Never thought the mech-using-shimano-fanboy in me could ever sit through a sram electronic groupset review without having some sort of negative reaction. Well done sir, great review!
Brilliant analysis. Recently I bought a Canyon with the Rival group set and immediately started second guessing my decision not to upgrade to the Force for 1000USD more. But I am an amateur triathlete, amateur road cyclist coming from a mechanical mountain bike. In short I could give care less about weight. I just want to finish the races I enter and have gear that is fit for use. I am glad I stayed with the Rival etap. So far it has performed amazingly and your assessment even further affirms my decision.
David! I like your product reviews, they are fine, no worries. But dude, take us with you on your Secan-biking adventures! Like your rides in the Cotswolds or the King Afred's Way, these are your best video's! To see your lovely english countryside, the fields, the hills, the blue skies, being outdoors and the sense of thrill and adventure! Remember what Bilbo used to sing, The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began.... Kind regards from the Netherlands, Gerlach.
Not enough people comment on hood size. I like that. I wish each group set had small and large hood covers, so it could change for people's hand sizes.
I have the original Red eTap. I purchased the kit and installed it all myself. I've been using it about 2yrs now. I absolutely love the kit. I also prefer the SRAM shifting logic where the left is downshift and the right is upshift, and you don't have the awfully small buttons like Di2, particularly when wearing gloves when riding in colder weather. I also love the way my Wahoo Element displays what cog I'm in both front and rear. I don't care about shifting speed. I'm not a professional rider. I ride for my personal enjoyment.
Given that the majority (really the vast majority) of the weight penalty is in the crankset, I think it's the most sensible part to upgrade. Buy the Rival AXS group, but spend the extra $150 on a Force crank and it'll be almost as light as the Force group for about $500 less.
I just bought a new bike (Trek Emonda) with SRAM Force eTap and I really like it. The Force groupset works the same as the Rival and Red sets, and I pretty much agree with all of your points. I did experiment with the sequential shifting and ended up disabling that, but I do use the shift compensation (1 gear). Also, I do like that I can see what gear I'm in on my Wahoo computer. Since I still have SRAM Force 11-speed mechanical groupsets on my other bikes, I still miss-shift occasionally, but I'll blame that on the operator. :-) Although my new bike is actually heavier than my prior bike due to all the new tech (disc brakes, batteries, etc.), it's also faster since it is more aero, so I don't really notice the added weight. And, like most of us, it's the weight around my middle that is actually holding me back!
Yet again, a no nonsense, incisive and honest review. Well done Dave:) Been waiting a while to see elegant gear usage analysis - helps tweaks cogs to stay fresh and efficient!!
I just bought a Trek Domane equipped with SRAM Rival. I was confident to buy the bike kitted with this groupset based on your review. Couldn't be happier. Thanks David - keep up the good videos!
This groupset looks amazing. This is what the Force set should looked like. The Force looked very cheap and plastic, while the Rival looks slick and higher end with its black. The only issue with Sram that many reviewers and shops wont tell you is that their front derailleur are prone to problems, and their brake calipers have issues. My friends who all had SRAM all gave up eventually and stripped the groupset for a shimano instead. These are known problems since their 11spd etap hydraulic days which SRAM havent really gotten it addressed. And now Shimano has gone semi-wireless for ease of installation, SRAM will have a big competition now. Maybe in future production, SRAM will fix the known issues. On a side note, if branding isn't an issue the main weight difference between RED and Rival are in the cassette and the crankset. To save massive money one can get the Rival shifters/derailleurs and use SRAM RED cranksets.
Also, give it about a year and the spring will fatigue and it will shift lazily into harder gears like all SRAM rear derailleurs. I have ended changing all my SRAM equipped bikes back to Shimano.
Just moved over to a Force Etap groupset on a Cervelo Caledonia from a more traditional set up. Love the shifting and have even gone 1 x. The Sram app has had a few glitches though! Ordered up some Rival Etap for my Fairlight Secan build for next year. Will be using a Force crankset and a Force cassette on that to keep the weight in check! Great review as always David! 👍
Hey, superb review. Ive already sub'd but now clicked notify me. Im about to purchase a 2023 Bianchi Oltra XR3 with this groupset fitted and just wanted to see a good review to help me make my mind up. It's made up! Im ordering one thanks to you. It'll sit next to my 2010 Bianchi C2C Super Record/Record with rim brakes and cables. I never thought I'd take the leap until now! Thank you so much for helping me make my mind up
I have two bikes with etap currently, an Aethos I bought as a complete 2x Force build and a CruX with a combination of things set up mostly Force 1x but with Rival shifters, because after six months of the frame hanging on the wall waiting for the shifters to come available, it was the only set we could find. I completely agree about the shape and feel of the Rival shifters compared to the Red/Force and am hoping that in the future SRAM may go towards the Rival shape instead. As far as performance, both groups have been 100% problem free after many months and I’m now an electronic convert owing to the ease of use, ease of build, ease of customization and ergonomics in any weather - heavy gloves, slick sweaty 35C rides or rain there’s no difference. I only hope they do more work on bringing the weight down however my Aethos Force build is still under 7kg with pedals so I can’t complain.
Fully agree with your complete review about the Rival eTap AXS groupset. Have it equipped on 2 bikes now, and 100% same perception. The only things I have upgraded are the disc rotors & cassette (Force now). Keep up the good work!
Everyone, DO YOURSELVES A FAVOR and ride your old bikes until these prices come down. The bike industry is gouging people like they did when Plasma televisions cost $15K. There are plenty of used road bikes out there that are better than these bloated disc brake bikes. In my 35 + years of riding, I have never seen bike weights rise and prices DOUBLE in the past 5 years. CYCLING IS THE NEW GOLF......
Unfortunately as with all industries (see mobile phones, cars, computers whatever), once the price goes up. It never comes down. They figured if consumers are willing to pay XXX amount today, they will be willing to pay the same amount tomorrow. Short of flooding the market with oversupply, the prices will stay at this level. We can refuse to change / upgrade anything right now, but the demand is still out stripping supply at the moment and once things have settled into steady state, it will be considered the new norm. What I am actually hoping for is since consumers have to pay much higher pricing, we should stop having to deal with shoddy construction and tolerance, faster improvement in terms of equipment and more high end materials used in parts and frames.
@@CL-yx7ly Agree, but there is something specific to road cycling and fact that road bikes are a Veblen Good that makes pricing more out of control. Cycling is the new golf as I have been saying for years now and the industry knows this and is capitalizing on it. People with more money than sense getting into a new activity and wanting "what the pros ride" when in reality they cannot even ride the bike fast enough to get the "aero benefits". Don't get me wrong, I have had some of the most expensive bikes back in the day, but I worked my way up to them by rewarding myself as I put more and more hours in Saddle year to year. Now you have people who cannot even fix a chain that are on $12k bikes and can barely change a flat. That is who the manufacturers are banking on.
@@jochem1986 Veblen Goods, Google it knucklehead because that is what road bikes are and the manufacturers are capitalizing on it. I have been cycling for 35+ years and had handmade titanium frames made in USA that were cheaper than these China made carbon frames that barely cost $400 to produce. AND CYCLING is more popular and more people are riding than ever, so your "Genius" reasoning doesn't work on that well. In the late 80s, high end road bikes were a niche client base for enthusiasts and competitive athletes. NOW, new people with more money than sense go out and buy $10k bikes because CYCLING IS THE NEW GOLF.
Great review David.. I have this groupset and love it I think its amazing, smooth, fast and very intuitive.. as you say if you want to lighten it or just upgrade then go with the Red cranks :) my only criticism would be the battery level within the app which is quite inaccurate luckily when paired with my Wahoo Roam it does show on screen alerts if any of the batteries are low or critical
I don't know David, 5-600 grams is alot of weight to try and hide or shave off elsewhere not so much of an issue if you have a carbon frame but for an alloy or steel bike its going to be a hard pill to swallow. It could really take away from the feel of the bike. Making a bike that once felt lively alot more sluggish. Though cheap ish to shift the weight if your using 1x a lightweight hope crank or velo crank and the weight is largely gone as you say. I tried out SRAM red when i was test riding a mason resolution it felt lovely and so it should it costs almost double the frame the bike felt light and eager, but if you're on a tighter budget your never going to make the bike feel like that with these cheaper wireless sets. Personally, i wait for V2 when hopefully they'll refine it a little and have some grams off. I currently use SRAM rival x1 and tbh i think currently id either hunt down 105 £800rrp or so, which is still a good sight cheaper than rival AXS.
I don't think anyone is going to argue the fact that 500g is notable to some folks. It all just comes down to price. I don't hear him saying, "buy this one because it's outright better than the more expensive gear." People have to make compromises when the $ are an issue.
David. Thank you for delivering excellent content. I've been enjoying your videos and I find them very useful. More so than the other mainstream ones. I'd be very interested to see a review of a 1x set up as you mentioned in your video. One other thing though, I'm not new to cycling but I haven't customised my own bike before and I've found it very confusing and difficult to figure out how to decide on the various groupset options offered by Sram's etap groupset. Gear ratios, 1x or 2x, set up for hills or flats? Or both? If you produced 'a beginner's guide on how to customise a bike with Sram's etap' that would be hugely helpful. Keep up the excellent content! Thank you
Mainly because in 5-10 years they will try to make you replace your heavy electronic groupset with an even more expensive yet lighter that will still be heavier than a mechanical 105, claiming that it's the way forward. If I look at road bikes from 10 years ago, the only thing they were really missing was the ability to use 32 or 34t cogs. Otherwise, for any given price point except perhaps the very top end of the price scale, they were far lighter and as near as makes no difference as fast as today's bikes.
Mechanical 105 doesn't have batteries or motors. As with anything related to bikes, less weight = more money. Force and Red will save you weight if that's important to you.
It just dawned on me another reason why manufacturers want electronic group sets - data collection. Just like all the automobiles these days coming with all the safely sensors and whatnot. Everyone is collecting usage data, like IOT. You can't do that with mechanical.
Yeah they don’t care where you ride or your wattage they just want to collect your shifting performance in certain scenarios just to make a better product next year
My first exposure to e-shifting was through this group set when I bought it when it first came out. I was in the market for a second bike after damaging my other ride. Ended up getting Force ETAP on the replacement thus turning me into a full on SRAM guy. Shimano should reconsider their snobbiness and offer the 105 in Di2 as well. Or else keep losing legacy customers like they did with me. :)
@@edrcozonoking Nah. Ive been the biggest shimano faboy for many years and never rode anything else but shimano. Two years ago I bought A force Axs etap equipped bike and honestly wont got back to shimano for a while. close to 10,000 miles and it still shift as smooth and accurately as it did on day one.
@@mannydelgado9144 your lucky. The shifting on all my SRAM equiped bikes (road, MTN, gravel) have gone to shit after a year. I've switched most back to Shimano and no complaints.
The wireless aspect of the SRAM gear also makes flying with the bike easier. It's really easy to damage the internal cabling on Di2. That's only a consideration for a small number of people, but If you have to break your bike down and put it back together much, I think it's a consideration. (I've only got one e-shifting bike, which is a 1x12 SRAM. My son and daughter have ultregra Di2. Daughter has to fly with bike on occasion...which is how we learned this.)
Way heavier than mechanical Ultegra (for example but name any of the high end groupsets,) but more expensive. Does it shift noticeable better than Ultegra (or Force, or even mech rival) The reviews I've seen say no. Is it harder to service and maintain for most than mechanical? Probably. Its a no from me.
It shifts the same as sram red etap, and you can buy red or force components to make the groupset way lighter. The compatibility between the 3 group sets is insane. I believe it’s super worth it compared to ultegra mechanical
@@Dennis4523 name at least one advantage that this groupset has over a mechanical Ultegra R8000 (besides that obvious extra gear) that is worth the extra few hundred grams and the extra few hundred euros. I'm pretty sure you can't point one out. And no, please, don't bother bringing up cable integration (or lack thereof) and various other gimmicks such as smartphone apps, They are not worth a few extra hundred grams and a few extra hundred euros over an already incredibly high quality mechanical groupset that shifts flawlessly front and rear.
It’s just features over weight, isn’t it? If you really care about weight, sure, don’t get an electronic groupset. If you like something with faster shifting and a much smarter set up (one button up and down) then this is a great option. A few hundred grams makes no difference at all to 99.9% of riders. Aero is more important than weight for everything except hardcore climbing setups anyway. See also why disc brakes are way better than rim brakes for most riders. Personally I’ll take a few hundred grams just for the lack of cables! 😆
@@kazaroth Yes, it is. And mathematically those extra (or less) few hundred grams will eventually make you faster (or slower) by a certain amount, while "faster shifting" (as if somebody actually bothered to measure the shifting speed of this groupset compared to a correctly set up mechanical Ultegra R8000 or better) and "a smarter set up" won't. Aero is more important than weight for people who constantly ride with 30+ km/h average speeds. As to climbing, I've climbed (and descended) nearly 69.000m in a bit under 6.000 km this year. Including a triple ascent of the Mont Ventoux in one day, and including quite a few other mountain passes. Never have I wanted better brakes than my current Ultegra R8000 or faster shifting or "a smarter set up". Shifting and braking wise, everything was as perfect as it could be. I did however wish my bike was 1 kg lighter, as well as I wished I was a few kg lighter myself. So you can clearly infer that I am not ever going to pay more money for a heavier component - with the sole exception of saddles, for obvious reasons. Sure, aero trumps weight if all the riding you do is in countries with no mountains. Thankfully not my case, as I would probably stop cycling altogether if I had to be condemned to riding exclusively on flats.
@@11robotics you’ve just kind of proved my point. 99% of riders buying this will never go to the alps. If you are alpine riding, absolutely, set up your bike for it. Most of us aren’t. And even if we do make an alpine trip every year or two, 99% of my riding is still flats and short climbs. Should I also pay £3k more for the higher grade carbon to save 300g? Personally I prefer electronic shifting cos it’s really cool and no cables looks sweet 🤷♂️. Not everyone has the same priorities :)
Sram groupsets seemed to peak with Red 22. Everything since has gotten more expensive and heavier for something that ultimately just moves a chain into different cogs.
Go on a bike buying strike until the cycle companies stop taking the financial piss. Keep riding what you have until they stop charging motorcycle money for bicycles 👍🏼
@@TheTurnerturner You picked the worst time in 14 years to do it. Prices have gone up by hundereds (judging by the review price stated just a few months ago) also love the fact they slap on a 2022 model, put up the pirce but change nothing....
Thinking of going the electronic shifter route, as my hands are starting to seize up on long cold rides, making it more difficult to manually change gears. By the sounds of it gears will change at a flick of a switch rather a physical push of a lever. Great review as always.
Thing is weight is more of a psychological issue but no less important, particularly if you are spending £5-7k on a bike… there is the nice feeling of picking up a properly light bike, already in danger of being lost with the weight challenges of aerodynamics, bigger tyres and disc brakes (all of which are valid improvements). I do wonder if SRAM are deliberately making this groupset needlessly heavy to force people to buy more expensive versions…
Sram has change their business model to even more greedy 🤑🤑🤑 they’ll try to milk the crap out of newbies and consumers wanting all the bells and whistles on their bike for a very tiny marginal gains. its not sustainable as sram only works with sram and you cant use other third party parts compared to shimano. Imagine how much it will cost you to replace chain, chainrings and cassettes. It all accumulates.
Also a bike with just cables/hoses is aesthetically pleasing to look at at much easier to main maintain. The fact that shimano uses cables is enough to disqualify them. Bluetooth has been invented :-) Thanks for a good review!
Great review David.. On my Trek Emonda i went from a mechanical ultegra 52/36 with 11-30 that came with it to a 1 x sram rival 46t with 10-36 but have the force crankset.. Absolutely loving mine and just like your sram software you showed i mainly spend more time in the middle of the cassette. I'm a convert to the 1x not having to worry about changing the front derailleur just up/down for the back "simple". I don't think i would go back to 2x again ( lucky rival came out lol) and my N+1 bikes will be 1x from now on lol. If the bikes are 2x i will be changing them over to 1X. Keep up with your videos mate and love your honest opinions on the different contents you post. :)
@@Thepaytonb yeah not problems at all. With the 52/36 with 11-30 setup I had the easiest gear ratio being 1.2 now with the 46 with 10-36 the easiest gear ratio is 1.27 so not too far off 😅
@jezza thanks for the info. Considering 1x sram axs etap mix. I don’t seek hills/mountains but my riding buddies love to climb and drag me out every now and then.
the supply issues in the bike industry have been epic, we’ve been dealing with it in the States as well. we can’t find cassettes or chainrings for any price.
To be fair, I’ve sourced a mix and match AXS groupset (between June and August). I had to buy everything separately, and think I ended up using 7 different retailers, but it is possible if you put some time and effort in
Hi did you have to change the chain going to 10-36 ? Asking as I'm going from 10-30 to 10-33 with the rival d1 flat top 120 link chain , will I need different chain to fit 10-33 or will my existing rival chain work. Thanks for any advice.
My Trek Madone SLR6 bought just under two years ago came fitted with the Sram Rival groupset. I’ve enjoyed it while it worked, but unfortunately I had a rear derailleur failure after 15 months, power meter failure shortly after, both replaced by warranty. Now the front derailleur has failed, fortunately just inside the end of the warranty period, so I’m about to start the warranty process. Because I do not live in the USA where I bought the bike, the warranty process is time consuming and costly due to shipping costs and logistics, so I would be hard pressed to recommend this product. Having said that I have friends with Red and Force 11 speed group sets that have had years of trouble free service.
Amazing review, hit all the points I was wanting to know. The only thing I would have liked to see you remove the battery and also how to charge is it proprietary or standard usb type connectors?
In my case as a roadie. I do have mix and match on my bike. DA brakes calipers, Wheels, BB & Cranks with Ultegra shifters, pedals & derailleurs. I think If I'm going for this Rival Group set. I will definitely swap to Force of if is not Red crank, later on... lol 😛🤣
David, I am an almost complete noob in electronic shifting, so pardon my possibly stupid question. I've read somewhere that sram rival has a «semi-automatic» shifting mode, which keeps jumps to next up/down gear to be smallest possible. To explain what I mean, let assume that your bike has an XG-1250 cassette and 35/48T crankset, and you're currently riding on 2-7 gear combo (2nd front, 7th rear gear). Your transmission ratio is 2.824. Your track now goes a tiny bit uphill and you feel you want just a bit easier gearing now. If you switch to 2-6 with tx ratio 2.526 by just going one sprocket down on the cassette, that will be far from optimal, the jump is too big. Optimal gearing with your configuration will actually be 1-9 with tx ratio 2.692 - the closest smaller value to the one of your current 2-7 gear combo. So question is whether rival can be configured to do the shifting from 2-7 to 1-9 automatically when hitting downshifting button once, or not. Thanks.
Even though I ride Zonda wheels and have owned a pair of Sciroccos as well, both awesome wheels for the money, I've never been a Campagnolo guy myself as I don't like that thumb shifter (small hands don't help). However, if today I was to choose between a 12-speed mechanical Chorus and the latest Ultegra Di2, I'd 100% go with the Chorus even in spite of disliking the thumb shifter thingy. I'll even save about 1/3 to 1/4 of the price of the groupset. And also in spite of that, I will clearly consider switching to Campagnolo one day if they will still be the only ones making high-end mechanical shifters. Another small downside with Campagnolo is that it's much harder to find crank-based power meters such as Stages G3 (which I own in a Shimano 105 5800 guise). Then again cranksets can be mixed and matched and the offerings of ROTOR are not too shabby. But first, there will soon be a heckload of second-hand R7000, R8000 and R9100 groupsets to be found on the second-hand market. Can't wait.
I’m putting Rival eTap on my new Rodeo-Labs TrailDonkey… just gotta get past this worldwide shortages of everything status we’re all in. Ordered it all in March, and I’m still waiting.
Building a bike for 2022 and have planned for rival AXS and switching out the Crankset for a 1X red Crankset which lowers the weight by 460g by switching the Crankset and removing the front Derailleur
I have 400 miles into my new Yoeleo R11 and I love this group set. I do love the hoods. Shifting is always on point and easy. The batteries last a long time. I don’t really notice the weight and the exchange for all of the benefits is worth while.
I wish someone would do a video for those of use that have a gravel bike that came with a rival groupset on updating it to eTap and what is needed. Especially with a one buy groupset.
Actually you can know with a mechanical groupset what gear you have been riding, you just need cadence and speed and the ratio profile, I think GoldenCheetah software dose that for you...
Nice review. The cycling industry just wants an excuse to jack up prices with electronic groupsets & disc brakes. For everyday plebs rim brakes & mechanical groupsets are plenty sufficient on road bikes
Does that seatpost have any offset or is it a zero offset one? This is a giant questions related but... The video really shows the bike sideways and I started wondering.
I had lots of problems with the 2015 Rival hydraulic discs - sticky pistons and poor lever return resulting in loose levers. I had to buy a new hood and caliper after a couple years. No doubt things have changed but Shimano have been much better, so I'd not chance it again.
Like I mentioned in another cycle-tubers comments, we should have a proper dynamo to charge up the batteries/capacitors for electric systems like these.
It's amazing how the same people who thought a 9 kg road bike was way too heavy a few years ago are now willing to pay twice the cost of a mechanical 105 to get a whopping 650g heavier groupset merely because it's cool and electronic. I'd buy the mechanical 105 and spend the extra money on a lighter set of wheels and tires and thus end up with an over 1kg of weight saved. But hey, sure, they'll tell you electronic shifting is SO MUCH GOD DAMN BETTER IN SO EVERY SINGLE WAY. They won't be able to tell you exactly why, of course, and they will compare it to a badly adjusted Shimano Sora from 2 generations ago anyway.
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👍👍
"We don't mix and match in the road world"... looks at my road bikes with a hodgepodge of components, "I guess that makes me a mountain biker." I'm just the kind of person to buy the "upgrade kit" for this groupset and put a Red crankset, chain and cassette on there.
To put it into perspective, Sram Red rim mechanical 10 and 22 were around the 1750g-1800g mark - which makes this appear like a boat anchor. On the flats maybe it doesn't make a difference, but on prolonged alpine style climbs then for sure you'll feel it...the gadgety tech looks amazing but I know which one gets a place on my bike until they can get closer to the 2200g mark...at a reasonable price point.
Finally somebody talking some sense. That 10/11 speed mechanical SRAM Red was a beautiful and really lightweight piece of engineering that used to weigh about 60% that what this gadgety tech costs. I'd go for a second-hand SRAM Red over this piece of overpriced tech all day every day and save some money in the process on top of over 1 kg of weight.
Yeah, the bonkers thing is that it's closer to 1.4kg difference or near 3lbs extra weight. I'm no weightweenie and recognise that 200g here or there makes little difference, often the difference between a hi-mod and standard frame - the pro's would say the same, and do....but seven times that? Any rider who rides sustained Cols in the mountains knows what effect an extra couple of pounds can have on climbing performance, it's the difference between being on form and being dropped.
@@nellyx1x493 Well as some others have mentioned in the previous comments, a good proportion of people ride mainly on flats and don't care much about climbing. On top of that, this is a RU-vid channel viewed mostly by Brits who barely see real mountains when going abroad on holidays. But even so, the weight of this groupset is ridiculously high. Even a Tiagra 4700, that costs a fraction of the price, weighs a whopping 300g less, and is quite a decent groupset, far from the doubtful quality of older Tiagra and Sora groupsets. Unless you can afford to spend over 5.000€/£ on a bike, electronic groupsets and disc brakes usually mean at least 1 if not 1.5 extra kg over a similarly-priced mechanical, rim brake bike. I've just read some article about some 3.000£ Vitus with Ultegra Di2 and disc brakes that was "good value for money" that weighed in 8.1 kg without pedals or accessories. My 2.500 € rim brake mechanical Ultegra R8000 bike weighs 7.4 kg in the same conditions and could easily go under 7.1 kg if I replaced my boat anchor of a saddle with whatever that Vitus came with, as well as the tyres with some lighter ones (I went for some bulletproof ones as I ride on quite a lot of crappy mountain roads). Oh, and about 300€ of that cost went into a Stages G3 left crankarm power meter, while the frameset is more on the aero than on the lightweight side. The difference in price and weight is simply preposterous for this price range.
But what if I want to outfit an old frame, one set up for rim brakes, with Rival? I can't, because the levers won't accommodate simple brake cables. That's a goof, SRAM.
Loving all the technical aspects of this groupset but wow 3.15kg. Lightest group sets used to be under 1800g back in 2018. And 105 (rim) weighed less than Dura Ace 12sp does today. Ok, tech is moving on, but not sure you need to be a weight weenie to scratch your head
All bike channel "specialists" and "influencers" have been thoroughly trained recently to tell everybody that a bike's weight doesn't matter and that if you even think about asking what a bike weighs you are a weight weenie and you should be laughed at. Of course, all new tech they are now "recommending" is significantly heavier than the alternative options: aero components and frames, electronic groupsets, disc brakes, and even tubeless setups up to some point. Of course, the next generations of the aformenentioned components will be marketed as "significantly lighter than previous" and the same exact RU-vid marketers (sorry, I meant reviewers) will tell you to go buy them because they are lighter. Hypocrites.
What about the noise from rear cassette? Sram is known for this issue. What about the ease of bleeding? What about compatibility with other chainrings and powermeters…etc. review is good but we need info regarding notorious challenges as well. Thanks
The dealbreaker for me is how SRAM rear derailleur springs crap out after about a year. Have ended changing all my SRAM equipped bikes back to Shimano.
You can still get 105 R7000 rimbrake parts. Up to 28mm if i recall. 105 mech is the best value roadbike groupset. Heck if the casettes are good enough to win stages in the TDF with Chris Froome. They are good enough for us mortals. (back then Shimano didn't have wide range casettes in their Dura-ace line-up.)
What currency? The South Korean Giant website lists the TCR Advanced Disc 1+ AR variant with the SRAM Rival groupset and SLR2 carbon wheels for 4590000 won, which coverts to 2832.33 Pounds or 3876.17 USD. Unfortunately, Giant will probably charge more if they offer this version in Western markets.
@@bobhuang94 ah that sounds like a pretty good deal actually. They only have the ultregra version of that bike listed on the UK site for 3000 gbp. Might need to dig a little more to see if I can find the sram one
Offcourse not available in rim Brake, Which means I've buy a whole new bike. The industry has moved away for those who always bought frame & all other parts differently to have thier own custom build!. I guess electronic works best for those with just one bike, for a hoarders like me who decide what bike to ride the Morning before the start electronic groupset doesn't work! Like this weekend I simply decided to ride a bike I hadn't in 2months! Just like discs don't work too because having more bikes in an apartment means it's stored up on walls sometimes hanging upside down! So the mainstream bike industry has sweetly moved people like us out who actually buy a lot of bikes, haven't bought a new carbon bike for a very long time! And looking at where it's all heading I guess my options are just sweet steel bikes now.
