benajah

I am getting shopping around for a new group for my bike and am seriously considering SRAM red or force. Seeing as how light it is, and how much cheaper it seems to be, does anyone out there have enough time/miles on SRAM to be able to attest to its durability?

crhilton

Bump, I'd also appreciate any notes on rival.

roy5000x2

All three groupsets are very durable. The red powerdome 1090 cassette will last longer than the 1070 cassette. Can't remember off the top of my head which chain rings last the longest. SRAM's 1050, 1070, and 1090 chains are really good, but a lot of people choose KMC chains to quiet up their drivetrain.

This is my second year using rival, and first year using force. A bunch of guys I know that race road cat 2/3 and cross at all levels have been using SRAM for 4 years or so by now. They all love it, and some of them haven't had to swap any parts due to wear (not including cassette, chain, and chain rings).

crhilton

I did hear, on another forum, that rival chainrings wear quickly. Everyone said "replace then with stronglite!" I think it was weight weenies.

The powerdome should last, it's a steel cassette.

Da Tinker

Got 3 1/2 years on my SRAM Force set & have only changed out chains. Still works very well.

umd

It's been generally fine for me, certainly much better than my experiences with 9 speed shimano. Over the last several years, over 50,000 miles, I had an issue with my force rear shifter where it would shift, but the paddle would hot return on it's own, and I blew up an RD. Another RD broke the spring but I had crashed it. Other than the broken spring, SRAM replaces the parts no questions asked. I've seen a few Force shifters break the shift paddle but have no had that happen myself. Nothing is perfect but overall I rate the stuff as very durable.

benajah

I have heard that they still have great customer service. Years ago when I raced MTB I used a lot of SRAM stuff and liked it plenty, but have no experience with the road bike line.

patentcad

When I go over to SRAM, will the Holy Order of the Sisters of Dura Achee put a contract out on me?

sstorkel

I have been stunningly unimpressed with SRAM's customer service. I won't say it's the worst in the business... but my experience dealing with them makes me hesitate every time I think about buying anything from SRAM, RockShox, or Avid.

Luckily, I haven't had any problems with my SRAM Red components. Red chainrings seemed to wear faster than my Ultegra chainrings, but that's about all I can say.

kindablue

Make the leap... its the only way to get your addict lighter...

patentcad

I'll either go D.A. 7900 or Red sometime over the next year. I think I'm ready to try Red. We'll see. They make an adapter kit to get the Sram crank to work with that proprietary Scott/Shimano BB now.

How come I get the feeling I'll did the 6700 Ultegra stuff so much I'll just leave it on there?

neospazzy

Hey Pcad, I thought you had the DA 7900 on your Cervelo? Something happen while I was away from BF this winter?

patentcad

I'm getting a Scott Addict R2 over the next two weeks (to replace the 4+ year old Six13). Budgetary restraints (and color preference) led me to the model with Ultegra. But it's such a light frame I may upgrade the parts next year.

patentcad

I really do like the D.A. 7900 now, the more I ride it the more I like it. Changed over to the new chain with the traditional pin link (instead of that magic link chain that really didn't work, Shimano discontinued it) and now it's fantastic. I hear the 6700 shifts even better, great brakes. I greatly prefer the aesthetics of the Shimano gear to the Sram, but that's very subjective.

I've read too much positive stuff about Sram from the BFers I respect to doubt it any longer.

fosmith

i've used the same force groupset since 2007 with no issues at all. its been on 4 different frames and i've only replaced the chain, cogs and brakepads.

JonnyV

After hearing all the positive things on here about the SRAM Red, I ordered my group yesterday. Most of it will arrive today, the rest tomorrow. I'm really excited to get it on the bike, upgrading from 6600 Ultegra which as served me very well but I'm excited to lighten the bike up a bit.

StanSeven

Unless you're getting the very bottom end of any manufacturer, a group usually lasts longer than you care.

logdrum

My Rival has lasted 12K miles in 2 years and I am hardly OCP about lubing and cleaning. I have used 2 cassettes and 3 chains in that period but my chainring still looks good. The occasional small to big chainring issues come up once in about 10 rides. My Red group has about 2K miles and shifts flawlessly and had not been adjusted since I got the bike.

intence

I have relatively low mileage Rival that I crashed. Tops of the shifters had a sizeable piece of material shaved off. Surprisingly the shifters have continued to perform flawlessly. For the price/performance/weight ration i've been *VERY* impressed.

Shimano has made things too confusing with certain things which are compatible and others which are not, and their weirdo pricing. Super high initially, and now we see heavy price drops at Performance/Nashbar etc. SRAM's pricing also seems to fluctuate less.

PCad, I saw the thread about having your Six13 sold, but didn't see the replacement. That Scott looks very clean with 6700 Ultegra.

umd

wut

FallsApart

I ride Force, and my dad in Maryland rides a Cervelo with Red, and within the first two hundred miles we've both seen some wear on the chainring teeth. I'll probably replace eventually, but after around 400 miles, everything is looking fine (other than a few worn teeth) and it's shifting beautifully and quietly.

Any thoughts on what Chainrings to replace them with?

umd

Wear on the teeth in 200 miles? You are either doing something drastically wrong, you have a funny idea of what constitutes wear, or you don't realize that theeth aren't all exactly the same to begin with.

roadiejorge 

I've really liked Rival so far and the only issue I had was with the chain, other than that it shifts fine once you get used to the double-tap system.

intence

I meant ratio

umd