Sram shifter broke!
#1
Sram shifter broke!
Today during a training ride my right shifter stopped shifting upward!! i clicked without any response!! and well, it came right off!!
Spoke to my mechanic, he told me to bring in the bike to check if warranty is still under effect, he thinks its 2 years.

this are apex shifters that came on my 2011 specialized roubiax have around 9k+ miles. well maintained, cleaned.
any of you guys have to deal with part replacements? my intuition says they will replace only hte broken shifter, so theres no upgrade option. id really like to buy sram red shifters, and upgrade once. opinions are welcome
Spoke to my mechanic, he told me to bring in the bike to check if warranty is still under effect, he thinks its 2 years.

this are apex shifters that came on my 2011 specialized roubiax have around 9k+ miles. well maintained, cleaned.
any of you guys have to deal with part replacements? my intuition says they will replace only hte broken shifter, so theres no upgrade option. id really like to buy sram red shifters, and upgrade once. opinions are welcome
#2
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 382
Likes: 0
I've had three SRAM Rival shifters break in the last three years. The last broke after the shifter was 6 months past the end of the two year warranty. They upgraded me to Red at no cost.
SRAM does well with their warranty. Shouldn't be a problem for you.
SRAM does well with their warranty. Shouldn't be a problem for you.
#5
Member
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
Same thing happened to me 6-7 months ago. Took it to my LBS and they shipped it off to SRAM for replacement. I can't remember exactly but I think I had a new shifter (Rival, but current model year) in a week or less.
#6
Portland Fred
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 11,553
Likes: 54
Bikes: Custom Winter, Challenge Seiran SL, Fuji Team Pro, Cattrike Road/Velokit, РOS hybrid
I had this exact same thing happen. Warranty coverage was good, but I'd rather have a product that didn't fail. Shifters break at very inconvenient times, so I'm thinking I might leave them if it happens again.
#7
#8
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 142
Likes: 0
From: Tustin, Ca.
Bikes: 2010 Giant TCR Advance SL
I had the same exact break on my Rival shifter! I wasn't using it hard or anything. Took it to my local bike shop and the SRAM rep sent me new 2012 Rival shifters! Which I sold right away and upgraded to Red. Hopefully the Red will hold out!
#9
Yep, and here I was consider SRAM for a build on an incoming frameset. I might rethink it if shifter breakage is this common. I mean, Shimano shifters fail but I've never heard of parts snapping off!
#10
I guess the quest to be the lightest has some drawbacks every now and then. I don't think this is really that common, but if it is it's great to hear that SRAM stands behind their parts and offers good warranty service.
#13
Got a response from sram. They sent today a new Apex right shifter.
I wanted to upgrade to sram red, payin a diference. But it seems sram cant do this since they only sell to distributors. No worries i paid for apex. I get what i paid for, fair to some extent.
I wanted to upgrade to sram red, payin a diference. But it seems sram cant do this since they only sell to distributors. No worries i paid for apex. I get what i paid for, fair to some extent.
#14
Fredly
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 477
Likes: 0
Bikes: Surly Long Haul Trucker w/ SRAM Rival, & 36H 38's, Late 70's Santana Tandem w/ Double Diamond frame
I had this exact same thing happen with my SRAM Rival shifters today. It had been wonky.. throwing way too far when shifting for awhile.. I had it in a workstand while I was dialing in my new rival wifli derrailleur and 11-32 cassette and suddenly all my shifting stopped. Yep.. shifter broke in exactly this same way.
It should be covered under warranty but still.. being without a bike to ride for a week sucks...
It should be covered under warranty but still.. being without a bike to ride for a week sucks...
#16
Portland Fred
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 11,553
Likes: 54
Bikes: Custom Winter, Challenge Seiran SL, Fuji Team Pro, Cattrike Road/Velokit, РOS hybrid
I had this exact same thing happen with my SRAM Rival shifters today. It had been wonky.. throwing way too far when shifting for awhile.. I had it in a workstand while I was dialing in my new rival wifli derrailleur and 11-32 cassette and suddenly all my shifting stopped. Yep.. shifter broke in exactly this same way.
#17
Fredly
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 477
Likes: 0
Bikes: Surly Long Haul Trucker w/ SRAM Rival, & 36H 38's, Late 70's Santana Tandem w/ Double Diamond frame
I am thankful for it not happening at a more inopportune moment. I heard back this evening that SRAM is fixing it under warranty. They'll be replacing the shifters on both sides. What isn't clear yet is whether they cover the service costs that go with it and the cost of bar tape. I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure that you have to take the tape off to get this work done.
#19
Sqrl
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 552
Likes: 0
You can re-use tape as long as you're not a total idiot and remove it with a x-acto knife.
#20
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,356
Likes: 6
From: Lewisburg, TN
Bikes: Mikkelsen custom steel, Santa Cruz Chameleon SS, old trek trainer bike
I have always been told that SRAM has an AMAZING warranty department... because SRAM stuff always breaks. Guys at a shop once told me they have THE best crash replacement policy for MTB, because if you crash, you will for sure break something. OTOH, never broken a Shimano part in an MTB fall.
#21
Banned
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,281
Likes: 2
From: take your time, enjoy the scenery, it will be there when you get to it
Bikes: 07 IRO BFGB fixed-gear, 07 Pedal Force RS
SRAM is garbage. The only products they make that don't suck are BB-7 disk brakes.
Last edited by BoSoxYacht; 07-11-12 at 09:34 AM.
#23
Portland, OR, USA

Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,626
Likes: 1
From: portland
Bikes: kona paddywagon, trek 2.1, lemond nevada city, gt zrx
never ridden sram. tried it once during a test ride and while it seemed like a good concept, the actual shift lever seemed dainty. in its quest to be entirely different, seems like sram kind of sacrificed some longevity in order to have one lever do both shift operations. 2x the use would wear it out twice as fast?? dunno.....
#25
Fredly
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 477
Likes: 0
Bikes: Surly Long Haul Trucker w/ SRAM Rival, & 36H 38's, Late 70's Santana Tandem w/ Double Diamond frame
I'm a huge SRAM fan because this is the second time they've taken care of me when I needed it. The first time I was totally honest with them and told them that I broke my left shifter in a crash, I didn't have the money to buy a new one, and they hooked me up with a good crash replacement deal. Cost me $80 total to get it fixed.
I haven't seen anything to make me think that Shimano's are any better or worse than SRAM. I do think that SRAM has killer customer service and that's important to me.
I haven't seen anything to make me think that Shimano's are any better or worse than SRAM. I do think that SRAM has killer customer service and that's important to me.






