Originally Posted by
900aero
Interesting that 105 and Apex are now considered competitors - it used to be that we compared 105 and Rival. Rival has always been (and arguably still is) a little nicer than 105 to me.
Or is it that SRAMs range kind of straddles Shimano's and there is no real, direct comparison?
FWIW - I like and use SRAM.
The way I have seen it ranked usually is Apex --> 105 5700 --> Rival. So they don't quite match up. I liked 105 and Rival but I didn't like the color schemes available for my bike equiped with Rival. Went with 105 and it was smooth testing and now it's even smoother. The Rival was nice but I prefer the 105 brifters now. Next group upgrade I do is electronic so I will ride the 105 until the tech trickles down.