SRAM shifters

xrecymech

Setting off to work this morning, half way there and right shifter packs up, failed ratchet. This is the second RH shifter I have had fail in 3 months, august Force shifter ratchet breaks, today on winter bike, Rival shifter; what sort of company makes this sort of shite? Time for me to move on to shimano I think.

StillGoing

There was a batch of Rival shifters that were prone to breakages which SRAM addressed. Try contacting them to see what they have to say. As for the comment what sort of company makes this sort of shite; I've had Force and Red shifters on my bikes for almost 4 years without the slightest problem. On the other hand, the Shimano shifters I previously had on the winter bike kept failing on the RH by jamming the cable and I've recently done a replacement for someone with the same issue. Shimano are therefore no better or worse than SRAM who are no better or worse than Campag who are no better or worse than Shimano etc etc. You just got unlucky.

diamonddog

You might be able to get it sorted on warranty, there have been a number of cases like yours where if the warranty period is over SRAM have sorted it. Have a word with the shop you got them from or try and contact SRAM, it seems there was a duff batch at some point.

xrecymech

Appreciate shimano, campag are by no means indestructible, but I don't hear as many complaints about them, and things will always break at some point. I have only ever had 1 chain break, Which was Sram and 2 weeks old, and earlier this year Force Chainset had to go back because the thread inserts for the pedals where loose, I think that's more than unlucky, that's bad quality.

ck101

I have Rival, Force and Red. The Force has been used most over the last three years and has been fault free.
No issues with the others either.

StillGoing

xrecymech wrote:

Appreciate shimano, campag are by no means indestructible, but I don't hear as many complaints about them, and things will always break at some point. I have only ever had 1 chain break, Which was Sram and 2 weeks old, and earlier this year Force Chainset had to go back because the thread inserts for the pedals where loose, I think that's more than unlucky, that's bad quality.

There are many reasons why parts fail; faulty part, poor design, imitation part, badly fitted, poor maintenance, misuse.

I'll grant you SRAM chains don't seem to be as good as Shimano but then they aren't as good as KMC in my opinion. Maybe because there are a few on here who are so anti SRAM because they're the new boys on the block as far as road groupsets go, there's more a tendency for people to go off on one when they experience a fault. With Shimano selling more units, I'll wager they have just as many failures but it doesn't get the reaction that SRAM does. My SRAM set ups only ever require adjustment when the cables stretch and although the pro tour don't buy their groupos, they wouldn't use a groupo that was "shite" and prone to failure risking them repeated mechanical failures. There are a good number of teams using SRAM groupsets.

xrecymech

Pros use the groupsets that they are paid to use, they are not likely to own up to not liking a particular bit of kit are they, and incidentally, Sram has the least presence in WorldTour teams, who knows why that is!!
I am sure there are many very satisfied and happy customers of Sram, until this year I was one of them, unfortunately too many failures that are not attributable to bad maintenance, incorrect setup or misuse have happened in the last 6 months mean that I believe there products to be inferior to others, if other people don't, fine.

Coach H

philthy3 wrote:

I'll grant you SRAM chains don't seem to be as good as Shimano but then they aren't as good as KMC in my opinion.

AFAIK SHimano chains are manufactured by KMC

amaferanga

There's a standard 2 year warranty on SRAM components in case you didn't know.

StillGoing

xrecymech wrote:

Pros use the groupsets that they are paid to use, they are not likely to own up to not liking a particular bit of kit are they, and incidentally, Sram has the least presence in WorldTour teams, who knows why that is!!
I am sure there are many very satisfied and happy customers of Sram, until this year I was one of them, unfortunately too many failures that are not attributable to bad maintenance, incorrect setup or misuse have happened in the last 6 months mean that I believe there products to be inferior to others, if other people don't, fine.

Then change them but you really are overdoing the SRAM are shite scenario. As for Pro teams using what they are given; a team would not use something if it was prone to failure otherwise they immediately reduce their chances of success. You wouldn't get Cav, Contador and Sagan using SRAM if it was going to diminish their chances of winning. Toys would soon come out of the pram. As for having the least presence; maybe they don't need to pay teams to advertise their stuff.

bsharp77

I agree - all new SRAM and Shimano equipment is made to a very high standard, after that its just down to personal preference.
I just got my new Focus Izalco Pro with 11 speed Dura Ace....its ok, but id swap it for SRAM Red in a heartbeat.

Old_Timer

2 years on my Rival group with no problems to date from any of the components. In all honesty I haven't had a component failure that I can remember, save my very first Simplex RD, the Delrin body model, and that was a simple stripped out cable anchor bolt and nut from the store I bought that bike shaped object from in 1971.

I've had conversations with a few riders about the reported bad batch of SRAM shifter/brake assemblies, only one had had the ratchet assembly on a right shifter go out on them. I personally believe Campagnolo, Shimano, SRAM, Miche, etc., are all built very, very well, as said no one component is perfect a bad unit or batch can show up but looking at the numbers of components in use the failure rate is small and warranty of a component is preferable to the bad publicity a modern rider has available with social media can bring on a company.

How Far is too Far

10,000 miles on a set of RED shifters, still change like new on original cables.

Got Ultegra on my CX bike and had to adjust the cable a few times and they never seem any where near as good as the Sram to me.

bondurant

Why on earth not?

napoleond

I had red for 4 years never had any mother.

ddraver

How Far is too Far wrote:

10,000 miles on a set of RED shifters, still change like new on original cables.

Got Ultegra on my CX bike and had to adjust the cable a few times and they never seem any where near as good as the Sram to me.

hmm, do you mind if I add this to the "The CampSRAMano gears on my summer bike that never gets used except on totally dry days and then cleaned to OCD levels afterwards are flawless but the ShimpagSRAM ones on my winter bike which gets used in rain, snow and mud and cleaned once every 2 years are rubbish " file?

xrecymech

madasahattersley wrote:

xrecymech wrote:

Pros use the groupsets that they are paid to use, they are not likely to own up to not liking a particular bit of kit are they, and incidentally, Sram has the least presence in WorldTour teams, who knows why that is!!
I am sure there are many very satisfied and happy customers of Sram, until this year I was one of them, unfortunately too many failures that are not attributable to bad maintenance, incorrect setup or misuse have happened in the last 6 months mean that I believe there products to be inferior to others, if other people don't, fine.

Misconception - Teams at that level have a great deal of choice in which sponsors they choose. You'll never see SKY on Campag

Mmmmm, misconception, I would maybe be inclined to take note of this if you were involved in the sponsorship discussions and deals that go on with pro teams like Sky and component manufacturers, but I suspect you aren't. As in most sports and sponsorship deals, Sky will probably use whoever they feel has a reliable product and/or puts up the most money. At the end of the day, they run teams like a business; they take risks in some of the decisions they make and who they bring on board, it's not all about the best kit, otherwise they wouldn't have discussed a deal with Pinarello to supply frames, if they really thought they were the best, it wouldn't have been a discussion, it would've been a no-brainer.

morstar

Even if using Pinarello was a given...
You'd still have a discussion to agree terms, qty's etc. etc. This is basic business or you end up with a lop sided agreement where Pinarello have a team using their bikes but have very little obligation as regards service levels.

FransJacques

philthy3 wrote:

xrecymech wrote:

Pros use the groupsets that they are paid to use, they are not likely to own up to not liking a particular bit of kit are they, and incidentally, Sram has the least presence in WorldTour teams, who knows why that is!!
I am sure there are many very satisfied and happy customers of Sram, until this year I was one of them, unfortunately too many failures that are not attributable to bad maintenance, incorrect setup or misuse have happened in the last 6 months mean that I believe there products to be inferior to others, if other people don't, fine.

Then change them but you really are overdoing the SRAM are shite scenario. As for Pro teams using what they are given; a team would not use something if it was prone to failure otherwise they immediately reduce their chances of success. You wouldn't get Cav, Contador and Sagan using SRAM if it was going to diminish their chances of winning. Toys would soon come out of the pram. As for having the least presence; maybe they don't need to pay teams to advertise their stuff.

Guys, the thing you have to remember is any pro groupset is effectively new for every race - chain, cables, cassettes and chainrings are inspected carefully and each bike gets several minutes attention prior to each event. Plus, a pro bike doesn't suffer the day in-day out grind ours do. Their bikes only have to last 3-4 hours until the finish line, then they're again subject to maintainance and testing.

Sorry to hear about your shifters. Take off the hood and investgate the innerds to see what's up. Sram made a change a couple years back to Force and Rival which was to add a bushing into the gear lever for a better feel. The trouble is this involved drilling a bigger pivot hole for the lever thereby creating a weak spot both on the body and the lever - the lever could break off at the pivot on a crash.

Explain what happened to your RH shifter - what's the issue. Or do you know how to trouble-shoot it?

StillGoing

FransJacques wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

xrecymech wrote:

Pros use the groupsets that they are paid to use, they are not likely to own up to not liking a particular bit of kit are they, and incidentally, Sram has the least presence in WorldTour teams, who knows why that is!!
I am sure there are many very satisfied and happy customers of Sram, until this year I was one of them, unfortunately too many failures that are not attributable to bad maintenance, incorrect setup or misuse have happened in the last 6 months mean that I believe there products to be inferior to others, if other people don't, fine.

Then change them but you really are overdoing the SRAM are shite scenario. As for Pro teams using what they are given; a team would not use something if it was prone to failure otherwise they immediately reduce their chances of success. You wouldn't get Cav, Contador and Sagan using SRAM if it was going to diminish their chances of winning. Toys would soon come out of the pram. As for having the least presence; maybe they don't need to pay teams to advertise their stuff.

Guys, the thing you have to remember is any pro groupset is effectively new for every race - chain, cables, cassettes and chainrings are inspected carefully and each bike gets several minutes attention prior to each event. Plus, a pro bike doesn't suffer the day in-day out grind ours do. Their bikes only have to last 3-4 hours until the finish line, then they're again subject to maintainance and testing.

Sorry to hear about your shifters. Take off the hood and investgate the innerds to see what's up. Sram made a change a couple years back to Force and Rival which was to add a bushing into the gear lever for a better feel. The trouble is this involved drilling a bigger pivot hole for the lever thereby creating a weak spot both on the body and the lever - the lever could break off at the pivot on a crash.

Fully aware that team bikes are subjected to strong maintenance checks no matter who the manufacturer of the group set is. However, they still would not use a component if it is "shite" and likely to fail at any time or with limited use. A good slog in a pro tour stage probably exposes the groupset to more abuse in that one race than some riders give theirs in 12 months of riding so a component with a tendency to fail would not be used. Whilst the weak spot is a potential issue in a crash, that doesn't make it prone to mechanical failure or "shite". For what it's worth I've crashed a few times on my winter bike fitted with 2010 Force shifters and despite them hitting the ground in the impact, they still function like new.

None of the 3 big groupset manufacturers make "shite".

diamonddog

If Sram products were rubbish then Sram would not be in business, simple.

onemoresolo

My wife had a crash a few months ago and her SRAM Rival brake lever broke clean off, snapping the upper housing where the lever pivot is. The gear lever, while very scuffed, still worked as did the shifting mechanism.

Sounds pretty robust to me!

spankwilder

Campag is a bit like a bic biro, it just doesn't really have any innovative parts to fail.

Old_Timer

What happened to the shifter? Was it damaged or has the ratcheting action on the pawl stopped working, etc? There was a lengthy discussion on another cycling forum a few months back where a SRAM owner had problems with his shifter's mechanicals, a good cleaning and careful reassembly and it was back in service. Sorry if I have missed what happened in your previous posts. Just a thought based on what I have read recently. Best of luck on your solving the problem so you can get back to riding. I use SRAM, as I had posted, I have done a cleaning just as a maintenance item, not difficult to work on at all.

ddraver

spankwilder wrote:

Campag is a bit like a bic biro, it just doesn't really have any innovative parts to fail.

markyone

A mate of mine had rival and the shifter failed,upgraded to red and no problems since.

FransJacques

xrecymech wrote:

Setting off to work this morning, half way there and right shifter packs up, failed ratchet. This is the second RH shifter I have had fail in 3 months, august Force shifter ratchet breaks, today on winter bike, Rival shifter; what sort of company makes this sort of shite? Time for me to move on to shimano I think.

To bring this back on track (rather than talking about pro bikes) have you found the root cause of the issue? Have your tried to source a replacement of the part or the whole shifter with SRAM or LBS?

If you've not trouble-shot the shifter, send as pic as to what you think is broken.

Would be good to cut through the noise a bit and see an outcome for the OP.

StillGoing

I think the outcome is he doesn't like SRAM and for no valid reason is claiming they're shite.

enigmaman

My Rival rear shifter snapped after about 15 months and perhaps 5,000 miles. Contacted Wiggle without any expectation, and they advised that SRAM gives a two year warranty. Returned it via Wiggle and a few weeks later received a pair of Force shifters as a replacement. I now have SRAM on my three road bikes, which I guess is what happens if you give good customer service. And no issues since.

diamonddog

philthy3 wrote:

I think the outcome is he doesn't like SRAM and for no valid reason is claiming they're shite.

^^This