timmbo

How funny, I just purchased the exact same bike a couple of weeks ago. I was coming out of a bike equipped with Sram Apex, and absolutely loved it! I wanted to move up into a nice carbon frame but with a wife and young kids budget is tight for a luxury item. It was tough finding an OEM bike with Sram, and ultimately it came down to forking out $4000 for a 2014 Madone 5.9 with Red or go with the stellar deal I got on the 2012 4.6 that a bike shop had (brand new in box even). Tossed on my fairly new Bontrager RL wheels and I am thrilled with my new ride and absolutely love the Sram Rival!

Psimet2001 

Meh...I'm too close to too many that work there. They are doing fine. They never really had much of the Road OEM market to begin with. Their bread and butter was and continues to be the off-road side of the business. Strange as there are no mountains here in Chicago where they are based...

As for Zipp...Nothing will ever slow them down. I made a concerted effort a few years back because here I was at every race in the greater Chicago area and I saw very few of my wheels even though I was selling a ton. Turns out they were headed out to other locations. So I drenched the Chicago market. At some races I have 40-80% of the starting fields, but nothing will ever stem or stop that Zipp volume. Between Reynolds, ENVE, FSA, etc...the rest of us are enormously small potatoes. That isn't going to change any time soon.

Dunbar

If the UK online retailers are any indication of OEM pricing (and I believe they qualify for OEM pricing) than Shimano appears to have an edge over SRAM on price. What bike manufacturer wants to charge an extra $200-300 for a bike with SRAM vs. the equivalent Shimano groupset? With 105 5800's imminent release Rival/Force are going to have a tough time competing with Shimano 5800/6800 on price. Red 22 is $200-300 more than DA 9000.

Also, with 5700/6700/7900 there wasn't a big difference in shift quality between the two brands. It really came down to personal preference on ergonomics/double tap and the weight weenie appeal of SRAM. Now with the new 11sp lineup Shimano has upped its game so that there's a bigger difference in shift quality. You have to decide what the SRAM premium is buying you?

CenturionIM

what I always wondered about too...

back the the topic, it is probably just about who has the most "cutting edge" tech. A year ago, everyone was raving about RED, RED, RED on BF. Now its all Di2 Di2 Di2.

roadandmountain

Just ignore him. He'll twist and distort the facts or focus on some minutiae to try to undermine shimano. He's got his brand loyalty and nothing will sway him.

roadandmountain

Shimano is relentless. Expect 12 speed for the '16 season or at the latest an early '17 season release.

roadandmountain

They are a formidable player. That's not the question.

They make good products. That's not the issue either.

The question is whether sales/revenue are declining or not. Common sense says yes:

1. they have not released sales figures in 4 years

2. they have decided against going public

3. they had an expensive recall

Figure it out. It's very simple.

Campag4life

No, you are completely wrong. I don't believe in brand loyalty. I purchased a DA 9000 groupset and installed it and stated it is the best shifting groupset I have ridden. Can't you read? However...the ergonomics are very poor compared to Campy. Rough edges and hard durometer and even less friendly shape. Further, for 2015 Campy is changing what is already best in class dual durometer hood covers for even greater comfort.

Btw, the only thing I salvaged from the groupset are the brakes which are fantastic. This further belies your brand loyalty baloney. DA brakes in my experience are better than Campy in modulation, flex and tunable spring rate. They are wonderful. Also for those interested the pull ratio of Shimano's new brakes plays nicely with Campy Ultrashift and they are staying on my bike.

Campag4life

In bold, if that's your premise, then lets sink it now. Its irrelevant. Why? Because its unknowable to the lay person. Nobody has access to Sram's business model, overhead cost structure, R&D investment or ROI even knowing sales of their various divisions. So any speculation is just that, like predicting the weather. Bottom line is Sram continues to improve their products and they are a formidable player. The rest as I stated is speculation.

roadandmountain

First of all, you didn't bold anything, so no one knows what you're talking about.

Second, I told you and everyone else to use common sense in answering a straightforward question. I can't help it if you choose not to.

roadandmountain

Coming from "campag4life" lol.

roadandmountain

I wish it weren't the case, but I think sram is likely to be out of business in 5 - 10 years. They remind me a lot of suntour: similarly priced, a reputation for being a bit lighter but sloppier shifting, and a distant second to shimano in functionality.

Campag4life

and that's coming from r&m. Comedy at its best. Thanks for the laugh.

Campag4life

You are conflating common sense with a simpleton perspective based upon limited information.
Translation? You don't know what you are talking about.

Slackerprince

Are there enough dependability issues with cables that necessitate moving to electronic/wireless systems?
Seems possible that E/W systems will introduce glitches into the shifting process.
BTW, the SRAM E/W system has a write-up in the new Road Bike Action mag.

S

roadandmountain

LOL, that's completely nonsensical. Campag4Life is obviously a display of brand loyalty. As well as a comical example of 'internet thuggin' Are you in a gang? lulz

roadandmountain

You seem angry. Are you ok?

BoSoxYacht

Even as a guy that is not a fan of SRAM, I wouldn't say SRAM is in decline.

When they broke into road components, they made a huge splash. Right now things are just starting to level out. That was to be expected. SRAM needs to to something that is innovative and better. Their front derailleur "Yaw" was a good start. Being lighter and less expensive only goes so far when you get a reputation for having reliability issues.

roadandmountain

I'll have to check out the article. They are a few years behind shimano, and that worries me.

From what I've read, shimano's battery shifting is the best shifting system available right now. My understanding is that the front shifting is what benefits the most. Some people report that they have a tough time getting used to the lack of tactile feedback: moving a lever and hearing the shifter click as opposed to pressing a button.

BoSoxYacht

I bet he's seen you try to bait others into a little flame war.

It's Friday night, and he's probably seen your other posts here.

Slackerprince

Well, the "backwards hat" thread is running out of steam...


s

BoSoxYacht

That thread is a little funny. The OP asked a question that invited himself to being insulted.

You can't fault anyone that says he'll look like a ****** for wearing a ball cap backwards.

Psimet2001 

Incorrect. You must have very limited exposure to what the company really is. They are huge and they aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

fstshrk

What they need is a road triple with electronic shifting

roadandmountain

lol.