mister

I'm in the process of upgrading from a mix of Shimano 6600/ 6700 to Force 22. I'd be done with it by now, but I was interrupted by a three day business trip... I'm excited for the 11 speed aspect and the yaw on the front derailleur. I always had issues with dropping the chain on my BB and chain rubbing with Shimano regardless of how I adjusted things.

Muffin Man

I hate the movement in the levers in the shimano mechanical groups, and sram just looks a lot better. I'm riding Di2 right now though, and it's pretty cool.

CliffordK

I haven't really tried it. I suppose I'll eventually have a bike built around classic Shimano mechanical levers.

So far I'm happy with the Microshift 9s, and had also been planning on building a bike with Campy levers, derailleurs, and a Shimano Cassette. However, I SRAM didn't quite fall into those plans.

Looigi

If there were a lot of problems, there'd be a lot of threads.

Kopsis

Not much SRAM talk because there's not much to talk about. Functionally, there's not much difference across the range of groupsets so no real need for Rival vs. Force vs. Red debates -- decisions come down to how much lightness do you want to buy. Whether you love or hate the shifting, it pretty much just works as designed. Well documented, easy to set up and low-maintenance, so not much to talk about there. "Exact Actuation" MTB components work with "Exact Actuation" Road components, so no need for "will this shifter work with this derailleur threads.

Shimano makes great components, but their product lines can be mighty confusing -- hence a lot more discussion trying to understand it all.

topflightpro

Sram made a big splash when it came out with road groups a few years ago, and it gave Shimano a real run for its money.

But Sram was late to the game with 11-speed and electronic.

At the same time, Shimano realized it couldn't just sit back and treat Sram like a small boutique brand like Campy and became more aggressive in its pricing to OEMs and pro-team sponsorships. Hence the reduction in bikes spec'd with Sram.

If you talk with any LBS in the US though, they are not happy with Shimano. Shimano took its US distribution in house and raised prices. It has not been successful in maintaining prices in Europe. You can order groupsets from Europe for less than LBS wholesale in the US.

As for the product itself, some people like it and some people don't. I have Sram on all my bikes. I like how it works, and I don't find it to be finicky to maintain. But, I also agree that DA 9000 is probably the best working mechanical group available.

UnfilteredDregs

DA 9000 is the benchmark to beat. SRAM just isn't there in the front derailleur. Their mk1 wireless system has the aesthetic clunkiness and weight of a prototype versus a production model. I'd put money on Shimano having a wireless di2 in the works...

RR3

I have SRAM Red S22 on two bikes and Shimano Dura-Ace and Ultegra (10 speed) on two bikes.

I never need to adjust the rear derailleur with SRAM and the shifts are much more positive and quicker.

I need to rip out the Ultegra off my racing bike, just too lazy.

dr_lha

Did you miss our fun thread about how long the spindle is on a Force22 BB30 crankset? The thing that I was reminded of as part of that thread:

SRAM's documentation of their parts sucks compared to Shimano's.

The way I see it the SRAM's popularity in Road bikes is mainly amongst the weight weenies. Oh and those who for some reason prefer double tap.

That said, it does seem to be very popular amongst those who do a full build of their bikes. Almost all of the pictures I found of the frame I bought built up had SRAM.

RR3

SRAM 1190 cassettes blow away Shimano Dura-ace on reliability and durability alone. Did Shimano solve the broken cassette body problem....did they upgrade from plastic? Plus, SRAM has better ratios.

SRAM front derailleur requires no trim unlike Shimano.

SRAM red shiffting is much better than SHimano. The lever movement is short and precise. Plus the lever can be moved towards you if want to shift during a sprint which is not as easy with shimano. Have both. Vastly prefer Sram.

I have both the SRAM and the hideous looking Dura-ace 9000 cranksets but prefer the even uglier Lightning in carbon.

Brakes? Dura ace or TRP.

Not sure about documentation.....never read it.

merlinextraligh

AG2R still uses SRAM.

I think its a combination of Shimano money, and the switch to electronic shifting.

Most everybody in the pro peleton has gone electronic. SRAM is testing electornic with AG2R.

Assuming they roll out production, wireless electronic shifting and its relatively bug free, I think you'll see more SRAM in the pro peleton in the next couple of years.

qcpmsame 

I like my Rival 10sp just fine, no problems to date and the double tap works very well for me. Have Shimano on my older R500T, no issues there either. Keep both properly indexed and clean all the time as well. I don't think that either SRAM or Campagnolo kids their selves about displacing Shimano in sales to the OEM market, they both have their market, SRAM in the mtb side as said above and the connoisseurs like Campagnolo for its mystique. Haven't had Campagnolo since 1981 when I sold my all Record Raleigh International (save the Superbe brakes).

Anyone know what the acceptance rate is for Di2 and EPS so far? It seems that a lot of the pros have stuck with mechanical Dura Ace, or Super Record, but there are several running electronic systems. maybe the 90's Mavic fiasco soured everyone on that. The folks I know with Di2 like it a lot and swear by it, but that is expensive for this poor boy.

Amazingly good discussion for the topic so far, too.

Bill

merlinextraligh

Its much more widespread than that. According this webiste only 2 Pro Tour teams are not using electronic.

Bikes of the 2015 WorldTour | CyclingTips

And for TT bikes, I think about everybody is using electronic. The multiple shifters is a significant advantage for a TT bike.

Gallery: Time trial tech at the Tour of California - VeloNews.com

dr_lha

It's not just their documentation. It's their website too. I mean, a whole thread arguing over what size spindle on the Force22 BB30 crank should have been solved by a quick link to information on the SRAM website. Not to mention whether the crank is compatible with BBRight (it is).

I would put that as a strike against for customer support honestly.

Also their cranks are fugly as hell.

rms13

Since this has devolved into the inevitable SRAM vs Shimano, I'll give my unsolicited opinion. I'm relatively new to road bikes and got my first modern geared road bike 2 years ago and it had Apex group. Since moving away from that I have had 10 speed 105 and Ultegra and 11 speed 105. The ergonomics on the Sram levers were nice as was lever reach adjustment, but the ergonomics on new 11 speed Shimano has definitely closed the gap on that argument for me. But shift quality and reliability are worlds apart and I couldn't see myself going back to SRAM now. It seems like I had to adjust my deraileurs every week on the SRAM and even with that could never get the front shifting to be reliable. With my Shimano groups I adjust, reajust for new cable stretch/brake in and really never have to touch it again.

MileHighMark

There will be lots more to talk about when Sea Otter starts...

tekhna

Shimano's stuff works really well, but combined shift paddle and brake lever is a miserable solution. I'm not quite sure how it's endured this long, to be honest.

dr_lha

Sorry I should have added a to that sentence. It was meant to be facetious.

Not that I think there's anything wrong with STI shifters. It really comes down to personal preference IMHO.

RR3

Totally agree there.

merlinextraligh

Seperating the shifter and the brake lever is nice for sprinting. Just pin the shifter to the bar, and its a very small movement to click up a gear. I rarely shifted in sprints with Dura Ace. With SRAM Red, I plan the gearing to shift up mid sprint.

indyfabz

How do you pronounce SRAM?

MileHighMark

Like "scram," but w/o the "c."

PiLigand

Wait, what?

Nexx11

I have Ultegra 6600 w/6700 crank on my old bike and I love it. On my new bike I went with SRAM Force 22 and I love it too!

Quite a difference on shifting, aside from double-tap vs brake lever shifting. I do find going between the two very easy.

My "slightly less than pro level" observations compared to my 6600:
- There's no trim settings on the front shifter like Shimano (the four clicks) It's big ring and small ring - which is nice
- Maybe it's how the front derailleur is set up, but it's loud when shifting into small the ring *thud*
- Force 22 rear shifting is loud too (pop, pop, pop) but it's FAST. As soon as I click the paddle, it shifts - up or down
- Speaking of pop, pop, pop, it is actually a nice audible indicator sometimes
- Sram hoods took a bit of getting used to, but I do like them.

RNAV

This. This is precisely why I prefer Sram over Shimano (plus I like the ergonomics, shorter shifter throw, more positive actuation feedback, lighter weight, no need to trim the front derailleur, and much better aesthetics).

The fact that Shimano have moved past the combined shift paddle/brake lever (brifter) design and done away with it entirely in their Di2 groups is further evidence that brifters are a poor design. Di2 is quite nice . . . I've ridden a bike with it and really liked it. But money is money, and I could not justify spending $2,000 more and taking a significant weight penalty to have Di2 over Sram Red22.