SRAM Groupsets advice needed
 

Am currently looking at this two builds, it will be my first SRAM groupset purchase, any advice on the following two builds?

1) Full SRAM Force Groupo
2) SRAM Rival w/ SRAM Red Shifter, Crankset and Ultegra 6700 BB

Will be using Jagwire cables for them. I chose to replace 6700BB (an extra of mine) with the SRAM rival BB, heard it isnt that good, is that true?

Is the Red Crankset durable? Looking for durability as well.

SRAM cranksets aren't compatible with Shimano bottom brackets or vice-versa.

I have SRAM Rival on my bike for about 15 months, and so far have had to replace 1 bottom bracket - it was creaking like crazy and neither my mechanic nor I could get it to stop. SRAM replaced it under warranty (not that they're all that expensive). When it's working properly, the SRAM BB seems fine - I can't tell a difference between it and my old Ultegra's BB.

If you have a Shimano crank to go with that Ultegra BB, you could use that on an otherwise SRAM driveline, no problem. Heck, you can even use a Shimano FD with SRAM shifters if you really wanted to.

I haven't used the Red components, so others will have to chime in on that.

JB

FD Red too flexy (titanium), so you have to soft-pedal shifts or get something stiffer. Otherwise, after 14 mos/ 8000 mi use, I really like it. Gore Ride-On cables have been very nice. Yokozuna may be smoother, according to CC. I've installed Nokons , really pretty bead-hardware, smooth-cable-slides, no complaints.

I'd go for Force or Rival without qualm. I just went with Red because I wanted to see if how good the best the new kid on the block had to offer was. ALMOST perfect. 9.6 on a 0-10 scale. Force and Rival should perform similarly, albeit a bit heavier, not enough to be a deal breaker.

Although it is somewhat flexy, it isn't necessarily too flexy. It caused me some problems on my old bike in combination with some other issues, but I've never had any issues on my current bike. Shifts just fine, no soft-pedaling needed.

That said, it's probably not worth the money for the weight savings, and the OP wasn't asking about getting one anyway...

I'm running full Rival on both bikes and the only change I think I'll make is getting Red shifters to have zero loss for the rear.

That seems to be a common price/value tradeoff.

I probably cranked too hard, old-school rider. Or looked at another way, I failed to time my downshift properly. One time I was on a steep climb on the MTB, I nearly went down. Did a major quad strain, at maybe 10 RPMs. I made it to the top, barely. Crap, I'm not that weak, am I? Looking down, I was on the big ring. Nooo!

Regardless, nobody said anything about getting a Red FD.

umd, good point. But often people start with some idea, like OP's Rival/Red/6700 combo, and they start looking at the price on a specific package, and prices for alternatives. Suppose somebody offered to throw in a Red FD. Looks good at first glance, right? It can happen that a package with "something better", according to list price, which really isn't necessarily better, is offered.

OP is looking at a certain package. But are you sure he won't then look at some alternative options? A lot of people would, especially people who are looking at odd gruppo combos--they're not looking for std packages.

Don't really care. Your only input in the thread had nothing to do with the question being asked. Have a nice day :)

Of these, I'd go with option 2. In practice, my bikes are either full-Rival or full-Red, but I were piecing something together now, I would consider a mix of the two. I have no use for force parts. The price/performance ratio isn't there for me. The only exception might be if I wanted a carbon crank but didn't want to pay for Red.

If long-term costs matter to you, look into the cost of Ultegra chainrings. They will run you more than other options, and the crank won't look right if you were to use an off-brand.

Look to the future. If you can see youself upgrading later, go option #2 but with a Rival/Force BB for $30.

The reason I say this is that if you think you'll be 100% happy on Force, get all Force. If you think you'll want the zero loss in the rear, get the Red shifters and you can always upgrade the RD from someone else's new take-off later.

Just go with the Full Force group. It's very nice, inexpensive, and you won't miss the zero loss in the right shifter. The Force cranks are pretty nice too. The overall look of the group is great as well.... something about a complete group looks good on a bike.

What do you gain by going with full force over full rival, other than the very small weight savings? IIRC, the only functional difference in SRAM's line is zero loss on the rear with Red.

I think the Force brakes have a better feel than Rival, the cranks are nicer and a fair bit lighter, and the unified color/graphics are a nice touch as well. Plus it is still affordable. I personally like the finish of the Force parts better than Rival (I own bikes with both) and the weight savings while small, is still nice. The tolerances in my Force shifters are tighter than my Rival shifters as well. They honestly feel as good as the Red shifters I have in use. The zero loss for the RD is really overrated ATMO. The difference between the feel of the 2010 Force and Red is VERY minimal.

I'd go with (and personally use) Shimano cassettes and chains with my Sram groups.