I’m looking at a new road bike and am thinking SRAM, Red-is it worth the $, or stick with Force? Anyone out there tried both? I’m not a weight weenie, but I am a cheapskate (as much as possible for a triathlete with a bike fetish).
I had Force last year and just built up this year’s bike with Red shifters and derailleurs. The shifting is much crisper with Red. Of course I am comparing 1 year old Force with new Red…
But the main thing that I absolutely LOVE is being able to easily trim the front derailleur in the same manner as my old Dura Ace stuff.
I’m still using the Force brakes from last year as I couldn’t see any reason to upgrade. I just replaced the pads and was good to go.
Rival with Red shifters.
x2
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If you’re really a cheapskate… I’d say Rival.
If you are going to spend the money on the red stuff, do it, I love mine, except I am running Rival brakes, as there is no reason to get the Red brakes over the rivals, and buy a Dura Ace front derailleur and Chain.
I just ordered Rival shifters and brakes, force deraillers and red cranks, a bit of a hodge podge but it was the best compromise of weight, price and performance. I say mix and match, plus I prefer the finish on the rival levers and brakes
If you are going to spend the money on the red stuff, do it, I love mine, except I am running Rival brakes, as there is no reason to get the Red brakes over the rivals, and buy a Dura Ace front derailleur and Chain.
Why the D/A chain? The SRAM chains have a master link…
Rumor on the street is Force got a facelift, cosmetic and mechanical, to make it snug up to Red on the perfromance/appearance scale. It was good before, this could make it better.
That said, SRAM Red is the racer’s groupset, with a lot of functionality for excellent shfting and hard braking under ugly, real-world race conditions and easy maintenance in the field. It is absurdly light, and the rear end is artillery-proof with the one peice SRAM Red cogset. Honestly, there are so many novel advancements in SRAM red it is a joy to own and a thrill to ride.
I can also tell you that I’ve now ridden the new Dura-Ace 10 spreed 7900 in the real world and, although it is a fine, fine component kit, Red eclipses it in my opinion.
We have ambitions of going molecular on both groups in a no-holds-barred kit-to-kit deathmatch review but that is a hefty project that may have to wait until we really delve into the new Dura-Ace 7900. 7900 is still on honeymoon while SRAM Red has long since doffed the nightie and is scrubbing the floors and cleaning the cat pan, and it still seems darn nice doing that.
didn’t rival get the much of same treatment as well for 2009?
maybe not the fd trim, but from what i’ve read the rival shift levers have sram red-like throw and adjustability.
didn’t rival get the much of same treatment as well for 2009?
maybe not the fd trim, but from what i’ve read the rival shift levers have sram red-like throw and adjustability.
The Rival and Force front shifters has the same throw & adjustability as Red. The rear shifters have the adjustment, but retain the same longer throw as before.
Moreover, the Red brakes have adjustable spring tension and a centering screw, which Rival and Force both lack.
I agree with the poster above - Red shifters and Rival everything else.
–Gene
Good question. I’ve yet to try the 09 Rival. I like Red though, very much indeed.
I’ll go one further. I’m looking to go 10 speed on my old road bike.
Ultegra 10 or Rival 10?
I should be able to keep my 7700 D/A RD and brakeset, all else will have to go.
If you’re going for cheap…DA TT levers, Ultegra Rear, 105 Front and whatever brakes you can find for cheap.
If you are set on SRAM, Rival with 500 series TT levers.
(I’m uncertain why folks are talking about the road levers on a Tri bike…)
"I’m looking at a new road bike "
I think that’s why. I was also referring to a road setup.
Ah…
Well, still holds true. My “cheap road bikes” that I stash around the country for training trips all have bar end shifters…
Sram have said that the improvements to Force mean that they have to work on Red again as there is not enough of a difference between them. I would go Rival though and get some really nice wheels.
I have 09 Rival, Force and RED bikes at my disposal and there is not much performance difference between any of them. The only difference is weight, stiffness of the cranks, ceramic bearings and finish for the most part. I also find that the stiffer rival and force front shifters are a little faster at shifting compared to the RED ti cage.
That being said if you are light on cash I would just get Rival and if you want to get any Red parts I would get the cranks. If you would like to get the performance of the ceramic bearings then you would have to get the RED BB and the RED rear deraileur as well.
Please note that it is suggested by the manufacturer to re-grease the ceramic bearings after every wet ride or 100 hours of use so they are not as user friendly as regular bearings.
I also am sold on Rival. Better looking and better performing than either of Sram’s other groups. I don’t know why people would buy the other groups unless either, they don’t know about the shifting benefits or the stiffer FRD, they want to impress their friends, or the 300 gram difference in weight is a deal breaker for them. I have a new road bike on order built with full Rival.
I had been on Dura-Ace 7800 previously.
I have a Rival Bike, a Force Bike, and a Red bike. Rival and Red are 2009 groups, Force is 2008. I did have a 2008 Rival bike as well, but no longer.
The main benefit of Red over the other groups is in the shifters. The Zero Loss Travel shifting makes a big difference. With the Red shifter, you simply don’t have to move the shift lever as far. Even compared to Force or Rival, it is way shorter. Rival and Force have ZLT in the left shifter for 2009, but the right shifter does not.
If I were building a bike on a budget, I would buy the Red shifters, probably Rival everything else, maybe a Red BB for the ceramic bearings. I am a big guy and live in the mountains, and I do notice a difference on the Red brakes, they seem to feel better. I am using the same pads in both brake sets, so it is either in the brake or the brake lever.
I really noticed the benefits of Red when I put it on my wife’s bike. She had previously been on DA7800. The reach adjustment on the shift and brake lever really made a big difference, but I knew they would. What I didn’t realize, was that the shorter throw on the shifter would make such a big difference. She loves the shifters, and I think anyone with smaller hands or shorter fingers would. She had also been riding a triple set up with DA, and by using the compact Red crank and 11-28 cassette, she now has a wider gear range, and better front shifting. Not to mention dropping over a pound off her bike.