Sram Rival 09

Space Heater

Shop Owner / Employee
Shop Keep
I've got the 2009 Rival on my Cannondale CX9. Like J said great bang for the buck. Shifts just as good as my Red if not better with the Gore Ride On cables.
 

Steve Vai

Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
It's a super workhorse kit. And, if you back the cranks/BB out of the equation, it's lighter than any Shimano group, including Dura-Ace 7800. Son.

-Jim.
 

cyclocrossfool

New Member
sram, sram?????????? more like SCAM.!!!!!!!! maybe the shops in NJ get the good stuff. but the stuff we get in NY is crap. the brake bolts break ,oh wait they fixed that. the rear deraileurs break, (the carbon bits) the chainring ramps suck/dont shift as good as,,,,,,,well,,,,,,,anything. the front deraileur welllllllllllllll. and the shifter feel / shift like cheap plastic ...........and no ive never bought any sram so im not jaded by it. just an observation from working on the stuff at the shop. better off w/ shimano 105 or campy centaur. for the money. now the mountain stuff is great... X0/ X9 /avid/rockshox etc...
 

doctor855

New Member
sram, sram?????????? more like SCAM.!!!!!!!! maybe the shops in NJ get the good stuff. but the stuff we get in NY is crap. the brake bolts break ,oh wait they fixed that. the rear deraileurs break, (the carbon bits) the chainring ramps suck/dont shift as good as,,,,,,,well,,,,,,,anything. the front deraileur welllllllllllllll. and the shifter feel / shift like cheap plastic ...........and no ive never bought any sram so im not jaded by it. just an observation from working on the stuff at the shop. better off w/ shimano 105 or campy centaur. for the money. now the mountain stuff is great... X0/ X9 /avid/rockshox etc...

have the red groupset and love it.
 

cyclocrossfool

New Member
............and that so called 'gimmick' they call a shifter. it gets old real soon. lets see if we can re-invent the wheel.
 

ArmyOfNone

Well-Known Member
............and that so called 'gimmick' they call a shifter. it gets old real soon. lets see if we can re-invent the wheel.

Im gonna be certian that your opinion is very well in the minority. I also have had nothing but good things to say about sram. Cant wait to have it on all my rides!
 

beachwoodbikes

Shop: Beachwood Bikes
Shop Keep
Sram

Sram road stuff is great. Durability, performance and innovation are all there. The actuation or "feel and action" is not nearly as refined as shimano, but it works perfectly every time all the time. I say if you have been riding STI stick with it, but if you are open for a new experience try the SRAM, it is completely different from Shimano and offers some benefits other than just weight. I would say the front shifting is somewhat less precise or as easy as Shimano but with some time familiarization it becomes quite smooth. Anyway, it is good to see another formidable option.:rolleyes:
 

HeavyMetaLance

Well-Known Member
Can I get a 2012 update on people's opinion of the SRAM Rival road shifters?
I'm looking at a new road bike that is set up with this. I've always ridden Schimano on the road. The only time I've been able to use the Rival shifters is on the bike shop floor.

What I'm looking to find out is:
1 - Durability
2 - Reliability
3 - Ease of changing over from Schimano shifting
4 - Any other experiences or anecdotes that I might not be able to find out from just reading a spec sheet.
 

jdog

Shop: Halter's Cycles
Shop Keep
The only thing I will add, is that upgrading just the shifter to the RED is a worthwhile investment.

I also prefer to run shimano cassettes as I think they shift better.
 

rlb

Well-Known Member
What I'm looking to find out is:
1 - Durability
2 - Reliability
3 - Ease of changing over from Schimano shifting
4 - Any other experiences or anecdotes that I might not be able to find out from just reading a spec sheet.

I have 2011 Rival and I like it, I came off of an older mix of Shimano components. The switch over took a ride or two and it was more difficult to re-learn from shifting IMO. On occasion it still trips me up. But the shifting has been precise and solid. I can't say with certainty that it's more precise than shimano (it was more precise than my shimano setup, but that was likely due to the mixed componentry and age of the setup). The lever feel is definitely different but not any better or worse, IMO.

I like the ability to adjust the lever reach, not sure if Shimano has that option currently. At times I do wish I still had the two lever setup, it just seemed more intuitive to me but I am certainly happy with my Sram Rival.
 

walter

Fourth Party
My first road bike had Shimano 105 on it. It took me all of one ride on Jdogs cross bike a few years ago with Sram on it for me to switch over. Sold the Shimano road bike and bought a bike with full Rival. I actually prefer the one lever shifting over the two lever shifting, for me its a no brainer. One tap shift up, two taps shift down.

My bike is a 2011 Giant TCX and almost all of the miles have been off road and Ive had no complaints. A few good wipe outs, one of which left me with some good scars and twisted handlebars, but no broken shifters or rear deraillers.

I too am looking into another full time road bike, I'm tossed between just buying a frame and swapping my parts over or buying a complete bike. Either way, it'll have Rival on it.
 

rlb

Well-Known Member
I too am looking into another full time road bike, I'm tossed between just buying a frame and swapping my parts over or buying a complete bike. Either way, it'll have Rival on it.

Glad to see you're not rushing into a decision....My bike had a "Hold for Walter" paper taped to it :D
 

BShow

Member
The only thing I will add, is that upgrading just the shifter to the RED is a worthwhile investment.

I also prefer to run shimano cassettes as I think they shift better.

I was going to post exactly the same response.

Also, If you can ride a bike with shimano, then you can ride a bike with SRAM. It might take a little getting used to, but it's really no big deal and shouldnt be a concern. It's a new bike and you'll have a familiarization period with any new bike.

I actually prefer the one lever shifting over the two lever shifting, for me its a no brainer. One tap shift up, two taps shift down.
I agree, but I guess that can be said about whatever shifting mechanism you have... you dont really have to think about what you're doing unless your shifters are on the downtube.

Now that I'm thinking about it though, I have noticed on occaision that when I ride a shimano equipped bike, I'm not as confident with my braking. I attribute this to the fact that the brake levers pivot biaxially - the pull for the brakes and swing for the shift - and once in a while I've shifted while braking hard. It's probably just me, as there are hundreds of thousands of people running shimano shifters and I don't know that I've ever heard this complaint before, but for me it's just another reason not to buy a shimano equipped road/cross bike.

I like my SRAM (with a Shimano Cassette).
 
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Maurice

New Member
I would at the very least upgrade to Force. Last I saw Rival could not be serviced at all (I may be wrong on this for 2012) and tended to implode.

I never had Force fail, and that's from exclusive CX use. Red is nice but overkill IMO.

Switching over from Shimano is a no-brainer. Shifting is much more precise and less prone to mis-adjustments (riding close to other riders can do that.) The only thing I have seen is broken brake levers in falls, and that doesn't happen with Shimano because of the design (whole lever twists as opposed to just paddle.) Of course the goal is not to crash.

Up to you. Used Force or Red if money is part of the equation? Those things hold up well.
 
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