Trekaholic

Anyone out there care to offer some thought based on experience riding with the new SRAM Force groupo? The tech lit seems to point toward SRAM giving Shimano and Campy a serious challenge.

ravenmore

I haven't ridden it yet, but their mountain bike stuff kicks shimano butt. I would not be suprised at all if their road stuff is the shiznit.

TehArrow

yes, i tested it while i was on a tiagra equipped bike and noticed a huge improvement. i understood the shifting mechanism pretty well, the clicks were very well defined. i didnt like how the brakes felt from the hoods though.

Now i own duraace. compared to the sram stuff i would have to say the duraace is much better.

fore

I did some work for SRAM and got to race on the Force group not too long ago. I like it. A lot. I've ridden enough DA and Record (through my primary job) to supply damn near every ProTour team there is and I can say I like the new SRAM stuff above the others.

brianallan

i can't imagine anything being better than record !

fore

Record is a great group, i'm not knocking it by any means. So is Dura-Ace. They each have their strengths and weaknesses. So does Force, it just happens to be that I think it's weaknesses are less significant than the other two.

A lot of people like Record because it's Campy. And that's their only justification. "Look at it! It's so pretty!"

And that's fine. I like Record for it's looks too. I like how it works, I like that the parts are rebuildable. I don't like the feel of the hoods. I don't like Campy bottom brackets. I'm not a fan of square-taper anymore either.

I like Dura-Ace because it's less finnicky than Record. I like the feel of the hoods, I like the splined bottom bracket system. I don't like that I can't repair a broken shifter. I like loose-ball hubs.

I love Force because of Double Tap. I like Force because of the new front derailler actuation ratio. I don't like it because I'm stuck using their front derailler. I tend not to like the Giga X Pipe bottom bracket. I love the minimalist engineering inside the shifters and that I can take one apart and have it back together again in under 15 minutes.

Every group has it's pros and cons. Most people are just too pigheaded to accept that a groupset other than their personal favorite may do some things better.

zero

our team is getting SRAM equipped bikes next year. I'm pretty excited to try the stuff out.

pinky

Not a fan of the front derailler adjustment (or lack thereof). Rear derailler, downshifting feels quite solid "campy-like" up-shifting felt a little softer. Not a fan of the double tap motion, doesn't engage quick enough on the upshift for my liking (its slight but it was noticable).
Very impressed with the ergonomics, and servicability (watching a wrench pull one apart and rebuild it in all of 5 minutes was pretty cool).

shawnj73

I am going to build my new bike with SRAM next year. I am currently riding Shimano on my road bike and SRAM on my mountain bike. I was stoked to hear that they were putting out a road line. Some riders from Team CSC were testing SRAM group in training rides last year. I have only read good things about there new group. I also know that my XO mountain Bike Group kicks a-- over XTR; which I road for years.

Gustav

Yep. See this thread: https://69.16.211.161/showthread.php?t=206702

BigFloppyLlama

No, but I ordered a rival group anyways, for the price I have nothing to lose Hopefully I'll have it in a month or so.

ravenmore

- Great post.

chrisvu05

Here's my post from the 21st when I rode it on a Sienna Litespeed.

"My LBS in Nashville had a Litespeed Sienna built up with the New SRAM grouppo this afternoon. I took it for a spin and here are my observations.

First Thoughts: I'm a campy guy so the SRAM stuff looked kinda like a cross between campy and shimano. Kinda clunky looking not as elegant as campy in appearance.

Pre-ride thoughts: I had read about the shifting mechanism and thought that the one direction shifting would cause troubles (ie shifts in the wrong direction) but this was not the case.

Ride thoughts: It would take me a while to get used to the technique but there is no way you are going to shift in the wrong direction. The movements are far enough apart that it would be nearly impossible. One thing i noticed was that I was having trouble just shifting one cog at a time when I wanted to go into a larger cog. But this could be attributed to the technique. Another thing I noticed was there didn't seem to be an ability to trim the front derailleur so the derailleur has to be spot on. The shifting however was precise and very fast. I'm riding on Centaur right now and although the shifting is precise there is a bit of a delay between releasing the lever and the shift. However, the SRAM stuff is done shifting as soon as you release the lever. This is what I'd expect though since it is supposed to be competitive with Record and Dura-Ace.

After ride thoughts: The SRAM stuff was nice but personally I don't like the appearance. It shifted well and will be competitive with both Dura-Ace and Record. The brifters were a little large for my hands but not as large as shimano.

Would I buy it if i had the money? : Nope, I think i'd go with record. The SRAM stuff is okay but record has both the function and the form."

donrhummy

It'll take a bit of time, but if the SRAM groupo's are a good alternative to Shimano and Campy, it could mean the best outcome of all: true competition and (hopefully) lower prices! (OK, in the bike world that's probably not going to happen, but I can wish for it can't I?)

dutret

Is this really true?

fore

The way the front derailler is designed there's no need for a trim. If it's setup properly you can ride the big-big combo without any chain rub. I spoke with the product manager responsible for this whole thing and he told me they spent almost as much time designing the front derailler (which is usually relatively simple) as they did the rear (which is a lot more complex).

brianallan

I think you're going to SRAM on a lot - a lot of road bikes in the upcoming years. They're offering it at a much cheaper cost to manufacturers. Would you take the bike for $800 less with SRAM Force, or would you spend the extra money on DA or Record, which weighs the same and works the same. (Although I can't tell a difference between Ultegra and DA / Chorus vs Record).

Fox Farm

The point being made about how it shifts when you hit the lever and no delay is good. I love my Campy because it shifts when you ask it to, not when you then do the second step in releasing the lever as in Shimano. Ultimately, you get use to or accustomed to what ever it is that you are using and anything new feels very different.

I would probably be hard pressed to come up with a good reason to swap out a current system for the SRAM. And, I am close friends with the father of one of the senior engineers for Tru Vativ / SRAM. I like their stuff on my Tomac mountain bike much more than Shimano, but I don't think that my Record stuff will be relegated to second place. All this being said, I am thrilled that there is an American company who have finally come up with a real contender alternative to the two main mainufactures of road groups. 20 or more years ago, there were 4 or 5 different groups to choose from, and with frictions down tube shifters, 6 speed freewheels, and standard 42 52 crank sets, it just wasn't a big deal.

ElJamoquio

Huh? $800 difference between Force and DA? Unless Force is free...

ElJamoquio

I just built the kit at probikekit.com, and it was actually $990. So I guess Force could still cost $199, assuming probikekit basically runs their operation for free.

chrisvu05

nope...the reason I noticed that it couldn't trim was because I was getting chain rub on the smaller chain ring. And from some of the prices I saw, it was going to be more expensive than Record. I think the brifters were about $80 more than Record

goldbam

Very very very very well put.

Gustav

There was an article yesterday (7/27/06) by one of the VoloNews Tech writers on his first ride on the SRAM group, with photos: https://www.velonews.com/tech/report/...s/10581.0.html