bryceepoo

Keeping cost and function all in mind I'm thinking of mixing components across the entire sram line.

I've heard of people running the Force front derailleur with the Red kit but what I'm wanting to know is if I mix the Red shifters with a Force REAR derailleur will I still get all of the benefits of having Red shifters anyway? Will the Red shifters function identically with a Force rear derailleur as if they were mated to a Red rear derailleur?

vic32amg

yes. Many prefer the force fd over the more flexy red.

bryceepoo

Sorry about that... edited the original post as I meant to ask in reference to the rear derailleur.

bubbaeck

Is there really much difference in shifting performance across the SRAM line? I'd bet a dollar that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Rival and Red and that the only difference is in materials...

logdrum

Rival has some slight QC issues. I got one good and got one with a little bend on the RD arm, I was able to correct it. Force and rival (I have not tried red), the Rival has stiffer cranks -- Bearings on Force -- a tad smoother as in you can spin the crans a little longer.

Generally Force shift's better or should I say easier to adjust to shift right but we are splitting hairs here.

erliuic

There are functional differences between Rival/Force and Red shifters...

Red has zero-loss and adjustable reach.

rizz

Keep in mind that '09 Rival parts are already starting to show up on eBay, the rest of the line will soon follow. Keep in mind that the previous comments in this thread will largely be inaccurate once the '08 parts are gone.

umd

Yes, all the benefits are in the shifters, not the derailler. Except for the ceramic bearings.

Yeah, I had to ditch the Red FD, it just wouldn't reliably shift into the big ring. Much happier with my old Force FD.

There is no difference between Rival and Force but there is a difference in feel between Rival/Force and Red. Between my bikes and my wife's bike we have all 3.

bryceepoo

Thanks erliuic and umd... that's what I assumed from what I had read but I wanted to make sure that was the case. Red shifters will be the way to go for me since the 09 stuff can't be had yet anywhere.

Does someone want to recommend what the best cost/performance mix would be?

I'm thinking:

Shifter: Red
Front derailleur: Force
Rear derailleur: Force
Brakeset: Rival
Crankset: S900 or maybe Force too

Amen

Looks good. If you asked me, I would downgrade some of components to a similar set as you want if I had the chance over again just to save some coin. Then again, I got the whole set for about 1300 brand new.

bryceepoo

Nice buy... I'm sure prices have come down since then, but I think I can get this whole set for less than $900 which I think will be a great bargain for what it will be.

dsilver668

I would personally use a Shimano FD. We had issues or heard issues of the SRAM FD's digging into the frame. On Carbon that isn't the best thing.

FSA has a nice crankset, and matches well with the SRAM rear. I would say go Force or Red on the cassett and RD. They are lighter. I am running Rival across the board and it is nice. Not as smooth as DA shifting wise, but not bad. One thing I am working through it when I shift under load it clunks to the next gear. Not sure if that is normal, but a few of the tech guys at bike shops which sell SRAM said that's normal.

The Force ****ers, and or Red are really nice. I think if your worried about weight upgrading the rear cassett to red would drop a bit, but I didn't build a weight wennie bike.