Rival "v" Ultegra

haveitmyson

Hi
im going to buy a Scott cr1, the pro has ultegra @ 2.5k and the Elite has rival @ 2.2k £300 saving and the rest of the bike is the same spec!

so can people comment on rival as i have not ridden with sram

also with £300 change thats some nice upgrades? thoughts welcome

cheers

MaxwellBygraves

Personally, I prefer Rival. It just works better, for me.
It doesn't matter how many peoples opinions you get on here, just try them both out and then make up your own mind as only you can decide.
You never know, you might prefer Campag

warrior4life

I have sram and shimano on my bikes,
I find all groupsets work well these days, I would personally go sram as its cheaper and weighs less.
Both groupsets are pretty good though.

Wappygixer

I've just changed to a full Ultegra 6700 group form Centaur carbon US.
Now I've always been a Campag fan but the new Ultegra is so much more precise and smooth.
I'm certain lt glad I changed.
It seems Campag lost its clunk when it changed to US and since then I found it too easy to over shift.

ADIHEAD

Is the rest of the spec exactly the same? I'd be giving the Sram a try for £300. Only had a quick go of SRAM on a Red set up, which seemed ok. Did have a Rival chainest however and nothing like as good as the Ultegra I've now got - chainrings wore out in 3k miles, as did a friends Force - despite good maintenance etc. Not as stiff either.

mfin

Or... get the bike new, sell the groupset off unridden and replace with something else, like Force for example?

ShutUpLegs

I didn't find SRAM Rival very precise and I wouldn't describe it as smooth.

mroli

And interestingly enough, I find it very precise and very smooth . Like one of the posters said - try, then buy. My preference is for SRAM (having used Shimano but not Campag) - but everyone is different. For the price differential, I reckon you could strip the bike, sell the Rival groupset for £350 and with the £300 you've saved put on Force and have money left over: http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/sram-for ... 39857.html (I would highlight Fudges, as they do great deals). You'd even save £100 on Ultegra too.... http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=42470

Unclemonty121

I have sram Rival on my Boardman and love it, I haven't used shimano, but have a basic Campag groupset on my winter bike, which is horrible compared to the sram.

I have friends who have gone shimano to sram and they seem to prefer the sram, prefer the double tap and precise shifting.

hope that helps

Nik Cube

i've used sram and shimano and been very pleased with both so i'd save the cash

niblue

ShutUpLegs wrote:

I didn't find SRAM Rival very precise and I wouldn't describe it as smooth.

I''ve got RIval on my bike and find it quite clunky next to previous bikes I've had with Shimano on. Not enough that I'm looking to change it though.

paul64

I still struggle to choose between the two. When I got on my Rival bike I am glad to get back to the best hoods and best brakes by a mile, when I get on my DA/UltegraSL bike I am glad back to perfect smooth gear changes.

By choice I would go with the SRAM ergonomics and DA shifting.

haveitmyson

thanks everyone

I haven't got the time or inclination to strip the bike etc although it does seem a good idea for those who could.

I'm gonna try both groups, Ive always had 105 and of all the posts it would seem that its down to choice, if anything no one has said a bad thing about ultegra.

Cheers

marin_maniac

I had Rival on my Team Carbon. I actually really liked the way it shifts after coming from a Shimano back ground. I don't think the Sram stuff is as well made as Shimano (can't speak for Campag as never been inclined to try it), as Shimano just seems to be nicely engineered.

The only thing that made me go back to Shimano was that I just couldn't get comfy on the hoods.

Yeah its probably heavier by a few grams, but as someone once said, "heavy is reliable".

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I think Ultegra just looks much nicer. The new Shimano stuff (I've got 105 5700 to) just shifts very, very well once its set up.

Wamas

Shimano/SRAM/Campag

They all have their merits, and one person will argue why one is better than the other.
I went for the CR1 Elite as I liked SRAM, but my Allez has Shimano.
The real question is whether or not you like Shimano that much more that you would spend £300 on them.

emx

Marin Maniac wrote:

but as someone once said, "heavy is reliable".

I believe someone also once said, "Rival is reliable - and lighter than Ultegra."

kingrollo

Wamas wrote:

Shimano/SRAM/Campag

They all have their merits, and one person will argue why one is better than the other.
I went for the CR1 Elite as I liked SRAM, but my Allez has Shimano.
The real question is whether or not you like Shimano that much more that you would spend £300 on them.

That would be my take - I went for ultegra over 105 because it was an extra £90 ! - Wouldn't have paid £300 extra.

Can't you get them to do a 105 ?

Avezius

I always read these threads with interest.
I've got 105 at the moment, but trying to decide what to have on my next bike & really tempted by Rival.

I think Ribble's prices are almost exactly the same for 105 & Rival groupsets on the bike I want so it's a straight fight out. I can't afford any extra & I'd prefer not to go down in quality when moving to a new bike.

Tricky thing for me is I can't have a proper go - don't want to test drive at a lbs if I know there's a good chance I won't buy from them. Will probably leave it to the last min & see how brave I am!

Wamas

Rival is a definite step up from the old 105 and pretty much on a par with Ultegra in many components.

I believe the 2011 105 is significantly better than the old 105 though.
SRAM's cheaper Apex is aimed at competing with 105.

Bar Shaker

I suspect that a few people are not using 100% Rival or, perhaps, not 100% Ultegra.

For example, Boardman TCs have Rival but uses a 105 cassette. Some say this is the best of all worlds but I prefer the Force cassette I am now using on mine. The Force cassettes are quieter and create less vibration than the (2009/10) 105 cassettes.

My mate's bike has Ultegra and I really think there is nothing much in it, in the quality of the system or the accuracy of shifts... but Double Tap is sublime and wins every time for me.

The OP will have to ride both and decide from there.

paul64

I have not tried the latest DA/Ultegra/105 but for years you could feel the difference in the previous generations as you went up the range. Has anyone tried Rival/Force/Red and found differences in quality and smoothness with either rear derailleurs or shifters i.e. if the OP chooses Rival and is worried about smoothness will replacement RD and shifters in future years pay dividends?

NatoED

i have used rival , shimano and campag I'd go sram , campag then shimano . The new shimano is not as well built as it used to be and the brakes always feel spongy compared to both campag and sram . the rival is on par with Ultegra for function

haveitmyson

had a close look at the specs of the two (cr1 pro/elite) the pro is a total full ultegra group and the elite is a mix of rival/105.

I get on fine with the 105 i have at the moment so will ride and see.

ive got this thinking in my head am i just better going for the full ultegra or if i really like the double tap seeing if the shop will swap it out for a force groupset????

why do we bother with choices!!!

kingrollo

haveitmyson wrote:

had a close look at the specs of the two (cr1 pro/elite) the pro is a total full ultegra group and the elite is a mix of rival/105.

I get on fine with the 105 i have at the moment so will ride and see.

ive got this thinking in my head am i just better going for the full ultegra or if i really like the double tap seeing if the shop will swap it out for a force groupset????

why do we bother with choices!!!

I think ultegra is the better group - but not £300 better - can't you haggle ?

niblue

Bar Shaker wrote:

I suspect that a few people are not using 100% Rival or, perhaps, not 100% Ultegra.

For example, Boardman TCs have Rival but uses a 105 cassette. Some say this is the best of all worlds but I prefer the Force cassette I am now using on mine. The Force cassettes are quieter and create less vibration than the (2009/10) 105 cassettes.

I've used SRAM and Shimano cassettes on my TC now and can't say I noticed any difference in shifting quality - I'm pretty sure that's because it's the mechs and shifters that are clunky.

It's still not all SRAM Rival though - I think the chainset on the TC isn't the Rival one either.