Originally Posted by
bobonker
As you can see from the chart, one of the areas that SRAM is a lot lighter is the shifter. If you hold one in your hand, you can see why. The Shimano shifter feels (and is) much more substantial. Personally, I like this. The SRAM shifters feels small and cheap to me. I ran Force for a year and the deal breaker was the shifters. I just couldn't get used to them. The substantial bump in the front of the Shimano shifter (and more so on Campy) makes my hand feel very secure.
To each his own.
Bob
+ 1 on the to each his own, all of the groups listed for both companies are excellent, and it's really just a matter of personal preference, including feel and function, weight, cost, etc. It's funny though because the issue of feel - for me - is that the Red shifters I have feel equally or even more substantial than the Ultegra shifters I have on my other bike. I never hefted them in hand, but that's not a factor in how they feel to the hand on the bike. I like the shifting mechanism of both just fine. The hoods/shape of the Sram fit my hand better - I'm one who actually didn't like the large-ish bump on the Shimano. Not a big deal, I can be comfortable on either, just a preference.
Actually, to the above list, I'd add Apex (Sram) and Tiagra (Shimano). Both "low end" groups, but both exceedinly high functioning and more than enough for virtually any rider who is honest with him/her self.