kwrides

I have a new 2009 Orbea Orca on the way.

I was planning to run the 2007 Ultegra group with FSA SLK Carbon crank from my previous bike, but I test rode the 2009 SRAM Rival, and I think I want to make the switch.

There is nothing wrong with my 2007 Ultegra, but I prefer the feel of the SRAM hoods and shifting. I thought that I wanted to buy Red, but after digging around, it sounds like the 2009 Rival is so good there isn't a good cost/benefit argument to go to Red.

I'm trying to decide if I should run only Rival Shift/Brake Levers and Rear Derailleur and keep the rest of my current setup, or if I should sell off the whole Ultegra group and go to 100% 2009 Rival. The difference in price between just the levers/derailleur and the whole group is about $250.

Is the Rival Crankset enough of an upgrade over the FSA I already have to justify the difference?

Should I go with just Red Shifters/Rear D for the same price as the whole Rival group?

Other thoughts?

briscoelab

I personally dislike FSA cranks.... so I'd just get the whole group. I think complete groups look great on bikes.

kwrides

I agree, I wouldn't mind losing them, but I also don't want to take a huge step down, hence the question. Believe me when I say there is no love left to be lost between me and FSA...they're the reason I'm buying a new bike in the 1st place, but that's another thread...

FlashBazbo

YES!!!

I have '09 Rival on my cyclocross bike and I made the upgrade from an FSA Gossamer crankset to a SRAM Rival. Shifting is much quicker and smoother with the Rival crankset. Big difference.

kwrides

Thanks for the feedback, but the FSA SLK Carbon crank goes for about twice what the Gossamer does, so I'm not sure if this is a good comparison (like comparing 105 to DA).

briscoelab

It is a good comparison because they use the same crappy chainrings. FSA rings are about the worst ones in the industry. The best FSA rings shift worse than a Tiagra crank. The rings are notorious for being out of true and the shift ramps are just crap. You'll be very pleased with a Rival crankset.

PlatyPius

I like FSA cranks, but they do have issues. I wouldn't really consider the Rival crank to be an upgrade. The Rival crank is on par with the TruVativ Elita crank (SRAM owns TruVativ). Being the odd sort that I am, I would buy the Rival shifters, RD, and FD. Then I would buy Red cranks. (I don't know all of the retail prices, but the Red cranks are cheaper than the Force cranks wholesale...probably because they don't come with a BB) The Red cranks will be on par with your current cranks weight-wise (a little lighter, I think), they look cool, and they have nice rings. Brakes are up to you. You aren't going to see a performance gain from the brakes...Ultegra brakes have a lot of power and good feel. The Rivals DO look better, IMO.

If you wanted to, you COULD get away with using the Ultegra FD. It's only $30 or so though, so why not, I say.

briscoelab

A lot of pros use the Rival cranks instead of the Red because the Rival is stiffer. Also, the Red chainrings aren't the most durable... lots of reported issues from users on those.

Rival cranks are cheap, light, stiff, and shift great.

PlatyPius

Yeah, but the Reds LOOK so cool!

I don't consider the rings to be a pro or con for cranks. Rings are easily replaceable.

Dubbayoo

I had problems with front shifting on '07 Rival/FSA crank. Now with '09 Force/Red crank shifting is WAY better. How much is the crank and how is just better SRAM? No idea but I won't go back to FSA; I mostly liked the looks of it anyway.

grolby

I don't know if they count as "light" by some standards, but they are pretty damn good cranks. They are indeed cheap, stiff, and shift great. And I consider them light, too.

briscoelab

Fair enough. I should have said "light enough"

kwrides

I've actually thought about that. I started thinking I might go full Rival and then sell the shifters and rear D to buy Red, but now I'm also about going full Rival and then selling the crankset and bb to go Red.

bikeM3987

I have an FSA K-force crank and I have never had any problems with it. I got the later, corrected ones without the NDS crank problems.

As long as your bike is well maintained and in tune, I can't imagine that there will be such a huge shift difference between FSA and SRAM. If FSA is good enough for Pro's it is good enough for everyone on this forum.

kwrides

Any opinions on Rival?

btw - I respect your opinion, and mostly agree with you, but don't forget, the pro's ride what they're paid to ride. If you invented a crank and paid a team to use it, they would. That doesn't make it good.

BarracksSi

My example:

My bike has 105 right now, everything but the cassette. If I went to Rival, I'd get the shifters, RD, and FD. The new FD would be partly to match and partly to make the 105 semi-group easier to sell off. I might even get Rival brakes. I'm keeping the Shimano crank, though, because it's so much better than the Truvativ Elita that originally came on the bike, and I don't trust that the construction of the Rival crank is improved over the Elita.

PlatyPius

My main issue with Shimano cranks is that it looks like someone has placed a dead, chromed squid on your bike. I think they're absolutely hideous.

BarracksSi

Yeah, but I can't see it when I'm riding. Besides, if I went solely on looks, I'd go Campy -- the circles and arcs really look nice and classic.

PlatyPius

I agree. Campy has the best looking cranks, IMO. Especially older ones.

john224

Hey guys, I don't post much, but this thread is just about what I was looking for with what I want to do with my upcoming purchase. I have a Tarmac with Ultegra and a FSA SL cranks and in the past year I've gone to three different shops, asked two different friends who always build their own bikes to adjust my FD and RD because I always hated the way it shifted...at first I thought it was me not shifting at the right time or while under load causing the front to take forever to get into the big ring then it was suggested it was just a simple adjustment that was required, but like I said earlier, three shops later...same thing. The RD is a Dura Ace 7800 and that was a simple adjustment which took care of most of the imprecise shifting. The next thing that bothered me was how the cranks seem to have about 30 degrees of freeplay whenever I got out of the saddle...just annoying. I rode a friend's bike which had campy record and I absolutely love it...none of the stuff that bugged me were there. I just can't justify dropping that much money on just components and aesthetically Campy just doesn' do it for me. I rode another bike that had RED all around...and I love it as well, can't tell if its stiffer, or lighter or prettier because I'm on it riding but I can definitely tell it wasn't taking forever shifting into the big ring, and there were no free play in the cranks...so the question is would this work together if I bought the Red shifters, RD and FD and Rival cranks and keep my Ultegra brakes? On Ebay, with a little patience would net around $600 - 700 which would be great since I don't want to spend more than that.
John

kwrides

John, you'll be fine keeping the Ultegra brakes. The only reason I would not do it is because you would have 3 color schemes going on. But, you said you don't care how it looks.

I've been doing a lot of research, and I've seen a lot of complaints about the Red FD. Apparently, because it's titanium, people don't find it to shift as crisp as the Rival FD. Since what you're looking for is crisper shifting, save a little cash and get the Rival FD.

foresthill

I don't believe there's any carbon on the red FD (titanium, I think.) But I have heard of a lot of problems with it. I kept my Force FD when I upgraded the RD and shifters to red, and it's worked very nicely.

Brian_1

The 2009 Sram Rival is the best competition group for the cash that I've seen in my forty years of buying bike parts (assuming one buys at the best available price online). The Shimano Ultegra group on sale use to hold that title. Not anymore. If you're picking one part from the 2009 Rival group, get the shifters (all the bells & whistles of Red shifters w/o the extra expense).

dragonian

I went with the whole Red group on my 2008 Orca. I looked at switching out parts.. but got a good ebay deal on the entire group. Haven't ridden it yet on the road.. but i like it so far on the trainer.

kwrides

I stand corrected, I went back and looked, and you're right, it's Ti.