Getting the new trek madone 5.2 frameset and deciding which groupset to go with it. Any one who has ridden both and feel one is better then the other?
I know the new dura ace will be out soon so i will be able to get 7800 cheaper, but sram red looks way cooler.
AND NO I CANNOT AFFORD THE NEW DURA ACE GROUP! 
I have been a life long Shimano-man. Ultegra and DA pretty much exclusivly. I have been for a few longer test rides on the SRAM Force group and, I must say that I have been really impressed. Love the feel of it. Love the shape of the hoods and the shifter paddles. The double tap takes about 5 minutes to get used to. Next road bike for me is going to have SRAM on it.
what is the difference of red and force?
unless I required parts compatibility between 2 or more bikes, and I already had shimano; then I’d go SRAM without a moments hesitation.
but if you do need that ability to swap parts between 2 or more bikes…then you may be anchored with Shimano.
IMHO
I just picked up my Cervelo RS with SRAM Red and I vote for SRAM. I am totally hooked. The best parts so far:
If I was building from scratch I would also go Red based on everyone’s various reviews. The only thing I might not use would be the cranks. Most say to stick with DA cranks as they are a lot more solid.
I’d really prefer Record, but that is just ridiculous for price.
And Force is still lighter than DA for a lot less coin.
why no campy love?
My vote is Red or Campy Record *11 *Carbon.
Spot
If I was building from scratch I would also go Red based on everyone’s various reviews. The only thing I might not use would be the cranks. Most say to stick with DA cranks as they are a lot more solid.
I’d really prefer Record, but that is just ridiculous for price.
And Force is still lighter than DA for a lot less coin.
Anyone that says DA is a lot more solid than RED or Force is on crack. I raced DA on the road for years, before making the jump to SRAM last year and they’re as stiff if not stiffer than DA. BB is a bit blah…
Unless you’re looking for every little g of weight savings or just like the looks of them, get Force cranks over Red and get an after market BB from someone like Enduro. Not a fan of the SRAM steel or Ceramic. The force comes with a Steel Gxp and it’s a decent training BB.
You might want to do a Force Front der, the Red can be a bit of a challenge to get up and going and some frames have issues with it.
I LOVE Campy, and dont think any of the other groups can exceed it.
but I sent off my Record equipped Griffen to my Brother last year in NZ, and replaced it with an ultegra equipped Isaac, because I sold the grif to my bro for less than the cost of the record gruppo. (I hope he is reading this and feeling guilty!), hahahahah.
so now I have my TRI bike, and my road bike setup with shimano. but I spent the bigger bucks on the more important parts of the build, since nobody wins a Tri based on their gruppo, and I just train on the road bike.
and my TT bikes are both fixed gear, so I sidestepped that one! HA!
I’ve read a lot of reviews of the Red groupset that were not very good. Noisy, needing constant tuning, pricey - I didn’t think much of it until recently. My sister built up an Isaac Joule with Red and rode it for a couple months complaining that the RD would never stay in proper alignment. The group has now been stripped from the bike and will be for sale shortly. She’s going back to Dura-Ace.
I’ve read a lot of reviews of the Red groupset that were not very good. Noisy, needing constant tuning, pricey - I didn’t think much of it until recently. My sister built up an Isaac Joule with Red and rode it for a couple months complaining that the RD would never stay in proper alignment. The group has now been stripped from the bike and will be for sale shortly. She’s going back to Dura-Ace.
Yeah you hear that, but everyone I know that has it in this area has no problem. I’ve been running it since it came out, and haven’t had to mess with the rear other than the initial setup. The front can be an issue with compacts and some frames, there is actually a shim kit for it.
In every case i’ve seen of bad function SRAM stuff it’s been user error on set up. The SRAM stuff is different to set up than traditional stuff running a 2-1 pull. You have to let the cables have more initial slack or the system kinda binds up and never shifts smooth or lines up right.
I just finished my road bike with Campagnolo Chorus grouppo. My vote would be Campy Chorus. It is so much nicer than my triathlon bike all decked out in Dura Ace gear. Everything is smoother on the Campy bike. Several times I had to look too see if the chain was still on the bike because there was no noise from anywhere. And the shifting is way better on Campy than Shimano. Love the way that the brake levers are… just brake levers.
Now I need to upgrade my racing tri bike and get rid of the Shimano Dura crap.
SRAM. I’ve been a lifelong Shimano guy, but converted fully to SRAM after one ride. The hoods and brake levers feel better, the shifting is crisper, and the braking is about as powerful (which means good enough). The biggest diff is the hoods and brake levers. My 'cross bike is still Shimano, but I’m looking for SRAM Rival to replace it all.
I have one bike with Red and one with Force. Personally, aside from the cool factor, I don’t see the need for Red. I’d go with Force.
I had DA 9 speed, then went to Force and now have Red. Force was better than DA 9 speed (no shock there) and Red is lighter, cooler but more importantly better functionaly than Force. Red shifting is amazingly crisp and precise. I have had no issues with Red, no adjustment has been required since setup. I don’t use the Red crank - have heard that the pro’s dont like it either, but that is gossip.
Thanks for the feedback! red it is!
The red just looks so much cooler then the force.
Would there be any compatibility issues if i were to get a FSA carbon crankset? Alot of feedback saying the cranks arent as good leads me to think of FSA (has to be carbon to mactch)!
I use fsa cranks with red with no problems
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Thanks for the feedback! red it is!
The red just looks so much cooler then the force.
Would there be any compatibility issues if i were to get a FSA carbon crankset? Alot of feedback saying the cranks arent as good leads me to think of FSA (has to be carbon to mactch)!
FSA cranks will work fine. Nothing wrong with the cranks, all the complaints I’ve seen are with the BB. The stock GXP steel BB has a lot of drag on it. The Ceramic one is nice, but requires a lot of maintenance and it’s got a relatively soft race on it, so it probably won’t last as long as some of the after market ones. Red cranks look pretty cool, they’re 30g lighter than Force and probably a bit stiffer, if you don’t care about that save some coin and get the Force one. I have full red on my road bike except the cranks are force. It seemed kinda silly to swap out a perfectly good crank that had less than a years worth of use on it.
I’m also running an Enduro Bearing BB with their Zero Ceramic bearings in it. Very nice, smooth as butter and not very expensive.
I have Sram Rival on one road bike and a Dura ace / Ultegra mix on another. Both are fine. IMO, it all comes down to whether you want the double tap of the Sram or not.
+1 vote for the Sram for having no exposed cables.
RED for sure…
