shimano or Sram??

geobuchan

Building a new frame up and was wondering what to fit, Shimano 105 or Sram Apex or Sram Rival? :?

merak

Campag Centaur or Athena

sloppyschleckonds

I'd love to see gripshift on a road bike

giant_man

Neither. Campag is the way. Wouldn't touch Sram rubbish with a bargepole.

markos1963

Microshift?

pbt150

SRAM is very good, even at Rival/Apex level. The shifting is great.

If you're on a budget, Merlin Cycles have the old (5600) 105 for <£300, which is ridiculously cheap. 105 is good too, but I prefer the shifting on SRAM.

And to anyone who 'wouldn't have SRAM rubbish' - why not? Have you ever used it? Ever had problems with it? No? Didn't think so.

ride_whenever

Campag was good in the past, when it was properly rebuildable. the newer stuff is just garbage...

On the SRAM/Shimano, I'd buy the 5600 over the 5700 purely because the newer 105 doesn't shift as well because of the hidden cables. My personal preference would be sram, and buy whatever you can afford.

MikeWW

Have SRAM and Shimano-prefer the SRAM
But I also prefer the 105 5700 over the 5600. Shifting is fine and much nicer having the cables hidden away

merak

ride_whenever wrote:

Campag was good in the past, when it was properly rebuildable. the newer stuff is just garbage...
.

Do you actually have a road bike with Campag?

ride_whenever

No, but I've ridden it a lot and worked on it extensively. I like the ergonomics of the shifters but in my opinion the build quality has dropped significantly, particularly over the lower ranges.

ddraver

Oh dear, here come the Campag Fanbois. I have SRAM on both road and MTB bikes and I'm a.big fan! However, the truth is that at the level you re looking at all the makes are so similar there is absolutely no difference between the 3. Find a friendly LBS and have a go on both! Buy the one you prefer

If it's SRAM and you need an easier gear for hills, get Apex, if you live somewhere flat, get Rival...

merak

ride_whenever wrote:

No, but I've ridden it a lot and worked on it extensively. I like the ergonomics of the shifters but in my opinion the build quality has dropped significantly, particularly over the lower ranges.

Thanks - helpful input.

Paul057

[/quote] If it's SRAM and you need an easier gear for hills, get Apex, if you live somewhere flat, get Rival...[/quote]

Ok that's totally thrown me. Is it not the gears ratio that affects ease of climbing/speed on the flat? :?

ddraver

The point of Apex is that it's compatible with a wide range cassette, rather than using a triple cranks to get the same gears - if you live somewhere with no hills your better off with a close ratio cassette.

Up to the OP which he think he needs...

ex-pat scot

Prefer SRAM

However Merlin (I think) have a £280 killer deal on 5600 105 10 speed at the moment.

BruceG

[
And to anyone who 'wouldn't have SRAM rubbish' - why not? Have you ever used it? Ever had problems with it? No? Didn't think so.[/quote]

Wasnt me who said it but YES nad YES to both of your questions

springtide9

Have SRAM Red on the road bike and Shimano XT on the MTB. I have always used Shimano (last 25 years) so this is my first experience.... and as they say, 'it just works'.

If I was buying again... I would just go for the one I got the best deal on. Both work great.

esspeebee

Paul057 wrote:

If it's SRAM and you need an easier gear for hills, get Apex, if you live somewhere flat, get Rival...

Ok that's totally thrown me. Is it not the gears ratio that affects ease of climbing/speed on the flat? :?

Apex comes with an 11-32 cassette, if you want it.

ianlash

esspeebee wrote:

Paul057 wrote:

If it's SRAM and you need an easier gear for hills, get Apex, if you live somewhere flat, get Rival...

Ok that's totally thrown me. Is it not the gears ratio that affects ease of climbing/speed on the flat? :?

Apex comes with an 11-32 cassette, if you want it.

To clarify, you need the medium length rear derailleur to use the 11-32 cassette. 32 will get you up anything. You can go 11-28 with the normal length Apex (or Rival etc), which is fine for all but the hardest hills.

cyberknight

esspeebee wrote:

Paul057 wrote:

If it's SRAM and you need an easier gear for hills, get Apex, if you live somewhere flat, get Rival...

Ok that's totally thrown me. Is it not the gears ratio that affects ease of climbing/speed on the flat? :?

Apex comes with an 11-32 cassette, if you want it.

+1 my boardman comp came with the 11-32 as standard and although i do not really need the gears i am not going to change the cassette till it needs it.Taught me to spin more as well as i find i am using a lower gear ratio for the same speed .

As for the whats better debate, get whatever shifter set up you prefer the feel of as at the end of the day they all work .

I run shimano 2300 on the commuter and it is fine
Sram apex on the nice bike which works nicely when you get used to double tap
twist shifters on the BSO "omfg its snowing " bike and that works ok too.

I have also used microshift as well in the past , different and the LBS even said it was more positive than shimano and they liked them.

merak

Problem with 11-32 is the bigger jumps between sprockets, so not so easy to always get a comfortable cadence. I find 12-26 gaps too big sometimes and much prefer riding 12-23 or 12-21 provided no humungous hills in prospect.

Kaves

Shimano on trails and Sram on the road

MaxwellBygraves

I'm probably in the minority here, but over time I've realised I couldn't give a sh*t what groupset a bike has. As long as it is functional and reliable (which all of the big 3 are) I'm cool with.

And yes, I have tried and used all 3. Can't really pick a favourite, like them all.

cyberknight

merak wrote:

Problem with 11-32 is the bigger jumps between sprockets, so not so easy to always get a comfortable cadence. I find 12-26 gaps too big sometimes and much prefer riding 12-23 or 12-21 provided no humungous hills in prospect.

Get a shorter range cassette with a triple if you want small gaps and the abilty to get up any hill.

keef66

"Get a shorter range cassette with a triple if you want small gaps and the abilty to get up any hill"

That's what I did! Best of both worlds. Only downside is that I have to take the crankset off to give the chainrings a proper clean from the back.

merak

cyberknight wrote:

Get a shorter range cassette with a triple if you want small gaps and the abilty to get up any hill.

+1.

I run 52/39 on my road bikes and 12-21 but I put on a 12-26 if I know there are big hills. 39x26 will get me up pretty much anything (maybe not the Angliru). I have a triple on my audax bike with 12-23 and 30x23 will get me up anything even with a couple hundred miles in my legs and yet the ratios are nice and close.

crescent

pbt150 wrote:

SRAM is very good, even at Rival/Apex level. The shifting is great.

If you're on a budget, Merlin Cycles have the old (5600) 105 for <£300, which is ridiculously cheap. 105 is good too, but I prefer the shifting on SRAM.

And to anyone who 'wouldn't have SRAM rubbish' - why not? Have you ever used it? Ever had problems with it? No? Didn't think so.

PBT150, is that SRAM Apex fitted to your Allez in your signature photo? Did you replace a triple or double and, if so, how does it compare to the Sora? (Assume that was the original kit)

Cheers

MattC59

geobuchan wrote:

Building a new frame up and was wondering what to fit, Shimano 105 or Sram Apex or Sram Rival? :?

Try them both in your LBS and go for the one you like the most........... easy as that.

pbt150

PBT150, is that SRAM Apex fitted to your Allez in your signature photo? Did you replace a triple or double and, if so, how does it compare to the Sora? (Assume that was the original kit)

Cheers

It's Rival, with an FSA chainset. I replaced Sora 3300 double (and put that on t'other bike). I've used Apex briefly and it's difficult to tell the difference from Rival, apart from a few hundred grams' weight.

If Sora is well set up, it shifts gears very well and I use it every day. Is shifting better using SRAM? Yes - the Double Tap system is really good. I prefer using it, and it's much easier to use in the drops (although I can actually use the Sora button from the drops). Lever throws are shorter, and shifting feels more direct.

I'd think about why you're replacing the Sora if I were you. If you're planning on keeping the bike for a while and can see many years's use, make the change. If you're planning a new bike soon, keep the Sora and put the money in the bank, then buy your new bike with Rival.

Mark Alexander

markos1963 wrote:

Microshift?

Apple!!!!

Oh, SRAM all the way.

Barrzy257

Currenly running Rival and the 5600 stuff on my 2 bikes,, love the shift levers on the SRAM, but love the rear shifting on my 105! As someone said earlier, go for whatever you can get the best deal on!