Sram generations

Mrtennis

Looking at buying some second hand sram stuff for a bike that I'm wanting to build. But sram don't seem to have the same system as Shimano in serial numbers so as to determine which is the newer model. Or if they do it's certainly not as publicised as with Shimano.
For example I'm after some rival shifters. It seems that the latest one (2nd gen) have carbon levers. Is this all I have to go by when looking at rival levers on ebay for example? If they don't appear to be carbon does that mean they are 1st gen?
Some advice on what to look for on the rest of the groupset would be good too .
Another point is that I will probably need long reach calipers due to wanting to be able to fit mudguards and maybe bigger tyres, probably on a Defy. Am i right in thinking that will need long reach calipers? If so, sram don't seem to do these so I was planning on using Shimano calipers with sram shifters/brake levers. Coming from mtbs it's very confusing to me but as far as I can tell all these things just arent always necessarily compatible with each other. I think the combination I am going for will be ok from what I've read. But if anyone is kind enough to explain to me how all these road bits work that would be great , or even just a link to somewhere where it breaks it all down
Thanks

joshoregan

apex: only 1 generation
rival: new look on the levers but looks very similar to the first one. both carbon levers except the newer ones have a sort of grey tinge to them
force: 10speed standard with white tip was first. force 22 just released
red: standard 2011 model, then it game in black and awhole piule of colours, then they released new design 2012 then sram red 22 recently.

sram is a very new company. it was a merger when about 5 companies came together. running red on a bike at the moment but between indexing on RD's never going to plan and Red front derailleurs being wearing like real pro kit (ring marks bedded especially on ti version after a few 1000 km), newer 2012 calipers real spongey, jockey wheels wearing quick, trying to route the derailleur cables for about half an hour i try avoid it. i cant judge sram 22 havent used it but its for these reasons and that the company is new such as microshift and a merger that a lot of people dont like it. this is open to criticism but having ridden DA, Red and SR i find it by far the worst but others will have me dead for this comment so dont be very narrow minded about it. try a friends bike with rival or whatever is you want if you can find it. obviously this all corresponds to your msg on S/N. they dont need them and dont have clear model names like 7700/7800/7900/9000 like Shimano

StillGoing

I use a combination of SRAM Red and Force on both my road bikes and don't have any of the issues the above poster describes. Indexing is a doddle as is cable routing. My main bike uses all SRAM components whereas my winter bike runs SRAM Force levers and derailleurs from 2010 with not even a sign of any issues and Shimano Tiagra calipers simply because I saw no reason to change them.

richard_farrant

joshoregan wrote:

sram is a very new company. it was a merger when about 5 companies came together

Think it is just new to the road, been round for years in mtb world

night_porter

Giant Defy does take mudguards but they are Giant specific ones, this is because they use standard drop brakes and there is a cut out section which fits around the brake calipers. If you put deep drop brakes on you would need to drill a new hole higher up or run the risk of the brake shoes missing the rims.

The Giant specific mudguards will allow you to run 700x25 tyres and they work fairly well, better than Crud Roadracers but not as good as SKS Thermoplastics IME.

Mrtennis

night_porter wrote:

Giant Defy does take mudguards but they are Giant specific ones, this is because they use standard drop brakes and there is a cut out section which fits around the brake calipers. If you put deep drop brakes on you would need to drill a new hole higher up or run the risk of the brake shoes missing the rims.

The Giant specific mudguards will allow you to run 700x25 tyres and they work fairly well, better than Crud Roadracers but not as good as SKS Thermoplastics IME.

That's good to know night_porter. I'm still a bit confused on the different generations of Sram though, specifically Rival, even though joshoregan tried to explain it. I'm basically buying all the parts second hand, ebay etc, and just need to make sure I get the latest (2nd gen) stuff. From the reviews I read it, they say that the carbon levers are new to the 2nd gen and the 1st didn't have them. Joshoregan says not though :?

luv2ride

I have a SRAM Rival groupset which originally came on a 2009 Boardman (now fitted to my Roubaix) so 1st Gen. They definitely have the carbon levers, as well as the adjustable reach brake lever, and shifter paddle. There might be a slight change to lever shape with 2nd Gen, as well as colour. I like mine so much I've put SRAM Force on my new bike (and Apex on the winter bike).

diy

New as in 25 years old? Sram stuff is good plays leapfrog with shimano in the MTB world. I'm running 2006 juicy 7s on my mtb and they are running as new