SRAM FORCE? DURA-ACE? or ULTEGRA 6600?

[rhiannon008]

For the money, my top contenders would be Campy Chorus or the Ultegra SL grouppo. Both of these groups offer many of the same features as the more expensive Record or D.A., while only having a slight weight penalty. I would lean a bit more toward Campy because the components (i.e. shifters) can be serviced and rebuilt, as well as it's crisp shifting and comfy hood design. It does not hurt that Chorus is finished with an awesome carbon weave.

As for SRAM, they are definately on to something with the double tap shifting. However, I am waiting a season or two for the rough edges of their designs to be smoothed out. I know they have attempted to do this with the Red grouppo, but for its pricetag I am a bit gunshy. I will take another look at SRAM when Red's refinements begin to trickle down to the lower pricepoints of Force and Rival.

P.S. I have found great prices on grouppos at probikekit.com, plus they have free shipping to the U.S. (No, I am not affiliated with this company in any way. I purchased some components from them a couple of months ago, and had zero complaints.

[equus123]

SRAM RED is very expensive. My teammate has a bike with Force and she likes it. Though it does get annoying if you have two bikes, one with DA and the other with SRAM. She gets confused every once in a while when an immediate shift is needed for something. But once you get the hang of SRAM, she says is as easy as anything else. The biggest difference really is shifting while sprinting. To me, that's the only real edge that the shifters have over Shimano or Campy becauses you can hold the shifter in your fingers the whole time while in the drops. I know I've had experiences in races where I've missed being able to shift to a harder gear because my fingers slipped by the shifter. Had I been able to hold it in my hands the whole time while in the drops, it would have made life easier. But what can ya do. I love my DA stuff.

[SheFly]

I had to borrow a bike for a race this fall that was equipped with SRAM Force, and as a DA user, I HATED it. Of course, that is likely due to a very quick lesson on the shifting and then getting on the bike for a race right away... I had a mentally tough time trying to figure out the double-tap thing.

That said, many of my teammates this year have moved to it and like it. BUT, if you change to this on one bike, the recommendation is to do it on ALL of your bikes so that they are all the same.

I'm a Shimano gal, and love my DA - smooth AND light!

SheFly

[NadiaMac]

SRAM red has trim.

I have two bikes w/ SRAM-- cross bike has force/rival combo (RD is force, rest is rival) and road bike has rival. I love the shifting and the aesthetic. Hasn't been a problem that I can't trim the FD so far.