Sram or Shimano

scar 101

Hi lads heard this discussion before on another site.But just want to ask local irish people what do u think is better Sram or Shimano.thinking about trying Sram myself.

Quigs Snr

It's all subjective. Both of their top end groupsets have won the tour in recent years. Get whichever one you think looks prettiest for your budget.

SurferDude41

Well as a bicycle mechanic, I have worked on Sram Red, force, and Rival.
I have also worked on the Newer Shimano dura-ace and Ultegra.

Firstly if you go the Sram route, please do yourself a favour and buy Red shift levers.....Force and rival shifters are pure junk, and will most lightly be worn out after a few months use.
The rest of either force and rival groupsets, are quite good.

Shimano has gone backwards with their new road groupsets.
The shift quality is very poor, since shimano decided to hide their cables under the bartape.

Limestone1

scar 101 wrote: »

Hi lads heard this discussion before on another site.But just want to ask local irish people what do u think is better Sram or Shimano.thinking about trying Sram myself.

Shimano .... end of ....

blorg

SurferDude41 wrote: »

Shimano has gone backwards with their new road groupsets.
The shift quality is very poor, since shimano decided to hide their cables under the bartape.

I wouldn't agree with that; I have the new Ultegra 6700 and think it is really nice. I wouldn't say the shifting is better but it is certainly not worse either. Braking is noticably better and easier from the hoods. I have 105 5500 (9sp), 105 5600, Ultegra 6600, Ultegra SL 6650 and Dura Ace 7800 to compare against.

Personally I did not care for SRAM's double-tap; the rear is very easy to get used to and far more intuitive than I expected but with the front shifting up if the chain doesn't go up straight away you can't give it a nudge like you can with Shimano- the nudge shifts you back down again. But that is personal preference.

Also important is what hood shape you prefer; in my case I much prefer Shimano and indeed have only grudgingly come around to the new hood shape. I don't like Campagnolo hoods at all; there is nothing to grab at the end where Shimano have a big ugly bulb. But this is all personal preference.

Lumen

There is less lever travel with SRAM, which is good if you have small hands (I do).

Haven't heard about Rival/Force durability issues before.

Ryder

Have had rival for the last 2 years. No issues to report. Easy to get use to, durable etc. As to sram v shimano.......no idea, really dont think it matters

Quigs Snr

Can't speak for anyone else, but 10,000km on a set of 09 model Rival levers on a training bike. Still as good as the day there were bought. Have survived a few crashes too. I have red on the race bike and don't find them any better to be honest, very light and pretty though. I have Dura Ace (7800) on a couple of bikes and the shift is smoother, they are without doubt engineered better than any other lever, but they are also a lot heavier and uglier, so its all down to what you are looking for I guess. I also have campag record on a TT bike. They all feel different, look different, but work the same as far as I am concerned.

To be honest if someone could make me a groupset that was as pretty as Campagnolo record, as light as Sram Red and shifted as well as Shimano Dura Ace (7800 - with SurferDude on this one, 7900 is fine but not as refined in my opinion) - Then I would buy one such groupset for each bike I own.

Jawgap

I've Rival on one bike and Rival / Force on another and like the SRAM set up.

The Double-tap shifting is pretty cool when accelerating and the ergonomics are quite good. I think I read somehwere the hood design is based on the control stick used in jet-fighters - for that reason, if no other, I was sold on them:)

No issues to report regarding durability. The Rival equipped bike has nearly 20,000km on it and apart from a broken lever when I dropped the bike (hardly SRAM's fault), they've provided problem-free operation.

Each to their own, I suppose.

paddymacsporran

Sram, by a mile. Had my red groupset since it came out 3yrs ago, never had a problem at all. Still looks like new, and the shift is tight, no play anywhere either. About 20,000kms on that bike.

The cable travel is a key point as the cable travels much less, therefore less friction on the shift. There is also lots less resistance down to the ceramic jockey wheels and bottom bracket bearings. Braking gets swisstop pads, about the best you can buy. And the whole set up is lighter too.

The shift on the front mech on my set up is every bit as good as the shimano on my other bike, and the double tap is easy to use - And you can go down a few gears with a single action.

Only thing that let it down was the red cassette, it's noisier than the cheaper options.