With Shimano and Campy having a strangle hold on the road bike shifter market for the last....well, for as long as I can remember...SRAM entered the market last year with two new complete groups, Force and Rival, including new shifters.
SRAM had been in the mtb scene for quite some time, but this was their first attempt at adapting their shifting technology to the road bike. Having to steer clear of several patents on shifter technology, SRAM introduced a technology they dubbed “Double Tap” & a marketing campaign asking if “you’ll take the leap”. Both phrases elude to how their shifters function.
With the introduction of the top of the line SRAM RED group this year, they further refined their two original groups, incorporating several design improvements. These shifter improvements include: trim in the big ring (previously, just the little ring could be trimmed), shorter throws, easier actuation, independently adjustable brake lever/shifter lever reach, and even lighter weight. There where other improvements to other components, but this review will be focused on the shifters, as I feel that’s key to whether you will like the system or not....adding ceramic pulleys & a Ti spring to the rear der on the Red group is great for weight and maybe a tenth of a watt in less friction, but, doesn’t really affect whether the system will be for you or not, IMHO.
How it works:
Instead of using two separate actuators for the up and down shift, like Shimano and Campy, SRAM utilizes a single actuator...shifter paddle....for both the up shift and down shift...you “double tap” it to make a distinction between the up shift and down shift. It’s basically a short throw for upshift or long throw for downshift. Now, pay attention here, because the following basic explanation of how this works is important to understand, in an effort to understand my critique, and make an intelligent decision on your own part.
The single shifter paddle SRAM uses is in the same basic position as the Campy and Shimano down shift lever...it’s behind the brake lever. With the Shimano shifters, pressing this paddle inward moves the chain down the cassette to a smaller gear (or down the chainring). With the SRAM double tap, pressing this paddle inward to the short throw position, THEN RELEASING, moves the chain down the cassette, similar to Shimano. If, however, you continue to push the same paddle further inboard, the internal mechanism “leaps” over the upshift device mechanism, and engages the downshift mechanism, at which time the chain begins to move UP the cassette...depending on length of throw, you can move one, two, or up to three gears UP the cassette, with a single shift. Now, I made a point of indicating that the upshift does not start taking place until you RELEASE the shifter paddle...as you move the paddle inward, at some point you hear/feel a click...these means you’ve gone far enough to release the upshift mech...if you let go now, you’ll allow the mech to release cable and the chain will move down the cassette one gear (upshift). What’s important here is the fact the movement down the cassette does not start happening until you release the shifter paddle. This is as opposed to the shimano system, where once you reach the click position, the system releases the cable automatically...look at it in a stand...the rd moves as soon as it clicks...you can hold the paddle there past the click, and not let it out, and the chain still moves. It’s not waiting on you to release. The reason the SRAM system HAS TO wait until you release is because it has to wait and make sure you ARE going to release...as, you might be DOWNSHIFTING, and continue to push it, and start engaging the downshift mech.
Why is all this important?...because, one of my critiques of this system is the fact I can not make the shifters rapid fire upshift as fast as DA, as the shifters are waiting for me to release the paddle before it moves the RD....After hearing the click, I can move my finger away faster than the mech will move the chain...so, I’ve already got my finger back, and wanting to start firing the next shift away, and the mech hasn't finshed moving the chain down yet...it’s like working on a slow word processor...you can type faster than the processor can display the letters/words, and you get no rhythm.
And, the first click for the upshift is more like a POP. Best analogy I can think of is like pushing the top of a plastic pen on....you basically keep apply force to you feel the POP, and then you know the top has snapped into place. What's going on is the mech is holding the cable against the force of the RD spring...the POP is basically a release of the HOLD...now, you're holding it, until you release the paddle.
Reality check: the upshifts are fast enough for most cyclists...BUT, I’m used to it being significantly faster, and for racing a bike, where getting to the gear you want as fast as possible is a good thing....to me, this is a negative. Might not be for you. IMO, the shifts are slower due to the nature of how the shifters work...DA shifts automatically on the click, SRAM waits for you to release after the click...this is fact.
OK, now for the downshift critique (up the cassette to a larger cog). Several points here....first, you have to get used to the fact you WILL feel the first upshift click/pop, but yet you still need to push the paddle further inboard. That can probably be overcome with time. The DA user thinking downshift, knows once he feels the first click in the DA system, he’s good for one downshift, go farther and hear/feel the second click...that’s two shifts...up to three clicks. With the SRAM, it’s the second click, as you push inward that will give you one downshift. But, my main issue was with the force required, and the distance of the throw, to actuate the downshifts. I understand with RED, the throw has been shortened, and the force required has been reduced vs Force/Rival....BUT, it’s still way more force than Shimano. WAY MORE. Reality Check: I am a tiny little fellow, with tiny little hands and fingers. The leverage I’m going to get from my short little digits is less than someone with bigger hands, longer fingers...maybe others will say it’s not excessive force or exaggerated throw lengths....I wouldn’t argue, as that’s a personal preference.. whether it’s too much force or too long a throw, is relative to you and your preferences...but, the fact remains, it is much more force than shimano, and much longer throws...too much for you...you have to be the judge.
Also, there is the issue of what happens when you try to downshift, but you are in your largest cog. With the Shimano system, if you press against the upshift lever, but there is no more, you feel the pushback...you feel you can't go anymore...the lever won't move much at all. It's very easy, and a small movement, to do a quick check to see if that's it. So, you either need to be thinking about the little ring, or thinking about standing, if you're already in your little ring (or think about slowing down or maybe walking). With the SRAM system, however, you have to proceed all the way through the end of the long shift, where, if you press hard enough, you will feel a POP....which, does nothing, because you have no more gear. If you do NOT go all the way to the end, and push through to the POP, you run the risk of accidently upshifting...not exactly what you want when you are praying you have one more gear.
Trim Critique: The Force and Rival groups came only with trim in the little ring. No big ring trim. RED was supposed to fix this problem, by adding trim to the big ring...but, you do loose it in the little ring...with DA, you get trim in both rings... After almost one hour adjusting the FD, the best I could do was get it to the 38x14, and not rub...so, the bottom three gears are going to rub....but, no big problem, as riding around in the 38x11/12/13 is not something I really ever do. But, here is the issue...and it gets back, again, to the nature of how the shifters work. Ok, let’s say you just shifted up to the big ring, and your FD is in the fully outboard position....you start to come to a slight hill, and end up in your 53x21 or 23...chain starts rubbing...no problem, use the trim....to do this, you begin to actuate the FD paddle until you here the first click....the FD moves to the big ring trim position (the inboard position over the big ring)....rubbing goes away...great...but, you’re at the top of the hill, and Thad just attacked, and has got the peloton strung out in full cry..he’s got it in his 53x11...wow, things are heating up, and now you’re in your 53x11 too...but, the FD is in the inboard position, and now the chain is rubbing on the outside....you’re not sure which is more painful, the screaming pain coming from your legs as you try to hold Thad’s pace or the screaming pain in your ears as the chain scrapes loudly on the FD cage. At this point, as you push the paddle inboard, there is no longer the trim click...you used that already....you continue to move the paddle inward, and hear a click a little further inboard on the throw...this is the click to go to the little ring....hold on...I’m in my 53x11, trying to hang on Thads’ wheel, going 35mph....the last thing I want is to dump the FD into the little ring....what you have to do is continue to move the paddle, very deliberately, past the click/pop, “leaping” onto the upshift ramp, and push the FD back up to the outboard position to stop the rubbing. If you do this in the stand, and watch the FD, you can see it actually starts to think about dumping the chain to the little ring, before it continues on to push the FD up to the outboard position (assuming you remembered to keep pushing the paddle). It’s basically a long throw to get it to go back to the outboard trim position. What's actually going on is the shifter mech is holding the FD in the inboard trim position...as soon as you reach the click, the mech is no longer holder the FD cage there, YOU ARE, by virtue of you having the lever pushed...so, what happens, is you feel a slight pushback, as the force to hold is now in your finger, but your finger is moving still inboard....that's why you have to do it quickly and delibertly...what it feels like is barely any resistance until you reach the click, then you get all that resistance of the FD spring dumped into the shifter mech as it releases, and you must push against the spring all the way back up/inward.
So, in a nut shell, because the shimano & campy designs have two actuators, you can go back and forth from trim positions all day, by simply alternating which one you press...not so with SRAM, because you’ve only go one actuator to press....you have to go through the little ring dumping position to get to the outboard FD position. Reality Check: you could probably get used to this...it doesn’t not work...but it’s a LONG throw to get the FD all the way out to the outboard trim position again...you mentally have to think “I’m in my little ring and want to go to the big ring”...that’ the movement you make...The big ring and little ring trims on the DA system (both ways, on both rings) are small pushes...and, just like my previous critique, it’s a lot more force than DA. The movement you probably could get used to...the force and long throw issues are not going away.
Hood design: The hood design is much more consistent with Campy, but the top of the hoods have a nicer rounded profile that fits in your hand better, like DA. The square tops of the Campy hoods always felt terrible to me. Kind of like having to rake the yard with a rake that had a square handle instead of a round handle...I digress... The only complaint I have with RED hoods is the fact the underside of the shifter body has a rather large “hole” between the forward/underside edge of the shifter body and the shift lever...for someone with big hands, your fingers very well might get jammed in the hole....my fingers where OK sitting, but seemed to find their way into the crevice when standing on the hoods. For reference, if you check your DA shifters you’ll see a plastic piece on the forward/bottom of the shifter hoods that separates the bottom of the shifter body from the brake lever. Imagine if this entire plastic piece was gone...that’s kind of like what the RED shifters are like in that area....I took a look at the Campy shifters, and they also do not have this crevice for your fingers to fall into. And, the DA hoods, with their long body, do feel like they provide more leverage when climbing out of the saddle....it kind of gives you the ability to choke up more on the hoods for leverage. If you’re used to climbing out of the saddle on the Campy hoods, the SRAM hoods I think will feel the same in terms of leverage...and they won’t feel like you’re holding the edge a 1"x2", like the Campy ones.
OK, some positives: They are incredibly light....shifters: 425g for DA, 281g for RED....RD: DA is 174g, Red is 144g. But, here is my conclusion: The DA shifters are heavier because they have added significant mass towards the development of greatly increased leverage on the actuation of the cable...the short version: there is a lot of stuff going on in there that makes the movement light and precise. The RED is light..but, it feels like I’m almost pulling the cable with no mechanical advantage at all...maybe I’m a weakling...I won’t argue that either.
More positives: The adjustable shifter and brake reach is a brilliant idea & well executed in the shifters. But, there is some irony in the fact the shift paddle & brake levers can be moved for easy reach by small hands, but it’s those same small (and weak) hands that have issues with the amount of force required for downshifts and the amount of movement required.
OK, my time with RED was 30minutes...that’s rounding up...maybe 20minutes of actual riding...but, hours in the stand. After 20minutes, my hands hurt from the pressure required to shift. I thought, OK, this can’t be right. I took the bike back to the stand, and released the RD cable....I felt how freely the cable moved when shifted, and not connected to the RD....I was looking for something that was indicating I did something wrong in the install, and the system really wasn’t supposed to need all this force to actuate. I actually grabbed the RD cable end and moved it back and forth in the housing by hand...But, the cable moved absolutely smoothly and freely through the entire length of the housing. The RED shifters come with very high end Gore Ride ON shifter housing and cables...special liner in the housing, special coating on the cables. It’s very smooth.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the RED shifters didn’t work smoothly, I’m saying the downshifts just required too much force for me, & required too long of a throw for me, and the upshifts didn’t move fast enough for me because of the way the system works. That, in a nut shell, are my three biggest issues....too much force, too long throw, too slow shifts....FOR ME.
Yes, several ProTour teams will use the system this year. But please, let’s remember, those guys are getting paid to ride what the team sponsors provide. Guys have won plenty of races with downtube friction shifters. Because of the shortcomings above, I feel the SRAM shifters do not provide me with the same level of racing performance as the current DA system.
Certainly, choice and competition is good. FSA is rumored to be the next player in the road bike shifter/group market...and, from what I’ve read, they are running into all sorts of patent infringement issues. Certainly, SRAM faced much of the same. To be fair, Campy and Shimano have decades head start on SRAM.
So, as I sat there looking at the bike in the stand, after I came to the conclusion that’s the way the RED shifters where going to be...this uncomfortable feeling started to come over me...it’s the feeling I get when I try something new, really want to like it, but the reality starts setting in that it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be...It’s the failure feeling...I hate the failure feeling...it’s the same feeling I had when I tried the all carbon saddle...although, that uncomfortable feeling also migrated to my ass...I digress....I had come to a crossroads...do I try to get used to it, or do I go back to Shimano...I wanted to like RED...I love trying something different..,170g is a whole lot in the road bike part world...so, I made two mental checklists...one list was the issues I had that I felt could be overcome with just getting used to the shifters...the other list where the issues I had that where inherent to the way the system worked, and where not going to go away...I might learn to live with them, but they where what they where. In the end, I didn’t want to learn to live with shifting, that for me, provided significantly less performance than what I was used to...just wasn’t worth 170g...Reality Check: 8ounces of water weigh about 200g...not the bottle...just the water.
Those that have ridden the Force and Rival groups (I am not among them), have noted what an improvement the Red shifters are in terms of throw and force. My best recommendation is to try it for yourself...force and throw on shifters can be as much a personal thing or anatomical thing as talking about what the best saddle is. The fact I really might like the upshifts to be super rapid fire could go back to my days of mtb racing....where the terrain goes straight up, then straight down, over and over....you do get into situations where you want to go from your 34T to your 12T almost immediately...not quite the issue with road biking, but none the less I recognize it as a limitation.
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
Aristotle
Clarke