Originally Posted by
Jrasero
I think Rival AXS hands down is the best entry level 12 speed electronic shifting groupset period but like you alluded to it weighs a ton. I have fully invested and gone AXS eTap on both my bikes but to be honest the 11 Speed Ultegra that I had on my previous Canyon Ultimate CF SL 8.0 was pretty darn good and I got that bike back in 2020 for $2800 and with a set of Hunt carbon wheels the bike weighed like 16lbs flat.
In 2022 I bought my first aero bike and it also was my first 12 speed electronic shifting bike in a Scott Foil RC 20 and I had the same reaction as you and I asked did I make a big mistake buying this bike? Coming from lighter race bike the Foil felt really heavy (18.2lbs), didn't spin up as fast, didn't maintain speed as well, and didn't handle as well. I thought about selling it but then realized some of this was just the adjustment of going to an aero bike that inherently is always heavier due to the chunkier tubes but also because the deeper wheels and the really heavy groupset. I thought about selling the bike and just getting a lightweight bike again but I doubled down and started upgrading parts in a much lighter and wider staggered mid depth wheelset, lighter cranks, lighter cassette, and cutting weight in other places. The bike w/o pedals and mounts is closer to 16.65lbs which is a lot more manageable. The Foil still isn't as flickable or lively as my previous Ultimate but getting it up to speed and maintaining speed is a lot easier.
This is a long way and anecdotal way of saying while Rival is an awesome entry level 12 speed electronic groupset, it's weight really sucks and IMO if you are looking SRAM at least go Force if not Red for some parts or just payup and get the better complete bike.
My understanding is that while the previous version of Force AXS was one level up in the chain, it really wasn't any lighter than Rival AXS, and that the only major difference in weight came from the crankset. When my friend was asking for drivetrain recommendations, I suggested that Rival + Force crank got just about all of the benefits of Force, at a lower cost than all of Force. By the time he was finished waffling, Shimano had come out with 12-sp Ultegra, so went with that instead...
I've almost always been able to get my bike shifting seamlessly using cables, so I don't personally see a need to go electronic. I also like the satisfaction of knowing that I was able to get that proper 'kerthunk' between gears on my own, and that I'm not relying on electronics to do that. My one grumble is that it doesn't appear that Shimano will likely release an upper-echelon, mechanical, 12-speed system - not that I need 12-speeds, but they finally have cassette gearing that doesn't skip the 14T and 16T gears, unlike almost all of the 11-speed cassettes. Which gets us back to the original premise here- I don't need electronic shifting, and don't really want to pay significantly more for displeasure...