FlashBazbo

I'm looking at buying my first 'cross bike. My finalists come down to one bike equipped with 105 components (Bontrager crank) and one equipped with Rival components (FSA crank). Price is the same.

I have always been a Shimano guy (although my road bike is Dura Ace). I have never ridden a SRAM-equipped bike.

So . . . which is better? Is there a meaningful difference? Or is it just a matter of preference?

bw286

apples and oranges, i suspect. i hate shimano, so i just went to sram on all my geared bikes and i'm very happy. also, shimano is not particularly rebuildable in the event of a crash. i would suggest at least trying something with sram before "making the leap." i rode a bike at the lbs and fell in love with the double tap shifting.

carlfreddy

Its really a matter of personal preference.

I honestly can't tell a difference between 105 and Ultegra. I only notice the difference when jumping from my 105-spec'd 'cross bike to my DA road bike.

DeweyJuice

I would ride SRAM before buying it. I recently got a bike with Rival and the front deraileur is a bit tricky for me coming from shimano ultegra.

FlashBazbo

How so, Dewey? Is it double-tap vs. brake lever shifting? Or is it not a good shifting action?

DeweyJuice

My issue is shifting from the small ring in the front to the big ring. Many times it'll get stuck in between and just make noise and stays in the small ring. If I hold the lever over for a while (maybe 5 revs of the crank) it helps when I'm in this stuck mood. It also is really bad when cross chaining or close to it, which might be part of my problem. That is to say maybe I shouldn't be trying it to cross chain it but trying out the shifting in a parking lot seems to be a common scenario where I had alot of trouble and I don't really need the big ring in a parking lot. I might just be used to shimano or whatever, but I can't think of any time where ultegra didn't shift or where the shift was anything but instantaneous. I might just be a SRAM idiot. I'm going to wait a couple of months before I decide and if I don't get used to the FD shifting I don't know what I'll do.
My LBS has looked at it 3 times now and they say it's good. I'm giving it some time and I have improved quite a bit from the first 2 days where I literally couldn't get out of the small chain ring for 10 minutes.
The ergonics are different too. The Rival brifters are smaller and I like the feeling that I'm all over them. Off road that does feel a little unsettling because sometimes I *feel* like my hands might slip forward over and off the brifter but it hasn't happened and I don't think it will.

bw286

probably this one. coming off of campy, i really like the sram. feels solid like campy, and the shifting action is nicer. i've had no problems with my front der. everything lined up nice and flush?

raceline

i had a 2008 trek xo-1 shimano 105 & just last week picked up my 09 redline conquest pro with sram rival carbon double tap shifters and its HANDS DOWN !! sram WINS !!!

FlashBazbo

raceline, those are the two bikes I'm deciding between. Does the Redline come standard with the carbon shifters?

pinkpowa

After riding Ultegra, SRAM Rival is much more solid in the braking and I like the feel of the shifts better. No different for shifting the FD than Ultegra IMO, but it did take a bit to set it up right. Several guys at the shop have Fuji Cross Pro's with Ultegra drivetrains and they're always adjusting and fixing ghost shifting, where I've got twice the miles they do on my SRAM Rival and I haven't touched it.

raceline

flashbazo , yes the 2009 model does the 2008 did not , ridden both i say the redline is better ,good luck

DeweyJuice

Now that we've established that I'm an idiot... :-) I'm no mechanic but I downloaded the instructions from the sram website. I believe the "h" adjustment on the front derailleur was off so I adjusted it. I gave her a quick spin and I think it might be better, but the proof is when I'm riding "for real".