SHOULD YOU BUY THE NEW SRAM RIVAL ETAP AXS? (WATCH THIS IF CONSIDERING) 

This is the ONLY guy who works at a shop that I listen to and feel like I'm getting an honest position on what he feels about what he's talking about.

I slimmed down 3,202 grams this month in preparation to buy the Rival AXS.

literally +.5lb weight different from red. Dentists are shivering in their timbers, lots of people complain about weight but don't race, are not ranked, etc, etc.

The same people complaining about the weight and price of Rival are the same people buying $7 Starbucks drinks that have 550 calories and ride less than 1 hour a week.

At this point I’m excited to see what 105 Di2 is like

Worth it for the gearing options for sure!. You can get a new bike fitted with this groupset for under £2500 and under 9kg. You can make the bike lighter still over time with carbon wheels etc. Not for weight weenies granted but great for endurance bikes and all round bikes.

If 3.2kg is too heavy, even out it out yourself by losing 3.2kg. Win-win Jk, guys

I'm gonna buy a bike with rival axs but replace the cranks with either force or red - and when needed - change casette and chain with red. I'm sure that brings the weight below force

I ordered it with my Madone SLR project one I ordered. 1. So much cheaper. 2. Performance of electronic group set. 3. It’s only 100g heavier than a Madone with a Force AXS. In the future in maybe 3 years I might upgrade to a red, but this way I get the perfect frame and good wheels and a great group set at 8.4kg compared with 8.3 for a slr 7 etap. SLR 9 is only 600g lighter and I’ve already gone to a carbon saddle which makes my bike 8.32 so it’s really only 500g heavier than a Madone SLR 9 and it’s $7500 cheaper

Thanks for uploading this. I really don’t get when people are offered more options with a cheaper price point and complain. The other group sets are still there, don’t think they are going away.

I swapped my Sram Red Shifters to Sram Rival cause of the somehow faster shifting and the way better ergonomics for small hands. The rest ist still Red - still expensive. But those Rival Shifters are so great If you do not need satellites and pressure point adjustment.

Has me wanting 105 Di2 even more

I get and agree, this is trickle down tech for the masses. A great thing. But the points you make actually argue against this groupset as a good option. For the top end groupsets the weight is not so bad and they are going on lighter frames. This is where rival falls down. This will be fitted to mid priced frames and gear, so everything is just a bit heavier it all adds up. At this price you can get mechanical ultegra, it is lighter, a lot lighter, and helps get the weight of mid tier components weight down.

I run XTR mechanical on my XC racer and SRAM Rival AXS on my gravel bike. I’ll take the SRAM any day. And 200 grams will not break me.

Good video. Excited this will come with the SL7 comp that I just ordered.

Replace the Rival cassette with the Red AXS one (338 vs 211g) and you're almost at Force weight for the complete set. Interesting.

Reliablility is key for some, yeah the weight is up there but for a first time budget wireless setup this is great!

Here in europe you get ultegra di2 for the same price which is superior in most every way.

There is no performance games from electronica shifting , disc they just add lbs to your bike which makes you slower , The smartest thing to do it’s fine a Rim brake with mechanical shifting this will be 5lb lighter which will be a faster bike , especially as an entry-level bike

Man first time i owned something like this. And man i love this. This is not cheap in Philippines But damn it's really worth the price.

its really good if you don't care about the weight

what do you think of the new sram rival? worth the money or something you are going to pass on?

I love the 30/43 ring option.

well at least it goes beep boop -sram

Great job 👏👏👏 on this overview of what should be referred to as the electronic shifting group of the masses! Now, if only there were any bikes available with this groupset (ex. 2022 Specialized Roubaix Comp) we'd be in business (literally and figuratively). Keep up the great work!

Look this isn't for the weight, which a lot riders don't care much about. If weight is your issue with this, then get the lighter Di2, RED Etap, Campy, etc. We all know you're NOT going to get the lighter stuff cheap. This is heavy for less $$$, deal with it. If this get more people into cycling, I'm all for it. Great job GC, continue to keep us informed.

best review of the rival. great job!

Informative! Thank you.

I trust your POV. I don’t think it’s a biased view, but as you noted something that will benefit a group that might never have been able to afford a power meter and Di2

The electronic Groupset of the people.

When people realise that weight means almost nothing to 99% of riders then they won't worry about this groupset being 200g heavier. Losing 1kg on your bike is the equivalent of around 3w up a 6% gradient. Insignificant in other words.

I use sram rival etap 12s...overall im satisfied...before this i use shimano ultegra Gs

To be me its seem like Sram tend to stick to one design for limited time then moved on to something totally new and non backwards compatible. Its like forcing its user to upgrade to latest and greatest is part of their business plan. Unlike shimano which more or less have a groupset and consumables parts in lower tier which allow those running older DA/Ultegra 9/10 speed components albeit with slightly heavier weight. Same goes to for campagnolo parts which more or less repairable other than some proproetary parts/tool needed during service One of my mothballed bike is running sram red 2012 10 speed where parts are damn to hard get hold off. Not to mention is gxp bb which no longer available. Was considering just junk the whole thing and just get R7000 105. I do like the mechanical double tab action though 👍

Just swap out the cassette and heavy ass cranks

What a great price for a great piece of kit! I cannot wait to see the price point this stuff is installed on. I would ride this!

can you easily change the hub of wheels between shimano and sram? And would you rather go for Ultegra Di2 or Sram Rival? Currently market price of both is pretty similar. For me it seems like Ultegra Di2 would be the better groupset as it's lighter.

Awesome to see rival get electronic gear shifting. What do the hoods/shifters look like? Same as the force hoods?

You may not have to upgrade wheels, for example you can get an XDR freehub body for $100 to fit onto Zipp 177 hubs.

I think Rival weight is ok, compared to FORCE. But Force is waaaay too heavy to start with

Why can't you make a one by. I see bolts on chainrings..can simply remove. Furthermore CAn I plug in 56 teeth chainring

If you want electronic shifting above all else I guess it’s good. For myself i’d prefer the performance gain from a lighter mechanical group set.

How much work going to be needed to upgrade a 2022 Domane SL5 with 105 to a SRAM Rival eTap sometime down the road ? I am liking the Rival eTap as it is completely wireless and has no wire to deal it. Which components will I need to replace ?

But you get two more gears that have better real world spread so the weight difference is not that significant. I'd be more concerned with the efficiency. I heard Di2 is much more efficient.

future note : u should do these in an incognito window and + add block

Please make a video of Red Etap AXS HRD shifters vs Rival Etap AXS shifters. I bet with the re-design they are the same weight. I have red ans extremely curious of this,

I’m new to cycling and just bought a bike with this drivetrain! Question: Is this system have good granny gears for climbing AND good heavy gears for sprinting on flat or downhill, or just cruising going far distances on flat surfaces. I purchased a Fezzari Shafer (gravel) which I’ll use primarily for bike-packing. Thanks!!!

Is it possible to buy the shifter for sram force and rim brake etap and pair it with other parts for the rival etap?

Going to use sram force axis etap derailleurs and shifters with ultegra crank, 11/30 cassette and rim brakes….thoughts?

Greetings from Portugal! Great review 😉 I'm looking to buy a new road bike and it will be my second road bike. I would like to purchase one with electronic gears, 12speed and powermeter option. Because the total plafond is around 4800-5000€ I'm looking for bikes with SRAM Rival Axs. In your opinion, it will make such a big difference buying the version with the spider power meter versus purchasing the one with power meter left crank arm - I have a little imbalance between L and R Leg (the left produces a little bit more watts ~4-6W) By the way, it'll be my first bike with electronic gears, so I'm bit worried about the battery life...I know with SRAM you can take a spare battery if one loss all the battery...but in the long use, those batteries tend to "die" like others components (cellphones, GPS, etc.) how often do you recommend to charge them to get the most of them in the long term ? Keep up the good work and good rides👍👍

Hey GC great video very detailed.i need this .I have on order a Trek madone SLR 7 on. order it comes with SRAM Force etap an power meter .I am a beginner in the wireless world .is this a good start for me SRAM force etap or what advise do u have sor me RK

How would this compare to a grx 800 set . Shopping for a giant gravel bike atm and just seen a model with the rival axs the other one has the grx 800 .

if you buy the groupo with power meter and then get a left crank arm with power, would that make dual sided power? or just useless

if shimano’s gonna release a 105 Di2, which do you think would be cheaper and better?

Yo this group set is so awesome the 48 tooth chain ring is heavy enough to deal out sprints and climb big hills. But what is up with the cassette?? When you down shift you go from a 48/15 (3.2 ratio) to a 48/13 (3.7 ratio) where is the 48/14 (3.4 ratio). when sprinting the gap between 15 to 13 is pretty huge, am I just weak and need to hit the squat rack? Here in flat sacramento that 14 tooth cog would be really sweet! I guess who is the target audience. IMO The cassette feels more like a climbing ratio that a sprinters one

I bought a diverge comp this year kind of wish I had waited now, would have gotten a SRAM rival groupset on the bad boy.

Just picked up my Aethos Comp with this kit on Saturday. Love it and the bike as I'm coming from an old Allez with 105. But, I have a question, I noticed that when on the big chain ring, I get FD rub when I'm in the five inner-most gears on the cassette (and it becomes more pronounced as I move more inboard to the easier gears). The LBS guys are telling me it's normal and that I'm crossing up the chain and should expect this. Does that seem right? I would have expected to have a quiet drivetrain across all gears regardless of which chainring I'm in...maybe a little bit of rub on big chain ring and largest cassette gear but almost half of them? Maybe that's just me being mis-informed when coming from a 9 spd rear cassette and the narrower tighter package with these 12 speed set ups. Is this something that is typical on Red or Force AXS?

Is new bike with ultegra di2 r8050 still worth getting? Or is sram rival etap the way to go

Your point about the cranks compatibility - it‘s still possible to use a force crank on this right (I mean why shouldn‘t it)? I love the whole concept of a 105 level electronic groupset but that crank is not my cup of tea I have a 105 equiped bmc (the groupset is kind of a bottleneck for the very good frame) and been wanting electronic shifting forever but it‘s just too damn expensive so I‘m seriously happy about sram doing this

So for the comp SL7, if i bought a set of Zipp 303's SRAM/SHIMANO compatible. Will that work for the rival groupset?

I had a GRX Di2 groupset on order but cancelled it immediately after the Rival etap was announced. Have ordered everything but waiting on just the shifters/brakes to come back in stock. It really is heavy though compared to ultegra di2. Shimano can suck it for the price of di2 parts like the cables, bluetooth module and sprint shifters. Shame you can't add the blip shifters to the rival.

Hey can i upgrade the rival crankset to a sram red etap 12sp crankstel?

hope there's always room for an update of rim brake eps, etap, axs, or di2 kind a things

I got the giant tcr ar 1+ with this setup and love it ❤

I'm still not sure what to think about this groupset: on one hand we have electronic 12s for 1400-1500 but on the othe side, for me rival is not on the same level as 105, so we're getting a somewhat lesser group and paying almost double the cost for the electronic shifting (rival goes for 600-700) and for 1400 you could get full ultegra mechanical. Don't know. It's cool to have the option in the absence of 105 di2. Puzzled... can't afford it anyway hehehehehehehe I'll wait for sora di2

Can you comment on relatively affordable and compatible wheels?

Though to switch to Sram rival etap or Force etap from my Ultegra Mechanical but weight is too heavy for my bike and my pocket. The best solution is to buy Ultegra DI2. Weight is 2200 kilo and price is $1250 for the upgrade.

Are the rival front and rear derailleurs compatible with all Force and Red casettes and chainrings? Or does it have to be same tothed as rival?

perfect for gravel and cyclecross

Specialized Allez Sprint w/ SRAM eTap AXS for crit racing. Thoughts anyone?

would you recommend getting rival axs over force axs? thanks

Why wouldn’t you buy ultegra mechanical at this price? Much lighter, and higher tier than rival, r8020 even comes out cheaper in the UK. I really don’t understand why anyone in their right mind would buy this, you ask me there’s no benefit that justifies 3.2kg, when you can get Ultegra, or Force for less.

Is this groupo compatible with a 2019 Tarmac SL6 “rim brake”?

Too heavy man. Thanks for sharing.

Feels good to be back from vacation said no one ever!

I would prefer shimano ultegra Di2

Hello Mr Gc Performance I wanna ask you as an owner about tarmac sl7 prices because I found a sl7 Comp(Sram rival) 6022$ Ans theres a sl7 expert(Ultegra di2) For 6292$ Are those prices good? I live in the phillipines if that helps

Are we too obsessed with weight? My best riding bikes has been the heavier ones.

What’s a 105 disc group set price? $1,100 approx?

SRAM have already lost me with their mechanical groupsets - Force - on my cross bike and one of my road bikes. Really, really, rubbish. I've got old campag groupsets still riding great after 10 years, one of them on a bike I've ridden regularly, and raced, for 20 years. 18 months and SRAM is shot, and never worked particularly well. Really shite. Words fail me.

Heavier than 105 mechanical on 900 grams! Thanks, I can wait when 105 becomes electronic and light. P.S. One-sided PowerMeter is useless. I want to see how both of my legs are working.

Holy shift!

what games you play on steam?

Are you a bike shop employee or a owner? Thanks for sharing. 🤔

Can we use the axs rival power meter with a mechanical rival groupset?

Shimano is ugly. The only Sram on complete bikes available these days is the Sram Etap range. Rival makes it affordable

"everyone can afford this", i'd like to see the numbers on that 🤔

Any idea what a complete SL7 with rival will weigh??

affordable? in my country 1.500 $ is 4.5 minimum wages. A person has to work 4.5 months to buy this. Please talk for yourself.

Gateway drug 🙂

Rival is way too heavy. Force is so ugly. SRAM RED it is for me.

Could I use a 11 speed shimano cassette with this groupset?

People open your eyes. Im sure in 4-5 years all cycling brands are gonna start droping weight of all their products and say its a new wave and its revolution. Weight matter! dont buy this heavy ass gearing, most of the pros still prefer rim brakes cause its lighter and if you wanna be fast DONT BRAKE. Im using mechanical ultegra r8000 with all the cables out (no aero!) on my 6.8kg dogma f8 and even on straight im droping all my friends on heavy electric pigs.

Weight? Most of yall have atleast 2 pounds to lose!

I want SHIMANO to come out with a cheaper Ultegra DI2 group set or make the upgrade kit cheaper to combat this offering from sram.

Ah the sport of cycling is getting even more and more and worse with all the supposedly “affordable” electronic groupset but then you’d be paying 6k and above? When shimano 105 di2 comes out with quarq zero power meter its game over for expensive sram 😂