I just broke a small metal piece inside the lever body of my right side Rival shifter. This is after 3 years and 16,850 miles.

I'm trying to get a feel for longevity....of Rival, or Force or RED shifters. Maybe it's time to upgrade?

Anyone know if you can completely rebuild Rival shifters?

Anyone have a right side Rival shift/brake lever they don't need?

Thanks

That happens, as I understand. I'd take the opportunity to upgrade to a zero-loss shifter (new Force, old Red), or find a cheap used Rival shifter. Hasn't happened to me yet (I ride less than most here), but one of the few weaknesses of SRAM.

Everyone I know who's encountered this issue has had the shifter replaced by SRAM, regardless of how old it is.

Yes. Email them at sramusa @ sram . com and they will eventually make it right. It would be even faster to work this through your LBS, even if you didn't buy that bike (or shifter) from them.

Me too. LBS made one phone call to SRAM, new right shifter arrived in a week. They put the old shifter in a bag and mailed it to SRAM. Done.

Thanks to the nice folks at Outback Bikes, Hamilton Mill, GA. https://outback-bikes.com

Thanks for the advice.

~17, 000 miles? I'd say you got your $ worth.

Yes, but it still should not have happened and SRAM understands this and deals with it accordingly. It is unique to early 2009 series Rival levers. I had the same thing happen, and when I took it to my LBS they took care of it as SRAM warranty repair work. All it cost me was about 2 weeks without the bike. Your new lever will say SRAM on in instead of RIVAL.

I've sent an email to SRAM so we'll see what happens. In the mean time today I adjusted the rear derailleur so that the chain is on the 17 tooth cog and now I have a 2 speed! At least I can ride my bike....and luckily the terrain around here is flat to rolling! Still.....55 miles without shifting was a challenge!

My bike just ate a SRAM shifter. This is after tons of miles of nasty commuting and cx racing. I am super impressed with even their lower end rival stuff. I didn't want to like it at first. But the stuff is rock solid and SRAM warrantied my unit no problem.

But, especially on bikes people seem to think stuff lasts forever. It doesn't.

I have that many miles on mine without incident.

So I guess when the engine goes out on my 2000 Excursion, which has 210, 000 miles I should expect Ford to replace it? My God you abused that lever in a very short time. Buck up and replace it yourself. It isn't SRAM's fault you put 4 bike lifetimes on your bike in 3 years. No wonder stuff costs so much with people like this around.
Your tire manufacturer knows your tire isn't going to last 17, 000 miles. Do you expect them to pay for your riding habits too?

Wow....."4 bike lifetimes?" What in your opinion is a "bike lifetime"....4,000 miles? Screw that...I hope to put AT LEAST 5,000 miles on my bike every year for the next 20 years. It's why I have a Ti frame.

I don't abuse anything. My bike is spotless and gets regular, obsessive-compulsive maintenance. I spin higher cadences, plan shifts and never ever shift under full load.

I don't have unrealistic expectations of my equipment. I'm not so stupid to expect a bicycle tire to last 17k, but a shift lever? Yes, I think it should last longer than this did. I've got Campy and Shimano components on other bikes with a LOT more miles than 17,000 and they haven't broken. I don't "expect" anything from SRAM. If they recognize a manufacturing defect, or a metal part that was under-engineered and want to rectify it I'll accept it. If they tell me no, then I'll buy a new one.

Read my original post. I wasn't looking for SRAM to warranty anything.

Gee whiz man, I was just asking for opinions. This is why I only have 190 posts in 3+ years.

Abused? He previously posted that he just rode 55 miles without shifting. If he can do that, I'd say its a safe bet his shifters aren't "abused". Aside from that, your comparisons are apples and oranges. You can't measure the lifespan of a shifter in miles like you do an engine or a set of tires.

I had the right shifter break on mine also. It was never abused. I decided instead of having it rebuilt or possibly being replaced under warranty that I would sell the set as is on ebay and upgrade. I upgraded to the new Red ErgoDynamic Shifters and absolutely love them. I found them on ebay for a good price and decided to splurge.

At least SRAM uses metal internals, most all of shimano is plastic. SRAM's new XX twist shift uses full metal internals and metal bearings of stainless steel. My sram force groups have magnesium paddle shifters even.
Advantage SRAM in the durability dept.
I am a mechanical design Eng. and looked into working for sram.....a Eng. there who works in Germany told me SRAM wanted to make a name for themselves in the rugged, duarbility and aesthetics end of their components. The quality of even their screws are all extremely high quality.

Except that you dont' find thread like this about Shimano. SRAM lever breaking thread shows up every now and then.

You are right and wrong.

Shimano also breaks, eventually, but it takes a lot longer. If you go into the touring forum you'll find a few people who have broken 9 and 10 speed STI road shifters and it's generally around 30,000-40,000 miles on the right side. There aren't a lot of people in the 41 who do that many miles on their gear before upgrading.

Interesting. I heard of STI biting the dust after that many miles but I never heard of the lever breaking as the commong cause. I'll check it out.

I had an Ultegra left shifter break in a year, and about 10K Kms. Was replaced under warranty.

Update: SRAM via email told me that it "may" be covered under warranty. They recommended that I talk to my LBS My LBS told me today that they've seen this defect before and that SRAM has previously replaced the broken shifter.

More to come!

When it comes to warranty with SRAM it is best to head to your LBS. SRAM really only deals directly with shops. Regardless: They really do have a good warranty program should issues occur. I had One of my Force levers replaced when it snapped.

The breaking of the component, as I have been told, is just due to a defective part near the bushing for the shifter paddle. If there is a problem with it then the stress of shifting will eventually cause the metal to fatigue and break.

This happened to my Rival setup about 3 months ago. SRAM sent out a new pair of shifters as a warranty repair. If yours is out of warranty they may still cover it as a warranty repair because the older shifters apparently were replaced by some newer ones that are supposed to soft this problem. I don't know what they changed but I know that's what I heard...

I had the same problem on my Caad7. Looking at eBay, it's not uncommon. Lot's of lefts going for $50-70, and rights going for $100 +. Even used. I'll probably just get a set of Force ones. It's my light bike and in my quest to get in the low 13s, or lighter, every gram counts.