I recently switched from Shimano to Sram.

Although Sram is by far best component group for the money (shifting and weight), I really do miss Shimano a lot. Some might disagree with me but, I think Shimano shifts are faster and lighter and effortless. I remember my old Ultegra shifting up and down with no effort what so ever with instant speed. Call me old school but I also liked the fact that there is two different levers for two different functions. Although I believe I made a quite a successful transition to Sram, but I seldom shift down rather than up, because I don't move the lever far enough. It is completely my fault not shifting right, but that wouldn't have happened if that was Shimano.

:lol:

Hey guys, I wanted to know if a Sram Red Crankset (with BB) is compatible with an Ultegra 6600 groupset? Thanks.

yes.

Thanks Yaniel!

Prolly:mad:?

OK, I gave it the benefit of the doubt and spent the last hour replacing the shifter cable with a high-quality housing and inner wire. It's the same as before - NO improvement. This annoys me and solidifies my position in favor of Shimano.

If I were in charge of marketing at SRAM I would introduce, for 2011 or 2012, a "classic" (or pick another term) shifter mechanism along with their standard shifter mechanism, as an option. Market it as the same great engineering and quality, except with a more Shimano-style shifting mechanism. Then after a year or two when EVERYONE wants the "classic" mechanism they can say due to popular demand, that's all they offer.

I have used Rival on 2 bikes, Apex on another, and Red on another. All shifted great.

I have a feeling that it wouldn't fly for two reasons. One, I suspect that every shifter system is patented (Shimano, Campy, Sram, and Microshift are all different), although I don't know for sure. Two, why would anyone buy Sram's "classic" system when Shimano's been doing it longer and would be "the real thing"?

and the majority of the people that go with sram do it because they DON'T want shimano style "shifter mechanisms"

Shimano is better and everyone who disagrees is stupid.


Only kidding.


Mostly.

Yup.

I'll have to try out Sram again before I seriously consider switching from my 7800 shifters. They're about as good as Shimano will get without going to Di2, so it'll just be a matter of style preference.

I asked a racer friend if it would be a good idea for me to switch, and he says, "Sure, why not? If it freshens things up and makes cycling more fun, there's no reason not to do it. Sram's good stuff anyway; I've been using it the past few years."

About to pull the trigger on a new groupo. I need some help from the bikeforums before I take the plunge.

Its between SRAM Red and Dura ace 7900. It appears I can get a full 8 pc. Red group for $1300-$1400 on eBay and Dura ace 7900 for $1400-$1500. Are these the best prices around? If I could find either one for significantly cheaper that would make my decision a bit easier.

Im leaning towards Dura ace for the following reasons:
-Red hasn't been updated since 2007? I'm not positive this is true but since SRAM doesn't label the different iterations of their groupos its hard for me to know if I'm even getting the newest stuff.
-Read about tons of annoying problems with SRAM Red (loud casette, F.D. doesn't work well) I've also read that these issues may have been fixed(?) again impossible for me to know for sure as AFAIK SRAM doesn't label the different iterations of their groupos so I have no idea when/if they actually have updated anything since they originally introduced the groupset in 2008. If anyone can shed some light on the history of SRAM red that would be great.
-Read SRAM takes more effort to shift
-Dura 7900 ace looks better (SRAM red is definitely better looking than 7800)
-Heard dura ace is less "finicky" and easier to setup

Really the only thing I can see Red has going for it is its $100 cheaper and lighter. And some may like the shifting style better (I really need to test ride a bike and see for myself).

Next time use Yokozuna Reaction cables, especially if you have SRAM Red shifters.

Ironically, the most impressive thing about Yokozuna is not the shifting but the brake modulation--there is virtually no friction.

Compare your Yokozuna-kitted SRAM Red groupset next to your friends' Dura-Ace 7900 SIS cables and stock Campagnolo SR11 brake modulation and then get back to us.

- Why update a groupset that just plain works? How can one improve upon virtual mechanical perfection? The only thing I can think of to possibly improve upon is to have the ability to shift into the small ring and the smallest gear in the back while attacking in the TdF.
- Easy fix for this supposed "problem": use a Force FD and a PG-1070 cassette. Don't try so hard.
- Any groupset is easy to set up: read directions, follow directions. It's a bike, not a human brain.

If this is the case I think this is great. One part of the bike industry I dislike is what seems to be the purposeful obsoletion of components.

So SRAM hasn't addressed this issue in newer generations? This is a pretty large inconvenience for me as I'll have to part out the groupo, etc. It kind of confuses me that SRAM can make such an amazing groupset but can't get the FD to work properly? (Being serious/no sarcasm)

Yup, bicycles are indeed very simple.

One of my bikes has a full SRAM Red groupset and I haven't had issues with either the FD or Cassette. I do use a KMC X10-SL, however, on that bike, and paired with Finish Line Pro Road CR Ceramic lube, the drivetrain is very, very quiet. Does this mean everyone else doesn't have problems? No. But this has been my experience relative to others'.

In terms of shifting, compared to Dura-Ace 7800, SRAM Red definitely has a much more mechanical or "clunky" sound to it but so again is 7900 compared to 7800.

I would just try out SRAM at your LBS if you are serious about it because you either will like it or you won't. Subjective opinions are not going to change your own.

No, while there may be some patents on various aspects of the different mechanisms, and while I haven't looked up Shimano patents specifically, there is unlikely to be a patent broadly protecting "big lever shifts one way, small lever shifts the other way." Also, what most of the public doesn't realize is that (1) patents are generally very limited and narrow in scope and (2) they have a finite duration. Chances are, the decision NOT to go with [big lever one way small lever other way] is marketing.

It's not marketing, it's just the design they came up with. The story of how they sketched it out on a napkin at a dinner is well documented. Any other design wouldn't be SRAM.

:lol: "The public"... as if you're on some enlightened pedestal. But you forgot that most of the current patent related litigation right now happens to be over patents that have extraordinarily far-reaching and broad definitions affecting entire industries.

Then, really, they could just as easily choose to copy Campy instead of Shimano (or, heaven forbid, Microshift).

I wouldn't even bother trying to copy other systems if I were them. Like Yaniel said, people have a choice of something different, and that's enough of a market to support them.