Just a quick question about sram... I currently have a scott speedster s40 but with a 105 5700 black edition groupset but with a sram force crankset. All my teammates down here in southern illinois use sram (mostly force and red). I have ridden their bikes for a while and I made the decision I want it, however I am on a budget. I got a great deal on an apex RD and am either going apex or rival for the FD, I don't think there's really much difference until you get to red correct me if I'm wrong. My main concern was the zero loss. Is it correct that zero loss just deals with the shifters, or do you have to get a compatable zero loss rear derailleur? Another question is are there differences between rival and apex shifters besides the carbon brake lever? My budget will only allow me to get apex or rival shifters. Any info would be helpful, thanks!



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You don't need to change your FD. If you are on a budget, keep the 105. I would choose Rival shifters over Apex, as the price difference is usually not significant, and where you may not notice a difference, the front shifting on Apex feels cheesier to me than on Rival.

And having the Force crank is awesome, and is the best weight/ money compromise from a Force group. You will see many builds with Rival FD, RD, brakes, and Force crank and shifters.

So the shimano 2:1 pull ratio is just on the rear derailleur? I thought all derailleurs had to be replaced when switching from Shimano to SRAM shifters.

All FD's for road use the same pull. When all the issues with Red FD's came up, most folks switched to Ultegra FD.

MTB FD's have different cable pull than Road, but that is meaningless for you.

And Rival and Force FD's are identical, except for a sticker, if you ever do get the urge (or cash) and want matching setup.

The new red FD is worth spending the extra money on. A new one from a shop will only cost you about $125.00 with no discounts at all. That's money well spent.

I've used an apex RD with my sram red stuff and it worked fine. I used it to allow me to have a huge cassette North Georgia mountains. It was overkill, but was nice to have.

Okay what I'll probably do is get rival shifters and keep my 105 FD for now and get a sram FD this summer when i get back home from school and start working. Thanks for the info guys.

apex and rival shifters are basically the exact same quality.

105 5700 is great. I am on 2012 Red and it's excellent but really nothing really ground breaking over 105 5700 I use to have. I upgraded just because and found some deals.

If I were in your shoes I would put some miles on that 105 until you find a used/pull off set of 2012 Force. It's the same as the old Red.

Apex, Rival, Force, 2011 Red, mechanically work the same. Force and 2011 Red have Zeroloss on the rear shifting also.

Apex has aluminum brake levers and Rival has carbon ones.

2013 Force is not re branded old Red. Zeroloss on the rear shifting and the outer chainring are the only things that got carried over.

I'd like to know for sure about this as well. I thought I had read that the only way to obtain zero loss was to use the Red shifters. I don't think it matters what derailleur you're using. Could someone please enlighten the OP and myself on this?

OP- Really nice bike btw.

Zero loss is in the shifters. Red has it, and 2013 Force shifters has it. Nothing to do with the RD.

C'dale/SIU?

Only Red has Zero-Loss for the rear derailleur in the right side control. All shifters have Zero-Loss for the front derailleur in the left side control.

2013 Force has Zero Loss in both shifters.

This. You can even run a Rival/ Apex left shifter and Red/ 2013 Force right shifter if you don't care about matching.

ewwwww......

I went from Shimano to Sram. First to Rival, now Red. Never looked back. I might consider the Di2, but other than that, nope. Sram for me.

Yes sir

From what I see on the Sram website, all levels have Zero Loss and it doesn't say anything about it being only on the left shifter. Are you sure that is correct?

*BF Holy See Communication*

He knows not what he does.

We will pray for your Immortal BF Soul my son. In the meantime, you just got fast-tracked for BF Excommunication.

BF Pope Pcad I

*BF Holy See Communication*

Absolutely...only Force and Red have ZL on the rear shifter.

The feel is very minimal. It just has a bit less "play" in the paddle before shifter engagement.

SRAM marketing would prefer that you title the thread "Making the LEAP to SRAM."

Does the team still do "The Lakes" ride and climb "The Makanda Hill"?

I rode w/ the club in the late 70's/early 80's when DC, later Natl' Hour Record Holder, cheerfully pummeled us on those rides.

Sweet that's awesome! Yeah we still ride around there, check my strava for Makanda =) https://app.strava.com/athletes/736111

+1000