Component choice
 

So my new Gran Crit comes with SRAM Rival off the shelf, but I'm thinking about swapping them out for full Ultegra. Is this a good or bad idea? I have ridden both and like the way Ultegra shifts a little better, but I'm sure I'd have no problem getting used to the SRAM.

I actually quite like the feel of SRAM, although I've only tried it on test rides. Given that you already have the bike, I'd use it for a while and not waste money/energy doing the transfer unless you find that it really bugs you.

Stick with SRAM, unless you want to sell it to me cheap. SRAM has no obvious downfalls to Shimano that I know of.

I don't have it yet.

I think that is a good idea, because I like shimano. I am not a huge fan of the double tap, although I think its a good idea. People say that rival is on par with ultegra, but I don't know.

Thanks for the input folks.

SRAM is the way to go dude...... I would stay with it. If you want to move to anything I would personally only consider a move to Force or Red. Right now, the other groupsets are inferior IMHO.

Just out of curiosity, why would you buy a bike that is equipped with parts you don't like?

Rival is lighter than ultegra.

I'm not, I'm sticking with Rival. :D

Stick with SRAM. No reason to swap until it's all broken.

sram red...please see my sig.

HA! I think Reds a little out of range for me right now, but thanks. :D

Can someone summarize the differences in feel between Shimano & Sram for me?

I prefer the Sram over Shimano on mtb stuff, but am looking at buying a road bike. I'll be in the Ultegra or Rival price range. I currently have a cross bike with 105 & Tiagra stuff & it's okay....

Many thanks in advance....

If you would change anything...get an Ultegra FD (for trim) and crank, other than that, keep everything else Rival.

WWW.Testrider.com did a review of SRAM force.

I'm in the same situation as the OP. Tomorrow I'm putting money down on a 2008 Specialized Tarmac Expert. They make 3 different models of the bike.

1. Full Ultegra w/ Dura Ace rear der.
2. Full SRAM Rival with Force rear der.
2. Full Ultegra w/ Dura Ace rear der. but with a compact crank. First 2 have double standards.

It's going to be my first road bike so I'm not used to anything. Haven't heard any absolute horror stories with SRAM so I'm thinking I'll give them a shot. I just know it's a win-win either way I go.

thats not very nice of them.

There's also a review of Rival on that site as well.

Switch it out for campy. You will be happy! :)

How will switching FD gain him trim?

The trim is in the levers not the derailleur.

I had a LBS fellow tell me that SRAM makes more sense because the brifters on the SRAM are rebuildable. Shimano has >60 parts vs. 14 in SRAM. I had an Ultegra right brifter go bad and had to be replaced.

Whether the SRAM is actually better or not, I do not know. The bikes I test rode with rival worked well and I have ordered Force on my RT700. I test rode some campy stuff (veloce/chorus) and I never adjusted to the thumb shifters after 30 minutes. I understood and got SRAM in 2 minutes. I have been underwhelmed with DA hence the Force order.