Sram Apex is it any good?

exlaser

have just ordered a van nicholas ventus s.c.

its great valuebut it comes with sram apex. am now having second thoughts about apex group set and am thinking of cancelling the order.( yes i know its stupid! :oops: )

my current bike has campg mirage, which i know is cheap but works faultlessly, so i love it.

after looking on line, there seems to be alot of people who moan about shifting problems with all sram groups sets.
so what do do you all our there in bike radar land think about apex?

i know its bottom of the sram range, but i need to know;

is it crap?
does it work ok?
if it does have problems, what are they?

any views would be great. the idea apex is rubbish is driving me mad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :?

luv2ride

SRAM Apex is good. No, it's actually rather great.
I had SRAM Rival on a Boardman (1st road bike) so when I upgraded to a Roubaix I got the groupsets swapped over, so the Rival was on my "best bike", as I'd grown to really like it.
Just built up a winter bike on a Tifosi frame and went for an Apex groupset, thinking I would stay SRAM but wasn't expecting it to be as good as my Rival. Having ridden it several times now I can't really tell any difference between the two. I'd recommend it.
I think people are put off by it being the bottom of the SRAM road range, but is actually close or equivalent to Shimano 105 IMHO (my Roubaix originally came with 105)

iandennis

I have Apex on my Secteur Elite.

Doing 970 miles in September for LEJOG, the groupset performed without any problems. That gives it a big thumbs up in my book. Hoods are a good size for me and the double tap is easy to use. I've been looking at n+1 and will be staying with SRAM out of preference.

Some people have a downer on Apex because it is the "bottom" of the range. However if your a 15stone, ex-rugby player who used to find hills a real effort then Apex is a superb answer with its gear range.

It's not perfect, I had the chain come off a couple of time when shifting when i first got it but since adjusting it then its been fine.

It's a good solid & reliable groupset.

wishitwasallflat

+1 I have Apex on my Secteur Elite done about 5k miles with no problems at all.

essjaydee

Got Apex on my supersix and very pleased so far with it

My other bike has a 105/Tiagra mix,and I prefer the Apex gruppo

Danny_B9

essjaydee wrote:

Got Apex on my supersix and very pleased so far with it

My other bike has a 105/Tiagra mix,and I prefer the Apex gruppo

+1 for apex on my supersix too. I can't give a comparisson as this is my first road bike but it all seems good qaulity and before buying I tried all groupsets and prefered the double tap for shifting, super easy to learn, got the hang of it on first ride.

Although at the weekend when in last gear I got to 29.1mph and the chain slipped twice so I had to shift down a gear but dont let this put you off though as I can't find many comments on this happening and it is probably down to set up, will have it checked with first service.

I guess your question was aimed at qauilty rather than what people like but so far I have had no problems with the groupset quality and hopefully it stays that way.

ddraver

Yeah, I ve an old SRAM Group that's been great. Tried Apex on a test ride and could nt tell the difference apart from the lever was metal.

Performance wise, all brands are the same (at equivalent levels). Any groupset will shift badly if it's not set up properly or not maintained properly.

Shimano=SRAM=Campag

exlaser

thanks for all the imput.

its put my mind to rest a little.

if anybody of there has any more views, please post them.

if i am going to cancel, i will need to do it in the next couple of days, so any views are welcome!!!!

RubbishCyclist

Can anyone explain the double tap thing to me? Keep seeing it mentioned......cheers

dave35

Wouldn't call it double tap, but you click in the same direction to change gear-one click to go up a gear but two clicks or ine long sweep to go down a gear-make sense?
Only used Apex for a 20 mile ride but very impressed so far,considering I also use Campag Record,Sram is winning me over.

essjaydee

http://www.sram.com/sram/road/technologies/doubletap_r

Works really well in practise and I prefer it to Shimano
I had an issue at the weekend with it slipping in a couple of gears, but nothing a quick tweak of the adjusters couldn't sort

passout

I find shimano shifting slightly smoother but overall I prefer sram groupsets. Double tap works fine.
My SRAM rival is the most reliable groupset I've had (even more than Ultegra). Not tried Apex but always heard good things. Also I 'think' it offers some great (low) climbing gears - comparable to a triple.

luv2ride

I wouldn't cancel. Apex is a class act. One thing to be aware of though. Apex is available with a medium cage rear derailleur which allow use of a 32 tooth rear cassette. This will make climbing hills easier with a compact crankset. However, it's also available with the standard short cage rear derailleur which will allow use of up to a 28 tooth cassette. I have the latter cassette on both my Rival and Apex set ups and it's fine. I've heard the 32 tooth cassette has some considerable jumps between ratios, but if you live near any big hills or mountains, your legs might thanks you for it!

carrock

Mrs Carrock and I have Apex on our Specialized Crux cyclocross bikes which we use as winter/commuters. I have Dura Ace on my Roubaix Pro and don't notice much of a difference in shifting.....

essjaydee

Agree that Shimano feels smoother in shifting, but SRAM feels more positive to me. Both work fine on the road.

I have the 11-32 cassette with the 'Wi-Fli' rear mech. Jury still out on the gaps between ratios, but so far I haven't noticed any massive jumps between gears and can always find a gear that I'm comfortable with

exlaser

thanks guys, for all the posts.

it put my mind to rest( if its crap i will blame you all)

i will just sit back and wait for the bike to arrive, if it ever does. its already a month late and not now due to arrive until mid january!!

luv2ride

ouch, hate waiting for a new bike!

exlaser

Luv2ride wrote:

I wouldn't cancel. Apex is a class act. One thing to be aware of though. Apex is available with a medium cage rear derailleur which allow use of a 32 tooth rear cassette. This will make climbing hills easier with a compact crankset. However, it's also available with the standard short cage rear derailleur which will allow use of up to a 28 tooth cassette. I have the latter cassette on both my Rival and Apex set ups and it's fine. I've heard the 32 tooth cassette has some considerable jumps between ratios, but if you live near any big hills or mountains, your legs might thanks you for it!

thanks for this tip as well. i have checked spec and the bike should come with compact crankset with a medium cage derailler and a 11 to 28 cassette. have had a little chat with the shop i am buying it from and they will exchange the cassette for a 11 to 32 if i want. will probably do this as i am a fan of small gears!

did mont ventoux last year on a 30 x28 and by god did i need it!

nathancom

I would make sure you are comfortable with the double tap mechanism. I didn't enjoy using it, which I am sure is my problem not SRAM's, but still worth a test before you buy.

Slacey

Another SRAM fan here. I have Apex, 105 and Ultegra on my bikes and if I had the cash, would fit SRAm to all of them. My Apex has the 11-32 cassette which is ideal for really hilly rides and controlling training in the winter months. It works really well and is the only groupset I've had that doesn't require regular tinkering; it never seems to go out of whack at all. Oh, and the comment on ratio gaps - there is one big jump half way up the 11-32 cassette that can catch you out on occasion but it's nothing to worry about IMO.

freddiegrubb

I've used campag-shim.& at the moment sram, if set up correctly they all work well, obviously the only thing being style of lever /change method.

jimmythecuckoo

I have a bike with Campag and a bike with Apex.

It's not as good as Campag but its ok once you get used to the method of shifting.