spartan1o5

How do the newer sram force stack up against the ultegra 6700 or shimano 105? I was interested in a new gruppo because the rear derailleur efed up and i have a 7 speed drive train. I am probably going to get completely new derailleurs and brake levers. I'll hold back on the calipers and crank till later. Really interested in the sram force gruppo because I want to move away from shimano and give sram a try. Thanks everyone for giving their opinion. Also, it doesn't have to be specifically sram forces, any sram component that you can compare to the 105 or ultegras would be nice! thanks!

exhibitx

sram force is the same as sram rival aside from a little weight

that little weight may or may not be worth the extra money to you, just FYI

i would say rival is as good or better than ultegra, but i haven't ridden 6700, only 6600 and 6600 SL

UGASkiDawg

Force is cheaper and lighter......Ultegra operates better but only marginally and only because the shifting is quieter and smoother.

I'd buy Force.....

spartan1o5

Thanks a lot guys! I hope sram will make me happy =D

spartan1o5

By the way a quick question, what is trimming on the front/rear derailleur?

diziet

Trimming means using the shifter to move the front derailer cage sideways just a little bit, enough to stop the chain from rubbing, but not enough to make it shift to a different chainring.

-sheldon brown

dantsai

2010 Force's brakes were updated to have the same design as Red, rather than Rival.

spartan1o5

Thanks!, seems like the sram brake levers are extremely easy to use. And everything is so much lighter in comparison to the ultegras

StanSeven

That's pretty much the consenses from what I hear from people that tried both. Ultegra shifts smoother and is quieter.

exhibitx

the difference between rival and red brakes is being able to center them with a hex key and weight

they are certainly very close in braking power and modulation

foresthill

Smoother and quieter, yeah. But "better" is really a matter of personal preference. Personally, I prefer the more clearly demarcated shifting of SRAM (or campy), so I know it's shifted.

primov8

A couple weeks ago, I installed an 09 Sram Rival group( to Psimet) on my friend's Soloist; he's been riding for over 2 years with Ultegra 6600 and decided to switch over after trying out my setup. The groupset came with the new PG1070 cassette and a KMC dx10 chain; We immediately noticed how much quieter it was compared to my previous setup and shifting was improved dramatically.

On my RT800, I decided to remove the 1070 chain and install a KMC X10sl chain for easy removal/cleaning and for the obvious bling factor. The drivetrain noise was reduced and it shifted alot smoother than before. I'm still using the OG1070 cassette so I'm sure it can only improve with the newer PG cassettes or by using a Shimano 10spd cassette.

velocanuck

I'm no bike mechanic, but can you change the derailleurs and brake levers without changing the cassette? (10 speed derailleur and 7 speed cassette?), and then you would have to change the chain, so would you then have to change the crank?

fit24hrs

I've ridden both 09 Rival and Ultegra 6700 back to back. Ultegra shifts faster, smoother, and quieter. Imagine "click, shnick." Rival doesn't shift down until you let go and doesn't up shift unless you throw the lever all the way in. Imagine "clack, slam." On the otherhand, SRAM shifters look and feel way better. It's narrower and doesn't have a strange bulge. 6700 cranks look better, though.

foresthill

Well, I haven't used 6700 yet, but in my experience, SRAM shifts way way faster than 6600 did.

giantdefy

I have both Sram Rival on my 2010 Tarmac and Shimano 105 on my 09 Giant Defy Alliance. The shimano is alot quiter at the shifter when shifting up or down, plus its a fraction easier to push in. On the other hand, the Sram is quick with a sharp snap on each shift, shorter throw, much cleaner cockpit area with hidden cables, and the big plus is that the Rival group is a 120 grams lighter than the Ultegra SL group! Best bang for the buck hands down!

Now, the major downside to the SRAM which I dont think no one has ever noticed is that if you do alot of hill climbing like I do, try down shifting (going to the big ring on the rear) when your on your last biggest chain ring on the rear, instead of getting a no-shift like you would on the shimano, you get an instant up-shift! So imagine your racing up hill and you think you still have one more gear to help you spin better, you go to shift and what do you get?.....a up shift dropping the chain down making it harder and now you have to down shift again or learn to keep eye-balling your rear cassette when climbing.

Now, if you can live with this inconvenience, the Sram I think is still a way better buy than the shimano. If I had to choose, I would still take the Srams flaw just to have the much lighter group and cleaner cockpit.

velocanuck

everyone has given great experience on shifting faster, slower, better feel, noisier etc...but can someone tell the OP if 'mechanically' it is possible to what he is asking?

Because if it is not, then who cares whether it shifts quieter, quicker, can't do this, can't do that, feels better.

roy5000x2

I had that problem in the middle of a race actually. I was climbing a vicious hill with my 11-23 cassette, and was killing myself whenever I tried to shift up a gear, only to find that I was already in my 23, and I'd shift into a smaller cog. The guy racing next to me noticed this. He got my attention, and then explained how to get around that problem. If you keep on throwing the shift lever, even when there isn't any more cable for it to pull, you can get a second click out of the shift lever, which makes it so that you don't shift. Problem solved.

spartan1o5

If this setup would be possible, I would save myself mucho money in the meantime. 7 speed cassette with a 10 speed shifter... sounds fun

velocanuck

okee-dokee, good luck with that.

pretty sure the shifter has to be the same as the cassette to work properly, both 10 speed.

The chain is also narrower for 10 speed and even if you go with a 10 speed cassette, you won't get a ten speed cassette on a seven speed freehub either.

And, not so sure a 10 speed chain will work on a 7 speed crank.

Seriously look into this before buying anything.

rc32

2010 Force calipers are forged differently. Before, the forging was the same as Rival, now it is similar to Red.
But like you said, power and modulation are very close between them.

rc32

Also, Force 2010 has a BB30 crankset option.