2009 SRAM Force - when?

rohloff-rich

I was all ready to buy a SRAM Force group for my new custom build and then I go and read that it's going to be updated for 2009, dammit! :evil:

So how long am I going to have to wait?? :evil:

In the meantime, I still need a groupset - do I go for Rival to get used to the SRAM shift etc, or do I go 105 / equivalent Campag and keep the price down until I replace it? :?

mr-ed

Personally I'd wait. The new rival and force groups are getting new red style shifters. You can get rival for around £300 at the moment and its really good.

Down the Road

Main cange is the Levers. Why not stump up for RED and get it now.

2009 Force will arrive early 2009 if past history is anything to go by

rohloff-rich

Down the Road wrote:

Main cange is the Levers. Why not stump up for RED and get it now.

You've seen the price of Red, right?! :shock:

Jez mon

Well if you need the groupset now, but then want to upgrade later, it might just be best to pick up some Red stuff online and stick with it.

Buying a complete 105 groupset for what will work out as this summer would be a waste of money, 105 groupset is around £300, then 2008 Rival groupset is around £699 (probably more). Thats £1000 worth of groupset.

Sram Red is around £1099, which is alot, i agree. But if you mix and match Red and Rival now, (Red shifters, Rival rest maybe) then you will have the final bike as soon as possible and you won't have to fiddle around later in the year with upgrades.

rohloff-rich

Jez mon wrote:

...if you mix and match Red and Rival now, (Red shifters, Rival rest maybe) then you will have the final bike as soon as possible and you won't have to fiddle around later in the year with upgrades.

Hmmm, not the worst idea... I'll look into that, ta 8)

rohloff-rich

Erm, actually the Red shifters are over £300 on their own!! :shock:

Jez mon

:shock: wow, sorry only looked at the price for whole groupset!

Just checked and the price of a force shifter is around £240 So it's only £60 for the upgrage to the red shifter. Which isn't too much.

Are you buying online or from a bike shop?

rohloff-rich

Online - the Force group is £600 from JE James.

I guess I could spec mostly Force stuff apart from Rival shifters then upgrade to the new shifters (and crankset, I reckon that'll change too) when the new stuff arrives...

Or just sack it and go for Chorus! :roll:

Jez mon

Well being a campag man, i won't knock you for going for Chorus it's a great groupset. OTOH, brand new Chorus stuff is coming out next year (11 speed plus some other revamps by the sound of it).

The thing is, all three groupset companies are having major revamps this year.

You might be better to buy the whole group, sell the shifters on eBay and then buy the Red ones, as when the new Rival shifters comes out, I would think the price might be quite high.

Or you could just ignore the fact that a new group is coming out next year. As soon as you get into the high end bike world, you'll notice that "improvements" mean your bike becomes out of date within a year.

willbevan

dont suppose you saw this on the road sales forum:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... 3039180f2e

would be tempted myself, bt just had a 2.5k car bill

Not affiliated with that chap, but seems if your debating and dont mind buying like this, you get a red groupset cheap, and your happy (maybe presuming nothing breaks)

rohloff-rich

Ta willbevan - had spotted that but if I spend that at this time it means buying crap wheels, hence my original thought of Force at £600 from JE James.

I realise the '09 Force will no doubt be circe £800+ anyway, but by then I'll probably have settled for Campag as it looks like that's where I'm now headed :roll:

willbevan

ah yea wheels are more important

I am thinking campag on my next build from all the ranting and raving, TT bike i have atm has record breaks and chorus front mech... back end is shimano lol, so i have a mish mash

Jez mon

The second hand Red does look to be a good deal, but as will says, Wheels are very important. Which Campag group are you looking at, both Centaur and Chorus are good value for money (or at least as good as you'll get from campag, if you want total value for money i would recommend shimano)

georgee

to get back on topic, anyone know timescales?

I am very tempted with new rival seeing they will be carbon levers with all the trickery of Red and then get myself some of the 08 kit for the rest, will still come in a hefty 0.5kg lighter than my 105!