Red? if not?

Alakar1
Alakar1 Posts: 10
edited January 2010 in Road buying advice
From your experience, are there any parts of the Sram Red group that can/ should be substituted by either Force or a Shimano / other (ie: chain, cassette) to offer better performance / weight or price? I am sold on the shifters, but curious how to get the best 'bang' for my buck.

Comments

  • maddog 2
    maddog 2 Posts: 8,114
    I think the Force brakes are very similar to Red nowadays, so you could save some £ there.

    and I'd go for a KMC X10SL chain if it was me.

    The red chainset is good IME, but I run it with an aftermarket BB myself, and the choice of GXP BBs is much more limited than, say, Shimano, which may be important to you.
    Facts are meaningless, you can use facts to prove anything that's remotely true! - Homer
  • softlad
    softlad Posts: 3,513
    personally, I think every Red component could be replaced by Force, with no real noticeable difference in performance...
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    softlad wrote:
    personally, I think every Red component could be replaced by Force, with no real noticeable difference in performance...


    +1 - the differences are mostly cosmetic and not performace-based.

    Red groupset features a ceramic BB and ceramic jockey pulleys in the rear mech. Red parts are slightly lighter - but nothing noticeable.

    Red chainset has different chainrings also - nicer looking than the force ones.

    Force front mech is a better choice than the Red one as it's stainless steel - will give you sharper shifts. Most of the Pros go this route.

    Use a good KMC chain as Maddog says.

    You can use any Sram or Shimano cassette - but the Sram Red one is still a good choice.


    Lesson over. :)
  • rake
    rake Posts: 3,204
    you must use a sram rear mech.

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