matter what demand was put on it. I didn’t do a ton of maintenance it and it was still bulletproof. I prefer Ultegra 6700 over the older Dura Ace (7700). Shifters felt smooth and crisp, looks great. Awesome group. The brakes are phenomenal.
I imagine you’ll pay more for the Ultegra 6700, as I’ve bought two Rival complete groups for just over $500. If you’re on a tight budget, you can’t go wrong with Rival… I use it on my Tri bike and it’s been flawless. If you’re building a road bike and plan on doing a lot of hills, the Rival will definitely work great, but you’ll get what you pay for with the 6700.
I recently got Rival for a TT bike, but I’m still awaiting my frame to install it on.
I’ve run 105, Ultegra, and Dura-Ace groups before, and Ultegra was the only one of them that wasn’t a complete piece of crap. In fact, it has been very reliable for about 8 years now (maybe not Campy level of reliable, but worth every penny nonetheless).
Still, even though I’ve been happy with it, I thought I would give SRAM a try, since overall I’m so dissapointed with Shimano groups.
I would assume in practive, these two groups are so equivalent it should come down to which you can get for cheaper. If it is going on a road bike, you might want to consider which shifters fit your hand better. For a tri bike, SRAM has a decent set of bar end shifters, Shimano does not, so that makes the choice a little easier.
Here’s my (very un-scientific) comparison.
Tried (not Rival) SRAM Force on a Trek Madone demo bike. I didn’t like the “double tap” shifting. Also it tended to shift while braking. That is obviously user error but I never have this issue with Ultegra.
On a tri bike the double tap thing is not an issue.
I have Ultegra on the P2 and on a Cervelo RS. I have absolutely no issues. The road bike setup is full Ultegra. I tried same bike with Dura Ace and could not tell the difference. I shift with the finesse of a linebacker on crack and have not had any problems.
So yes, different bikes, not really Rival but the next step up, on a bike with undetermined milage I’d say SRAM sucks! Not really, I just like Ultegra better.
I haven’t ridden Ultegra much, but I based my recent off-the-shelf road bike purchase on 105 vs Rival vs Ultegra. I test-rode a bike with each, and in the end, I chose Rival.
I like Double Tap shifting; it works better for my small-ish hands and I liked the ergonomics of the hoods and levers. It felt “meatier” during shifts than 105. Three months with it and no regrets.
I didn’t use the Ultegra, but I can give little feedback on Rival. It’s truly great price/value but the shifters are crap. The shifting mechanism is not any long lasting and sooner or later it WILL cause problems (the same mechanism is in Force shifters only Red has completely different guts). The rest of group is flawless - light, responsive, shifting is precise, it’s easy to dial in, but the first thing to upgrade (or have a spare) are Red shifters.
First of all, ignore anyone that says one is BETTER than the other.
Both Ultegra and Rival, if set up properly, shift very well. The only difference is the feel when they shift.
SRAM has a slightly more solid “thunk/thunk” shifting - Ultegra is supposedly smoother. IME, Rival shifts faster - shorter throw - than Ultegra. Initially when I switched to SRAM, I’d look down to my chainring to see if I had actually shifted, that’s how quickly it used to shift.
A lot of people also claim that SRAM shifts better under load than Shimano - I dont have a comparison between Rival and Ultegra, but I know from experience Rival shifts really well under load.
In practice, none of the above is really that big a deal.
The biggest practical differences are in the shape of the shifters, & the ergonomics of double-tap: I for one love it - faster, shorter throw, ability to pull in the shift levers for shifting while attacking on the drops. Others prefer the way the Shimano levers feel in their hands. This really should be the main deciding criteria, IMO.
One other minor difference: SRAM levers can also be adjusted on the fly - Shimano levers need a shim.
And of course, if you are a WW, Rival is lighter than Ultegra.