I don't have anything to compare SRAM to, but as a newcomer to road bikes I can say it made the transition from MTBing way easy. I'm not always a fan of how far you have push to shift into easier gears, but it's not to the point of irritating either. I would like to try campy, but for the price I'll stick with SRAM. I did try out a bike with Ultegra for a very short demo ride and the shifters felt spongy to me.