SRAM's equivalent to 105 is Rival. There are many pretentious people out there that want to make SRAM out to be "The Holy Grail"- just like many Campy people try to say that Chorus is really Campy's equivalent to Dura Ace. Total crock! Rival isn't any better than 105. When you weigh the pros and cons, it's like many have said here: It's a matter of preference. Anyway, I personally prefer Shimano- especially the 6600/6603 and 7800/7803 because I do have big hands and I don't like how much effort it takes to shift SRAM. The right shifter is crazy fast but the left takes a bit more work to shift the front derailleur with the SRAM. To me, that's a judge of which is better. A rear derailleur might be used more frequently but the front takes more abuse when shifting. I want it to be as close to effortless as possible. SRAM doesn't cut it in that realm IMO. Never experienced that with Campy nor Shimano. Campy, is really smooth but again, the shifters are too small for me (Likewise 6700/7900 shifters are as well). Also, I used to own a SRAM Force bike a few years ago. I would break teeth on the crank. I bet that while Shimano weighs more, it will prove itself in the long run to be more durable (not by much but SRAM is lighter than Shimano- but not by much). I'm a Clyde. Durability outweighs everything else IMO. Then again, if I had money to burn, it wouldn't matter.