What's a Clyde worthy SRAM groupset?
 

So with Shimano, I've heard that Clydes shouldn't go Dura Ace as the lighter parts might not fare well under Clyde weights. And that Ultegra is the top of the Shimano mountain for Clydes.

Is the same true of SRAM? Should Clydes not go Red? Stick with Force?

I fail to see how the cyclist's weight has any bearing on the componentry.

I have Red on my main ride, personally. Works great.

What weight and how many miles on it?

I think its more about how much power you can apply through the component. Years ago when I was mtn biking a lot I was putting in the top-o-the-line bottom brackets, and I kept breaking them. When I dropped down a level or two they used heavier, and stronger parts, so I stopped breaking them.

these days that may no longer be true, and some components like a derailleur should not see a force load anyway, so for those it shouldn't matter.

I've been as high as 245 and as low as 211 and I think I have about 8,000 miles on some of the components (shifters, brakes). I've replaced the crank twice and both derailleurs but not for performance reasons. Went from a standard to a compact to a power meter crank, and the FD needed swapping when I got a braze on frame, and I got the wifli RD to tackle some particularly ornery hills near me. I still have the older parts - they're perfectly functional.

One thing I'd steer clear of is the supposed top of the line BB - ceramic bearings in a BB are a complete waste of time, and SRAM says you need to clean them every couple hundred miles. Um, no thanks.

DA9000/DA9070 on three different bikes, well over 6000 miles and I was north of 295 for about 1/3 of that. Zero issues.

I have Rival22 on my cross bike, and Force22 on my road bike. Both are great groupsets, and I haven't had any issues with either.

Force on my CX and mixed Force/red for the roadie. A bit easier to replace if gravity doesn't like me, or someone else....

Apex and Rival are both great group sets at the lower price levels. Not "low price" really, but you'll find them
in sub-$2000 bikes...

Cool, thanks for the info. I recently got a used bike that had 5-year old Rival/Force setup and I dig it. When I replace those components, I intend to go SRAM. Just wasn't sure if Force or Red.

Maybe the alleged wireless electronic shifting SRAM will be out by then.

After many years of riding SRAM I recently switched back to Shimano (DA 9000). It took me about 5-6 rides to completely retrain my brain to use the DA shifters properly. I kept trying to use the inside lever to shift both up and down. Didn't work so well. ;) I am starting a tour tomorrow on my LHT. When I return home and jump on the road bike for the first time I will probably reach down for the non-existent bar end shifters.

I'd probably go Force just for cost saving reasons. The reason I picked Red shifters the first time I built my bike up back in 09 or whatever it was... maybe 10, anyway, I got all Force but put Red shifters on because only Red had zero loss shifting on both sides. I believe Force has it as well now. Anyway, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between the two IMO.

It took me a YEAR to stop downshifting my SRAM drive train (when I wanted to upshift) after being on Ultegra forever. We had loaner bikes on our recent trip to Italy (Ultegra triples) and I think I mis-shifted once or twice in 200 miles, so not bad. It was nice to get back to my SRAM levers though. I guess I just like the positive mechanical feel - the ultegra shifters felt mushy to me and I missed that loud *BAM* when I shifted. :)

Oh, and I really enjoy being able to shift while braking. I guess I do that a lot more than I thought.