Switching from Shimano 105 to SRAM

munkster

Have an irrational desire to switch to SRAM (lighter innit?) from my now-slightly-ageing 105 groupset. It's either Rival or, at a push, Force I'm looking at. Any thoughts or advice? Should I push the boat out for the Force groupset? Cheers for anything.

sloppyschleckonds

Depends what frame you are going to put it on, Force is as good/ light as anyone really needs.

chris1967cycling

If you switch get ready for lots of continual adjustment.

I switched from Shimano to Sram Red and switched back a few weeks later. Got sick of having to keep re adjusting the front and rear mechs

StillGoing

I have SRAM Red/Force combinations on both bikes. Force works fine and SRAM shifting just makes sense for me. Rival is good too but you'll wish you pushed the boat out and went for Force. Both bikes (Basso Astra and Trek 1.5a) have Force F&R derailleurs with Wifli on the Basso which also has Red shifters. Both have Red crank sets and Force brakes. Not one component has ever failed or given me grief.

munkster

but you'll wish you pushed the boat out and went for Force

It's comments like that that could cost me a lot of money ;-)

It will be going on a frame befitting the outlay, I promise, SloppySchleckonds!

Thanks for the comments chaps.

luv2ride

I now have bikes with Apex, Rival and most recently, Force. No adjustments needed on any of the bikes since being set up (although I think I did re-trim the FD on the Apex once). I was so impressed with the Rival groupset that I upgraded to Force when building my new bike. Shifts do seem lighter and quicker, and the carbon crankset seems stiffer (although the frame is also stiffer than the bike it is replacing, so could be down to that). I do love the carbon levers on the Rival, and the action of the Apex is a close match overall. The double-tap shifting quickly became second nature, and I do like having a separate gear lever to the brake lever. I'd go Force if you can stretch to it, but don't think you'd be disappointed with Rival if that was what you ended up with.

Conorstreete

I recently bought a carbon bike with sram force...Best group set ever! Never given me any trouble and never has had to been re-adjusted...Go and push the boat out..I did and I am happy..the levers all have zero loss unlike rival so quicker shifts!

seanbosworth

stick with 105, it's a good groupset and works well and replacement parts are easy to get hold of. it sounds like alot of work and take alot of money to swap, is sram that much lighter?, it would be cheaper going on a diet and loosing the weight that way.

dgstewart

I started with 105 on 1st bike, then new No. 1 bike came with Red/Force mix and I preferred it instantly. I like the smaller hoods and the double tap shifting. I've not tried Force shifters, but tried Rival (good) and recently replaced my falling to bits assorted Shimano groupset on original (now winter) bike with a full SRAM Apex groupset. It works fine too, although is not quite as good as the Red/Force mix, not surprising really.

If you don't need to replace it, I wouldn't bother at all. Weight difference is not that huge and both perform well. I only replaced mine as it really did need replacing - bits had broken and been changed out, broken again, etc to the point where I had a mish-mash of 2nd hand bits that would never quite set up right.

ricky1980

depending on your second hand value of the 105 (5600 i assume)

get a set of second hand rival shifter+mechs shouldn't cost you too much...rival/force shifters nothing to choose between.

the chainset however is the big money. no point in going for rival chainset over 105. force or s900 chainset or slk light is your choice. thats £200 or there abouts new.

i changed my tiagra to force/rival/SLK on my CAAD. the double tap shift is much quicker and tactile for me

Bar Shaker

For mech shifters Rival are brilliant, Force are all you'll ever need.

After 10 minutes you'll wonder why everything isn't double tap.

I'm using Di2 on Force cogs. If I wasn't, it would be 100% Force.

cougie

To save weight ? Really ? You won't notice any difference.

TBH I prefer Shimano Ultegra over my SRAM Force - my mate with Red prefers Ultegra too - but its all personal preference.

It's a lot of money to spend on kit that wont improve the bike you ride. But its your money.

imposter2.0

chris1967cycling wrote:

If you switch get ready for lots of continual adjustment.

I switched from Shimano to Sram Red and switched back a few weeks later. Got sick of having to keep re adjusting the front and rear mechs

you're obviously doing something wrong then - because my Force group has been on the bike for about three years now, and I hardly ever need to lay a finger (or an allen key) on it.

robbo2011

chris1967cycling wrote:

If you switch get ready for lots of continual adjustment.

I switched from Shimano to Sram Red and switched back a few weeks later. Got sick of having to keep re adjusting the front and rear mechs

There must have been something wrong with your setup because I never, ever need to adjust. I set up my Sram Rival WiFli (with red shifters) 5000km ago and it has worked perfectly ever since. I even changed to a different brand rear wheel and even then, the gears didn't need indexing.

Bar Shaker

chris1967cycling wrote:

If you switch get ready for lots of continual adjustment.

I switched from Shimano to Sram Red and switched back a few weeks later. Got sick of having to keep re adjusting the front and rear mechs

I have to say I agree with the other comments. This must have been an installation issue as I didn't adjust mine once in nearly 3 years and they were perfect every ride.

racingcondor

I went from Ultegra 6600 to Force and although I have had a shift lever break I'm very happy indeed with the switch. SRAM can be a bit agricultural at times (a few rough shifts here and there) but set it up right and it runs flawlessly for ages.

For durability I suspect Ultegra has the edge but Force shifts very quickly (you can shift in a sprint easily) and double tap just makes more sense to me than any of the other shifting systems. I prefer the ergonomics of SRAM to everything else as well.

racingcondor

chris1967cycling wrote:

If you switch get ready for lots of continual adjustment.

I switched from Shimano to Sram Red and switched back a few weeks later. Got sick of having to keep re adjusting the front and rear mechs

As has been said, this was set up poorly.

SRAM is very sensitive to the alignment of the front mech and how you route your cables. It definitely benefits from gentle curves which allow you to keep the cable tension down. Get it right and it's completely maintenance free until you replace the cables.

StillGoing

racingcondor wrote:

chris1967cycling wrote:

If you switch get ready for lots of continual adjustment.

I switched from Shimano to Sram Red and switched back a few weeks later. Got sick of having to keep re adjusting the front and rear mechs

As has been said, this was set up poorly.

SRAM is very sensitive to the alignment of the front mech and how you route your cables. It definitely benefits from gentle curves which allow you to keep the cable tension down. Get it right and it's completely maintenance free until you replace the cables.

I've just replaced the cabling on both my bikes and even then it was simple enough to do with no indexing required.

squibnocket

I have 3 bikes with one of each Sram Red, Shimano Ultegra and Campag Veloce, I enjoy riding all 3 bikes for different reasons and I've not experienced any problems with continuous adjustment. Go for it

djhermer

Bar Shaker wrote:

chris1967cycling wrote:

If you switch get ready for lots of continual adjustment.

I switched from Shimano to Sram Red and switched back a few weeks later. Got sick of having to keep re adjusting the front and rear mechs

I have to say I agree with the other comments. This must have been an installation issue as I didn't adjust mine once in nearly 3 years and they were perfect every ride.

Same here. I've had SRAM Red for just 6 months and have covered about 2500 miles on that bike. I haven't adjusted or touched it once and it's as good as the day i collected it. In that time i've covered about 1000 miles on another bike with 105 and am continually fiddling with the gears.

SRAM Red (and no doubt other SRAM groupsets) is the work of geniuses.

passout

I've been riding Rival for nearly 4 yrs now I think; I swapped from Ultegra. I find the shifting just as good (takes a few rides to get used to) but I've had to tinker with set up less - it seems to just keep on going without issue. I'll stick to SRAM. I have shimano on another bike & that is tinker free by the way.

Look at Merlin Cyles for groupset deals.

munkster

Am leaning towards Rival now. Questions is: where the chuff can you buy the groupset from?? The cheapest place I've found seems to be out of stock. Is it due an upgrade or something?

asprilla

I used to have 105 and Ultegra, but these days I've got full Apex, Apex with Force shifters and full Force on three bikes along with S900 / 500 / Apex on another two bikes.

I just find SRAM easier to to maintain; it requires no adjustment and indexing, if required, is so much easier. SRAM just seems to be more tolerant and will shift perfectly without the need for cable tension to be absolutely exact, like I found previously with 5600 and 6600.

Also, I find the ergonomics of the shifters much better. I even have S900 brake levers on my single speed because they are so comfortable.