Ultegra v sram red

noste500

Comparing two bikes and there is £400 ish between them. (Both in sale , also one with £600 difference )
Is the red worth £400 between over the ultegra 6800 . ( if so , is it worth £600 more )

Not used either group sets etc before , only 105 .

Cheers in advance

cycleclinic

You buy the bike you like the most not the one that is "worth" the money. If we want value for money we would all be using Sora as that changes gear just fine.

Matthewfalle

I have both and Red is leagues ahead - nicer shaped and sized hoods, brakes are more tactile, shifts snappier and nicer, lighter, better looking...........

Red all the way in this decision.

noste500

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19774197#p19774197]thecycleclinic[/url] wrote:

You buy the bike you like the most not the one that is "worth" the money. If we want value for money we would all be using Sora as that changes gear just fine.

Thanks
Both are the same bikes , just the group set is different ... Makes a decision a bit more complex .
Cheers

me-109

Well if you've not used SRAM then try before you buy and you'll know whether or not it is worth the £400 extra. Going on anyone else's say-so could land you with a bike you can't stand.

bendertherobot

See, I've had Red, Force, Apex. I traded down from Red to Force as they felt pretty much identical.

That bike went, I now have Ultegra 6800. Shifting is quieter, hoods different to SRAM, as nice, depending on what you like. 600 brakes feel nicer and more linear than the Aerolink ones I had. Certainly easier to set up.

Chain rub is slightly irritating but I don't think I have it set up properly.

Is Red worth the difference? Depends what the difference is. As a SRAM fanboy I'm pretty happy on Ultegra.

trek_dan

I'd have to say no. I'm a SRAM fanboy and I definitely prefer the shape of the hoods and the feel of the brakes with SRAM but the new gen Shimano 11 speed just works so well IMO.

kingrollo

I ve got Ultegra and its just fine.

My opinion though that anything above 105 isn't really necessary - I wouldn't be paying £400 extra for something that maybe better than Ultegra - for most of us it doesn't need to be better.

bendertherobot

Oh, and, what crankset does the Shimano one come with? See, for me, I ended up with a Cannondale Si Hollowgram FSA thing. It's really nice. And, where they sometimes stick in FSA cos it's cheap, it turns out the chainset is £350 rrp. No idea if that's worth it but it seems nice enough.

JesseD

What do you ride at the moment?

As said above the shifting is different between the 2 so if you ride Shimano you may not like the action on Sram.

I had Force on a previous bike and hated it, so moved to Shimano (was using campag before that), I now have 105 5800 on my bike and love it, on my race bike I will be sticking Ultegra 6800, no point in DA as I am nowhere good enough to warrant it.

So for me it would be the cheaper bike with Ultegra

Anonymous

If you compare both bikes as a complete package the Ultegra is no slouch and for 400 less that would be 400 that can be reinvested into wheels which no doubt are probably pretty average on the bike regardless of the groupset on it.

noste500

I am just getting back into road bikes.
Had 2 years out . Last bike was supersix with 105
Now looking at super six with either the red or ultegra hence my question.

I'm leaning towards the ultegra so far, I don't race .
The sram bike is a nicer colour though ;-)

Cheers for the comments so far.

bendertherobot

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19774655#p19774655]noste500[/url] wrote:

I am just getting back into road bikes.
Had 2 years out . Last bike was supersix with 105
Now looking at super six with either the red or ultegra hence my question.

I'm leaning towards the ultegra so far, I don't race .
The sram bike is a nicer colour though ;-)

Cheers for the comments so far.

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p5774/CANNONDALE-SUPERSIX-EVO-ULTEGRA-2015

this one?

MisterMuncher

That's a cracking deal.

bendertherobot

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b65s6p5475/CANNONDALE-SUPERSIX-EVO-RED-2014

and if this is the SRAM one well, it's not as nice a colour

BUT, That £400 isn't just going on Red. It's going on better wheels and, spare chainrings and spider (so you can convert to a compact). The latter is not worth anything, IMO. But the former something.

The stock Aksium S (upgraded) on the Ultegra are fine wheels. If you did want better wheels you could probably get £125 for them. Meaning £525 if you'd planned on the Red version for a wheel upgrade

noste500

Yep that's a good point ..
Thanks

JesseD

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19774665#p19774665]bendertherobot[/url] wrote:

The stock Aksium S (upgraded) on the Ultegra are fine wheels. If you did want better wheels you could probably get £125 for them. Meaning £525 if you'd planned on the Red version for a wheel upgrade

This IMO, you can get some cracking wheels for circa £500 and that would be a fantastic bike (as long as the geometry fits you)

singleton

I'd probably go Ultegra, but....

There's something about this with SRAM Force that I really like the look of:
http://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/cannondale-super-6-evo-racing-red-road-bike-2015-p258009?gclid=CNqe--H2l8oCFVVAGwodFYUDLQ

styxd

If you've got the money then go with the SRAM option.

Matthewfalle

Red won the Tour and the Giro.

Ultegra won the race to the supermarket.

Just satin' like .........

JesseD

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19774775#p19774775]Matthewfalle[/url] wrote:

Red won the Tour and the Giro.

Ultegra won the race to the supermarket.

Just satin' like .........

Great if the OP is planning on riding the tour and the giro, otherwise Ultegra all the way! :twisted:

noste500

Tour of the cat and fiddle would be about as far as it goes ;-)

banditvic

Id go with the Sram Force one from Westbrooks and fit a lightweight set of wheels. The main weight difference between Red and Force is in the Chainset weight but this one has a Cannondale one, not to sure on the weight of that.

JesseD

noste500 what do you ride at the moment?

noste500

Been out for 2 years . Did have a supersix 105
Got a btwin triban 3 ( not had it long though and it's ont the turbo at present)
I don't do 8 hour rides . I go out and push on for 3-4 hours when I go out ( or used to shal we say )

JesseD

Sorry meant do you ride Sram or Shimano?

I have used both and the shifting action is very different between the 2.

If you haven't used both then can you test ride bikes with both and then see which you prefer as that will help you make up your mind.

Personally I would not bother with Sram Red as has been previously mentioned, Ultegra or Force would be the max I go to at my level, I would then save the ££££ and get a really nice set of wheels and you will feel the benefit more than a couple grams by going to a top end groupset.

The Dale SSE with Ultegra and the one with Force both are amazing deals

Matthewfalle

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19774793#p19774793]JesseD[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19774775#p19774775]Matthewfalle[/url] wrote:

Red won the Tour and the Giro.

Ultegra won the race to the supermarket.

Just satin' like .........

Great if the OP is planning on riding the tour and the giro, otherwise Ultegra all the way! :twisted:

Great if the OP wants something really nice, top of the range that makes him feel good that's lighter, nicer made, works better and is nicer to look at.

Otherwise, yup, agree 100% - go for functional Ultegra. The Nigel Farage of group sets.

Ultegra - Jo Brand.
Red - Jo Guest.

Same same but very different ........

But hey, so long as you're happy with your bike that's all what counts.

bendertherobot

Slightly odd comparison. Are we doing 2015 vintage Jo Guest? Or 2000 vintage and 2000 vintage SRAM and Ultegra (Brand hasn't really changed at all).

ayjaycee

As much as SRAM might like you to think it, I doubt that the choice of their groupsets has anything to do with winning races at the top level. I suspect the results would have still been the same if the winners had ridden with top end SRAM, Shimano or Campag.

bendertherobot

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19774803#p19774803]banditvic[/url] wrote:

Id go with the Sram Force one from Westbrooks and fit a lightweight set of wheels. The main weight difference between Red and Force is in the Chainset weight but this one has a Cannondale one, not to sure on the weight of that.

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/category/components/chainsets/chainset-road/product/review-cannondale-si-chainset-15-49070/

banditvic

Yes that's a good weight I think my Sram Red 53/39 is about 550 grams.