Sram rival shifters with Shimano 105 FD
I've googled this to death and can't find a conclusive answer so thought I'd ask here. 
I have had a lot of problems and inconsistent changes on my Sram Rival shifters to Apex FD and have read that this is not uncommon. Some older threads I found suggest that the Shimano 105 5600 FD helps greatly but these are becoming harder to find at reasonable prices whereas 5700 are much cheaper and more widely available. I know that the cable pull was changed between versions and I was wondering if anyone has run the Rival / 105 5700 set up successfully?
Thanks in advance for any help.

I have had a lot of problems and inconsistent changes on my Sram Rival shifters to Apex FD and have read that this is not uncommon. Some older threads I found suggest that the Shimano 105 5600 FD helps greatly but these are becoming harder to find at reasonable prices whereas 5700 are much cheaper and more widely available. I know that the cable pull was changed between versions and I was wondering if anyone has run the Rival / 105 5700 set up successfully?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Vaaru Titanium Sram Red eTap
Moda Chord with drop bars and Rival shifters - winter/do it all bike
Orbea Rise
Moda Chord with drop bars and Rival shifters - winter/do it all bike
Orbea Rise
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Comments
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Will work fine. Lots of people use Shimano front mechs with Sram groupsets as Sram front mechs are known for having poor shifting. I think this is due to them not being very stiff.0
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Thanks for that, definitely with both the older and new versions though?Vaaru Titanium Sram Red eTap
Moda Chord with drop bars and Rival shifters - winter/do it all bike
Orbea Rise0 -
Yea functionally they are the same or at least very similar. Its only rear mechs that have a hard time working with other brand shifters due to amount of cable pull. Due to the longer pull on front mechs, the small differences in length make little to no difference.
Just make sure you buy the correct fitment. The shimano will also be available in double or triple whereas the Sram ones are double only.0 -
If you truly want perfect front shifts, buy a rival front mech (or even force) and pay a man in a bike shop to fit it and set it up for you. Simples.0
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Sorry Stevie-gee but I beg to differ. After much dabbling myself over many months (and I have set up a few front mechs in my time, they are hardly rocket science) I asked a work colleaugue to give it a try yesterday because he used to be an LBS mechanic and he was similarly dismissive of my amateur ability to set it up correctly. Getting it to work for a bit wasn't a problem for him either but within a few changes it would start to miss and he soon realised this wasn't a simple task! Yesterday afternoon he took my bike home with him and swapped out the Apex with the 105 FD from his Bianchi and it's now shifting perfectly. As a result I've now bought an Ultegra because they are a bargain at £32 from Wiggle and CRC at thre moment.
I know I probably had a faulty mech but like I said at the start it seems a common issue with many describing them as being made of cheese. I love the Sram kit in general, in particular the double tap shifters but I was getting pretty p1ssed off with the nagging front mech. Fingers crossed I can now put this issue to bed once and for all.Vaaru Titanium Sram Red eTap
Moda Chord with drop bars and Rival shifters - winter/do it all bike
Orbea Rise0