Who rides with SRAM?

[Bluetree]

I test rode a beautiful SRAM Force-equipped bike (48cm Orbea Opal, 38cm carbon handlebars, Zipp 404 wheels) and really love the feel.

I've had issues with Shimano levers, which are a bit big for my hands. Braking has not been a problem, but I feel like I have to really crank on them to pop up my chain to my big ring.

SRAM seems to be a logical alternative, as the brake lever is dedicated and they have single-lever shifting. The shifters were in easy reach, and in the short time I rode, shifting was easy and smooth. Granted, I WAS riding an $8k bike, but I'm thinking SRAM might be a viable option when I get my next bike.

My concern is that the technology is rather new, and I don't anyone who has ridden on them for a significant amount of time. Thus, no one to provide Pros and Cons of the gruppo. Anyone out there with opinions?

[Mimosa]

The general opinion on a dutch bike forum was to give them another year finetuning. Though 2 of our 'pro' women teams will ride next year with the sram group. People who rode with them said that the shifting took a special touch, but apparently you got that touch.

On a personal level, I looked at it when I was making up my wishlist for my new bike. But I felt that it was priced to high and I felt uncertain since last year nobody really used it in competition. Except for the pro men teams but when they break something it's replaced for free so they won't nag about it.

[Gowest]

I have been riding SRAM on my new Orbea since November. On my old bike I had Ultegra with spacers to accomodate my small hands. I will tell you my opinion for what it's worth:

1) Shifting is crisp and easy - very fast
2) I like the look of the cables being under the tape - clean looking
3) I would not recommend it for small hands unless you use a women's specific bar - I have smallish hands and the drops can be a stretch for me as opposed to ultegra with spacers. Apparently the smaller bars accomdate a lot of women though - as two pro female teams are riding it - surely some of them have small hands! I would just be careful that just because bar xys works on your current set up - make sure it works with the SRAM geometry. You cannot put spacers in the group I have due to the way the brakes are made.
4) I love the hoods - they are very comfortable and smaller than ultegra. Good for small hands.
5) I have the Force group - and for brakes there is a recall on the metal used in the bolt to mount the brakes - so read up on this - not a brake quality issue - a metallurgical mishap.

If you go with SRAM - I am sure you will enjoy it as much as I do.

Debi

[Mimosa]

Apparently the smaller bars accomdate a lot of women though - as two pro female teams are riding it - surely some of them have small hands!

Or sram is doing a lot of sponsoring (which in this case they are). Would you complain of you got it for FREE?

[Eden]

I haven't tried any bikes with SRAM on them, but your problems with Shimano may be a matter of grade rather than brand. My old 105 triple bike was a bit of a haul to shift the front, but my Dura Ace double shifts like a dream - its so smooth that sometimes I look to see if it really shifted... I'm guessing that an $8,000 SRAM equipped bike more than likely has the top of the line DA equivalent gruppo on it.

[anakiwa]

No experience with SRAM.

I had a very similar problem with Shimano- if it gets slightly out of tune I can't get the triple into the big ring without pushing really really hard- I ordered a custom bike a few months ago- when I posted a different question about the same problem a bunch of people wrote back with the same experience. I suspect that it's more the triple/STI shifter combo- and less the gruppo level.

I wound up doing a wacky combo- I put a R700 short reach shifter on the right/rear, and a bar-end (friction) shifter and standard brake lever on the left/front. I don't actually have the bike yet though- it'll be a few months before I can actually decide if I like it that way.

[Bluetree]

Thanks for the input. I am narrowing my choices for my next bike, and while I am somewhat confident of the integrity of SRAM, another of my concerns is finding a SRAM-certified mechanic in my area. I like the product, so it's definitely a viable option...

EDIT:
For those interested, I found a review of the bike/components I tested:
http://trigearreview.com/forms/Article.aspx?REVID=337

[Triskeliongirl]

...I've had issues with Shimano levers, which are a bit big for my hands. Braking has not been a problem, but I feel like I have to really crank on them to pop up my chain to my big ring....

This sounds like an adjustment problem to me. I use the ultegra short reach levers on all my bikes, and only have the problem you describe if the limit screws are not set correctly on my front derailleur.

[HillSlugger]

My old 105 triple bike was a bit of a haul to shift the front, but my Dura Ace double shifts like a dream - its so smooth that sometimes I look to see if it really shifted.

I've read that for comparable components you can pretty much always expect a double to shift better than a triple. Can anyone validate this?