fetzer

For those of you that have used the new Apex group I would appreciate your commenets as to your experience with it. I am about to buy a new bike and I am trying to decide if I should go with Apex, or the more proven Rival. I have heard mostly good things about Apex, but there are some so-so reviews concerning the cables. I want to know if the price difference is worth it. Thanks

rschmidt

I have apex on my 2011 allez comp and I love it. The only thing you will gain by getting rival is lighter parts. I don't use the 11-32 cassette that typically comes on the apex group, and I have a modified compact with a 52-36 so I guess my apex group is maybe different than the stereotypical apex group. If you are concerned about the cables than you can just swap out the cables with ones that you think are superior. The nice thing about SRAM is that you can easily upgrade to rival or force at anytime because they all have the same internal mechanisms

fetzer

Your thoughs are pretty much in line with what I have heard from my local LBS. When I tested Apex and Rival I could not tell the difference, but I have been a little hesitant due to the fact that this is the first year on the market. Thanks for your input.

echotraveler

I got apex on a roubaix sl2. Its pretty standard, loud gear change, i dont understamd about the cabpe problem, mostly you just need to be vigilant of lubing tensioning cleaning. My lbs doesn't set my gears because there's no need. That said i can only compare to 105. my friend is a great rider he usrs 2011 105 and it performs but it seems that without cate it misshiftes a lot... I beleve both apex and 105 are similar it depends on you taking care of your stuff.

My mechanic believes mostly a crash will detuned modern quality groups. I believe him.

Thqt said rival seems a step further on weight. Think about the frame and price.

Muffin Man

wtf why are apex shifters more than rival shifters on ebay :l

pbd

I've noticed that too, on Amazon as well.

Rival: $290
Apex: $332

ThinLine

I think SRAM is trying to create a model lineup similar to Campy and Shimano with good (Apex, Tiagra), better (Rival, 105), better yet (Force, Ultegra), Best (Red, Dura Ace).

uciflylow

I just bought a new bike with SRAM Apex and I love it! It eats my 1999 Shimano 105 9spd. tripple for lunch! As far as cabels go, I think it's amazing that shifters where everything goes out the back and down the bars shift as good as they do! I would have NO problems buying it again!

ThinLine

Extra cost is due to the reach adjust feature of both shifter and lever on Apex.

Inertianinja

I've owned Rival, Force and Red, and I've ridden Apex.

they all work well. the biggest difference comes with Red shifters (also, red comes with Gore Ride-on cables). The Zero-Loss shifting is really night-and-day compared to the others.

obviously i prefer SRAM to Shimano, and all the SRAM groups work the same, so there's no point in going into that.

Adrianinkc

Apex is great stuff no where near tiagra IMHO.

Jeepnut22 

Wife has Apex on her Ruby. Weight really is the biggest difference. I upped her cranks to Force cranks and dropped over 1/2 a pound. Heavy damn BB...

Wardj

SRAM Apex does what its supposed to do with no issues. I like the 11-32 personally

Grasschopper

That wasn't even an Apex crankvset on the Ruby...my wife also has the Ruby with Apex...I just ordered her the Rival crank and yea...much lighter than that stock crank.

I also (and my wife for sure) like the 11-32...I wish Campy made a cassette with a 32 (I have the 13-29 now and at times wish I had another gear). I've been thinking of switching to SRAM but I don't know which level of components to buy. The Red shifters are worth getting (so they say) many go with the Force FD because it is stiffer but the highest level with a medium cage RD is Rival. I'm too into the aesthetics to mix all of these

Inertianinja

yea, once you realize that 1lb is about 450g, you start to see how group upgrades can really shed weight.

Jeepnut22 

Got my wife's Ruby, a 51, down to 18.16 lbs. My weight weenie attempts have moved to her bike. Goal, under 18, so I could slap on a Force FD and call it. Maybe carbon bars and a lighter seat post...

And on and on and on and on...

Jeepnut22 

Oh, and she loves the Apex. Moved from a triple and doesn't miss it one bit...

ErichM

What's the deal with the 11-32 casette anyway? Bought my wife a Specialized a couple months ago with Apex. I can see how some people would need that kind of range, but why it's the default is a bit curious.

canam73

The BB? An apex BB is 115g. How much did you save there?

BarracksSi

Probably to give Apex another selling point -- which I think Sram needs to do to sell it since it's always seemed like first-gen Rival anyway (remember, Rival used to have alloy levers when it first came out).

pbd

Que?

My Rival shifters allow me to adjust the reach of both the shift and brake levers just fine. Everything I've read says they're functionally identical, with Rival simply being lighter.

ErichM

Doesn't seem like that should be a selling point, unless of course you do a lot of mountain cycling.

revchuck 

SRAM offers about ten different Apex cassettes, including the most common combinations. If I were going to go the granny gear route, I'd get a 12-32 instead of the 11-32. From Competitive Cyclist's website:

The 12/32 includes: 12,13,14,15,17,19,22,25,28,32
The 11/32 includes: 11,12,14,16,18,20,22,25,28,32

I only looked into this because of a ride I'm considering doing again that has a long 12% grade (at 65 miles) and multiple shorter 18% grades (at 85 miles), all on gravel. I'll be 60 when it comes around again, and I'll need all the help I can get to achieve my goal - not walking the hills. Sometimes HTFU isn't an operable concept.

Jeepnut22 

Moving from the Apex cranks and the weird BB that came with it (spindle type) to a GXP BB and Force cranks shaved off 1/2 lb. alone. Holding he cranks didn't seem like the difference was much, but the BBs were vastly different. Didn't weigh them separately, just the bike before and after the install.

ErichM

I realize they offer more than one casette, my comment was more on how all the lower end Specialized bikes at the shop seemed to have the 11-32, I thought it was a bit odd.

I wanted to switch to a 12-25 for my bike anyway, so I bought a new casette and gave my wife my old (but still pretty new) 11-27 (Shimano 105).