SRAM Rival

relanium

Is SRAM Rival any good?
What is it equivalent to.... Shimano 105 or Ultegra?

sods_law

Widely regarded as comparable to Ultegra. I have it and love it. Guy in my club has just sold all his Shimano gear and got SRAM kit on everything.

Definately worth a look

italiafirenze

Some might say it's better than both.

But really it's more like 105.

Rival - 105

Force - Ultegra

Red - Dura Ace

Though like I said, some might say the SRAM parts are better than their competitors.

I have Force and would only consider Red as an upgrade.

bendertherobot

Force, for me, is just so much nicer that the Ultegra I got rid of.

andyxm

It sits at an equivalent level to 105 in the SRAM range (i.e. 3rd from the top), personally I absolutely love it, the changes are very crisp and the double tap change feels very natural. I always had Campag previously, but this is much better.

KillerMetre

My mate at uni claims rival is easily comparable to ultegra,having ridden both.

Wamas

It is definately much better than 105.
Is it as good as the 6700 Ultegra, not sure, it is certainly as good as the 6600, and the group as a whole is lighter than the 6700 Ultegra.

I have a mix of 105/ Rival & Tiagra on one bike and a mix of Rival & Force on the other.

bendertherobot

Crucially the cranks look far far nicer.

Evil Laugh

Personnaly I'm going the other way and will be moving my red/force kit off bike 1 in favour of trying the new dura ace. I've put dura ace 7800 on bike 2 and after getting some decent mileage on both now I much prefer dura ace. The shifting is far superior especially the front mech. I prefer the quiet shifts too and the dual lever system. Miss a shift on SRAM going up hill and you can find yourself in a harder gear.

SRAM hoods are also small and knobbly and if you have a reasonable drop to the bars the extra pressure on the hands is exacerbated by the shape of the hoods and caused me discomfort on longer rides.

Shame as I like the looks of SRAM but it's not doing it for me in practice.

I'd say just try it and see what you think as a lot of the decision will come down to personal comfort using the system.

sturmey

Personnaly I'm going the other way and will be moving my red/force kit off bike 1 in favour of trying the new dura ace. I've put dura ace 7800 on bike 2 and after getting some decent mileage on both now I much prefer dura ace. The shifting is far superior especially the front mech. I prefer the quiet shifts too and the dual lever system. Miss a shift on SRAM going up hill and you can find yourself in a harder gear.

At last a verdict from someone who has ridden both-well done that man.

Dura Ace has been refined so many times that you know you are getting the closest to perfection in bicycle componentry.
Reliable and durable too.

Evil Laugh

Not really sure my post was entirely relevant to the original question in hindsight. :?

mroli

Ridden 105 and Rival and I would never swap Rival for 105. Cable runs are prettier, shifters are more comfortable and precise, kit looks better, like the double shift.

Better than 105, not ridden new Ultegra, but I think that Rival is the bees knees, especially at Fudge's prices.