Hi everyone,

Just saw two pretty serious looking cyclists walk into my LBS with two Caad10's built with Sram Rival FD, RD, and Crank set with Red Shifters, zipp wheels and the works. Would someone be able to explain the benefit of having this configuration? The mix and match is a little confusing for me... and after searching through the forum, it makes sense to see Sram Force with Red Shifters (I think?)

A little knowledge would be greatly appreciated!

Red shifters have zero-loss for the front and rear shifters whereas apex rival and force only have it in the front. All the derailleurs are basically the same performance wise, and only differ in weight, so having the cheaper derailleurs with the better shifters makes sense.

It's all compatible and up to the individual on how they want to configure their SRAM set-up. It makes sense to them, perhaps not to you. There could be other factors and trying to make sense of their choice is pointless.

I have SRAM Force shifters. The rear shifts pretty damn fast...maybe 1/8 second faster than Ultegra. I'd imagine you would only "need" red if you need to upshift several cogs to 53x11 in a field sprint.

Ah, I totally get it. So a combo of Sram Force Shifters and Sram Rival FD and RD would do the job even a little better than say a bike with full ultegra?

No.

yes.

but not ui2.

probably.

I get it, definitely not Ultegra DI2. Hmm... that's definitely something to think about then. Thanks for the input.

Red shifters have zero loss on front and rear like rpeterson said so yes, their configuration makes sense. I have full force and i haven't tried red so i'm curious as to how zero loss feels for rear derailleur shifting.

These guys you speak of seem knowledgeable and know value. I am a HUGE Rival fan. There really is no need to go higher end unless you want to spend the money. Red shifters make sense only if you can get them cheap. Putting money into wheels makes more sense for the few grams you'll save between Rival and Red. The Rival front deraileur shifts better than Red which is known to be flexy. The Rival crank is known for its stiffness but I would go Force crank and Rival everything else. Put the money you save into nicer wheels.

Lots of SRAM KoolAid being guzzled here. Ignore the Ultegra comparisons -- I've owned and ridden both and SRAM's got nothing to brag about in the comparison. They both work. And you didn't ask about Ultegra, did you?

But I ride SRAM now. And I use Red shifters with Force front derailleur and Rival rear derailleur. Why? Red has zero loss front and rear. That doesn't mean it shifts better, smoother, or faster than anything else (and it doesn't), but it shifts differently. Like all SRAM, it shifts loudly and crudely, but it does the job -- so long as you don't shift under heavy load (one place Shimano's shifters definitely have an advantage). Having experienced the Red difference, I can't definitively say that Red shifters are worth the difference in price. (They ALL work.) It's a matter of taste, preference, and bling.

I use the Force front derailleur, because I bought a Force groupset. I think Force provides the best function/price/weight balance in the entire SRAM lineup.

Rival rear derailleur because it offers a broader cassette range than Force or Red. On mountain rides/races, I use a 32T big cog in back. (If Contador can do it, I can.) I can only do that with Rival (or Apex).

So, the mix and match is just to get the styling and function that the individual wants. There really aren't many functional differences, but opting for Red shifters and Force derailleurs is a fairly common decision.