Actually, this could be called Sram vs. Shimano. It's not really a "what's better" question either.

I know that the Rival left shifter has a pretty long throw. Does the Rival front derailleur have some sort of mechanism or angle to it that makes it engage faster? I know that the Dura Ace/Shimano front der. will work, but will it make for a longer throw?

Thanks in advance.

The throw of the shifter does not affect the derailer movement. The cable pull is the same.

Edit: and you know they shortened it for 2009, right?

Hey UMD, thanks for the response. I know what you're saying with that statement, and you're right - but only to a degree (I think). Yes, the derailleur's movement is the same no matter what you do; but, if you moved the cable anchor bolt further away from the pivot point, the throw would be longer and easier at the shifter. I may be wrong about that, so correct me if I am. I figure that there is a tradeoff in there that all manufacturers have to contemplate - did Shimano and Sram pick the same distance?

(UMD, IIRC, you have wrist issues- did you ever try a Shimano front der?)

Yeah, but I thought they only used the zero-loss technology on the right shifter with the Rival/Force stuff, not the left. Did they apply it to the whole line?

Thanks again. - b.

The movement of the derailer and the arc of the shifter are independent. A certain amount of cable has to be pulled to make the derailer shift. But the shifter is indexed, and regardless of the amount of lever arc movement, both SRAM and Shimano both move the same amount of cable from one index position to the next, even though they don't have the same amount of lever arc. The "zero loss" was added for the front, not the rear.

I don't have any wrist issues, but what I do have is a circulation dissorder (Raynaud's) that causes me some difficulty in colder temps, such that I have trouble feeling the lever and my fingers would slip off of them over the long throw of the older Force levers, but with the shorter throw of the Red levers it is not an issue (and would be the same for the new Rival/Force).

Hey pal. Thanks for the help.

I'm not sure I completely agree with the lever arc/cable pull, but I'm stubborn and not the sharpest tool in the shed, so maybe I just need to see it for myself.

Separately, do the highlighted portions above conflict? If the zero loss wasn't added to the front shifter, how can the Red and Rival/Force groups be the same throw-wise?

My apologies for dragging this out, I'm just trying to understand. Thanks much.

Whoops! I just re-read what you wrote. I had it backwards! My bad. I had the front/rear confused. You were NOT conflicting! lol..

I guess I'm not seeing where the confusion is coming in. The FD needs a certain amount of cable pull to shift and doesn't care how it gets it. The Shimano, 2008 Rival, and 2009 Rival shifters all pull the same amount of cable for one shift, but have different amount of lever movement for the same cable pull.

It's like it's how it's geared inside. Think of the drivetrain of a bike. Which ring you are in will affect how much chain gets pulled by one crank revolution, but given the same cog, the amount of wheel movement will be the same for a given amount of chain regardless of how much the crank has to move.