bykemike 

And it really wasn't as big a deal as I had expected. I had to scale back my expectations, I was looking to go with Sram Red and went with
Sram Force instead. The price difference was big between the two choices.

Of course now I am going to have a butt load of pretty nice 10 speed stuff to sell, wheels, brifters, cassettes, chains, brakes, FDs and RDs.

All in with new wheels and a complete new group was about $1100, Red would have been almost double that, Rival group 35% less (a good guess)

Keeping my same Tarmac frame, just all new stuff.

Much as I cringe at the $$ I do love installing all new stuff, right down to the tires. Looking forward to install, should be a half day or so.

Mike
.

NealH

I changed my Red (Original 10 speed) equipped Tarmac to 7900 DA back in 2010, and have never looked back ( 32k miles ago). I had nothing but trouble on the Red but, it was the original and supposedly its much better now. I prefer Shimano but wouldn't turn down a good deal on a bike if it had modern Sram - just not the old stuff.

I will be in Fl the next four weeks and our retiree group rides to St. Aug every Tuesday and we have breakfast at 11 cafe. Usually get there around 9AM. Come join us if you get a chance.

OldTryGuy

Play away and have fun with the build-up, then may there be smooth roads ahead.

bykemike 

Hi Neal, Cafe 11, a nice spot for sure with pretty good bike lanes in front especially if you are going south towards Flagler Beach.

Despite my age I am not retired but I can always ask the boss for some time off.

redcon1

I haven't heard any bad comments about Force 22. Let us know how you like it once you get it built up and some miles on it.

BlazingPedals

So far, the new stuff hasn't tempted me and I'm sticking with the 9-speed stuff. Someday though I'll need to replace some 9-speed part and Shimano will have trickled down to the point that the only 9-speed group left will Acera. THEN I'll have to change.

John E

I still live like a savage, with 3x8 1.5-step-plus-granny gearing on the mountain bike and 2x6 half-step or 1.5-step on each of the road bikes. As long as I can get about a 6-7% ratiometric progression and decent range, I am good to go, as long as I plan my gearing to avoid redundancies.

bykemike 

I just want to try the new stuff, no real reason beyond that.

I will give a review as soon as I get it installed and put a few miles on it.

NealH

I ride up from Ormond, meet the PC group at Publix then to St. A and C/11. Should be there at roughly 9, on Tuesday of next week. Its a Tuesday ritual.

Darth Lefty 

But you had so much to live for!

woodway

FWIW on many wheelsets you can change out the freehub body to one that will accept an 11-speed cassette. My wheels are built around DT Swiss hubs and when I switched to 11 speeeds I was able to buy a new freehub body for $70. It was simple to install.

Of course if you WANTED new wheels, then nevermind.

bykemike 

Ok, 8 days into this and too many trips to weightweenies.starbike.com and I weigh this thing at every juncture, a sickness that has almost no
merit but , why not?

Tarmac frame, all new Sram 11 speed force group, new Michelin Lithion. 2 tires, etc,. new set of wheels, I am now at 14.10 lbs and still need to install the crank and chain
so I will be at a back breaking 16 1/2 lbs + when I am done as long as I remove the tools and water bottle prior to a weigh in.

This is actually me trying for some humor, if I were serious I would have bought the Sram Red group and skipped the two cheese burgers at lunch.

I expect this will be a nice ride when completed in the next week ( I have to try and hold a job while this is going on) although learning to use the Sram shifters
should take a trip or two.

jppe

Florida....retired....riding bikes. Sounds great!!!!

I have the newer SRAM Red and it's fine. The upgrade to the front dérailleur was really well done. It probably shifts better than my DuraAce. But the DA rear shifting Seems smoother than the Red. I've had Super Record 11speed for 5 years and as long as I keep the RD hanger bracket aligned it works fine. But the 10 speeds shift better for me and needs less maintenance.

no sweat

I did an Ultegra 6500 -> 6800 transplant on my Siena this Spring. The *least* impressive part of the upgrade is the gear count.

bykemike 

What was the most impressive? The gear count doesn't mean all that much to me but I'm thinking the transition between gears may be a bit smoother with more steps up and down the cluster.

Duo

My bike has 9 speeds and wonder if 10 or 11 would be better? I also ride vintage 6 speed and the 9 speed really is a great difference.

Well maybe some day.

Homebrew01

I don't see much benefit for 11 speed in most cases. Looking at the cassettes, almost all 11 speeds start with an 11 tooth cog now, with no option to start with 12. So all you get for your money is an 11 tooth cog that will practically never get used, instead of a missing 18 or some other middle cog that would get used all the time.

Dumb dumb dumb.

fietsbob

you will also 'enjoy' the higher priced spare parts as they inevitably wear. ... But it goes to 11 , Man ..

RR3

Dura Ace 12-25. 12-19 corn cob and then 2 tooth jumps.

SRAM 11-28: 11-12-13-14-15-16-17-19-22-25-28

Some would say not having one's facts is dumb. Jus Sayin.

Marcus_Ti

Campag too has 12t aplenty.

RR3

I use the 11t on every ride. On my Rando rig, my big" ring is a 46 and thus, the 11 gets plenty of action. I used a 53x11 several times on a 40km TT this morning

Homebrew01

Campy has a decent selection, but for Shimano/Sram users, very few choices starting with 12. IMO, most people would make much more use of a cassette starting with 12, especially if they want a wider cassette, where an extra cog could fill a gap.
The point being that any Shimano/SRAM users wanting a large cog > 25, is forced to start with 11.
They should offer more options.

Oldguyonoldbike

I recently built up a bike with Campy Athena 11-speed: 52/36 front, 12-27 rear.
I still love the ultrashift (or whatever it's called) on my other bike, 8-speed Chorus, but the choice of gears with the Athena 11-speed is perfect for my riding.

JimF22003

Well, not everybody lives in the same places or rides the same terrain. It would be extremely rare for me not to use the 11 cog at least once on a ride. With a 50 large chain ring, I can generally only keep up with the pedals up to about 34 or 35 MPH on the downhills. I rode for a week or two with 12-tooth small ring, and I had to stop pedaling at about 29 or 30 MPH. That's a pretty big difference, and wastes a lot of speed on downhills.

wvridgerider

I would like to go 11 speed for the lower gear offered, a 32. It is needed for me here in WV and I dont need the super high gears. Some of the climbs I do can be 20% and gravel. I can descend fast due to my weight. I guess the only thing to stock up on is the 11 speed chains.