RoboIsGod

I'm planning on picking up a full Rival group to replace my DA 9/8 speed group. I'm ordering through QBP at a friend's shop and can have the option of swapping parts in/out from other SRAM groups.

What would be the best thing to upgrade in the Rival group? I was thinking of getting Force shifters and Rival everything else? Or maybe Force RD + FD and Rival everything else? I'm trying to do a keep cost as low as possible/bang-for-buck type thing.

Thanks!

xjustice09x

I would get a Force crank. You save 40 grams of rotating weight over rival. By upgrading to Force shifters you only save about 20 grams. If I was upgrading the shifters I would get Red shifters. They have zero loss in the front and rear. Force and rival shifters have zero loss only in the front.

gladiator13

I would go red shifters and the rest rival, then upgrade that as you can/need.

I <3 Robots

Just go with Force cranks...everything else Rival.

RoboIsGod

How much do the Rival and Force derailleurs differ? Would upgrading the shifters see more improvement then upgrading the derailleurs?

Seems like upgrading the cranks is a popular thing to do, are the Force cranks a significant amount stiffer/lighter than the Rival cranks?

GDA

Upgrade any one of these three as it will be where you want to end up anyway

Red shifters
Force crank and FD

Then after those upgrades you can upgrade later for weight savings to Red RD and Powerdome cassette

The pros on Tour run Force cranks and FD since they are stiffer

Jancouver

For me:

Rival shifters
Rival crank 180mm (not available in Red/Force line)
Force brakes
Force FD
Rival RD (medium cage)
SRAM PG1050/1070 11-32 cassette
Shimano Chain

Elvo

Force crank, Red/Kmc chain, Red shifters, rival everything else.

RoboIsGod

Okay thanks everyone, definitely starting to get a good idea of what I should do.

I remember seeing in the QBP book that the Force FD is only $3 more than the Rival FD, I'll probably do that upgrade. I think getting the Force cranks is definitely in order (although I won't be utilizing the BB30), but if I remember correctly the Red shifters were quite a bit more than the Rival shifters, so that may be a deal breaker.

Also, in order to save money would it be logical to just keep my current DA brakes (7700)? I feel like the performance/weight savings from using the Rival brakes would be negligible.

I <3 Robots

The Force and Rival FD's are the same, sans the color. Your not going to miss much by going Rival. Red has a bit less play...but its not a game changer. The front is where you want the Zero Loss, which the Rival has. Go with some quality cables and housings...those can make a difference too.

Keep your brakes if you want to save some loot. A good set of pads will do wonders for your braking.

Nerull

Just so you know, the Force and Rival FDs are completely identical, aside from branding.

RoboIsGod

I use Kool-Stop's (salmon) and they make braking superb. When I try other people's bikes with stock pads I can always notice a big difference.

I was using my shop's stock Jagwire cables which held up quite well this racing season. What would be a good upgrade for cables?

mountainjesus

You don't want the Rival crank, I have one and it's a little too flexy for my taste. I've heard the Force crank is notably stiffer. Echoing others in this thread, maybe Red shifters eventually if they're within your budget?

I <3 Robots

I've found that the Gore Ride On cables work pretty smooth. IIRC, the Red shifters come with the Gore cables. The Yokozuna cables I heard are pretty good too.

mihlbach

Keep the DA brakes. If it were me, I would buy Red shifters, Force or Rival derailleurs and just keep the DA brakes and DA cranks unless the rings were worn out. No reason why you can't continue to use those with SRAM shifters/derailleurs. Maybe upgrade the crank later.

globecanvas

Force crank, Red shifters.

Rocket-Sauce 

no

sijray21

Force crankset, red cassette, red chain, force FD, red shifters in that order if you can swing it.

I just have the force crank when I did the same thing over the winter and I'm pretty happy so far. Next up is to try the red cassette and chain.

DC_United_Fan

Force crank for sure. Everything else in Rival, and there is nothing wrong with JagWire cables.

Runner 1

What makes the Red chain so good?

RoboIsGod

This sounds good, but my DA crankset is from the older 7400 series (8 speed) with the matching DA loose ball BB. I had to replace the chainrings with a pair of DA 7700 super glide ones which have been holding up, but I think I would definitely benefit from a lighter stiffer crankset then my current 20 year old one.

Will definitely keep the brakes though!

Surfer3287

When I built up my current bike this spring, I went full Rival except the shifters, I got a better deal on Force than anything else. I'm very happy with the setup so far. I did go with the 1091R chain, FWIW.

foresthill

even I don't use a SRAM chain. It's really noisy. KMC has all the benefits (plus you can even reclose the master link.)

calbrner

how low has the rival groupset gone?

I am seeing some nice deals out for 105 and ultegra (2011), but haven't seen much for rival.

kissTheApex

I don't know what stock the below companies have (or have not), but Ribble [$~680], Shiny bikes [$670] (UK, S+H=$25), and quikshipper.com [$679], (US, free shipping +$20 if you want the retail boxes) have the groupset the cheapest at the moment. Fellow forum members that have used quikshipper say they are legit. When I was toying with the idea of getting a new groupset a couple of weeks ago, I prepared a Rival set with Force crankset and Red shifters at shiny bikes and it was $915+S&H. If you want all Force and Red shifters the price bumps up to $1020+S&H at Shiny bikes and $1025 at quikshipper (they don't have any Red or force in stock though, I'm not sure about Rival). I've ordered some stuff from Shiny Bikes yesterday and I can update this thread on the shipping time if anyone's interested.