SRAM FORCE is out !

It's amazing how much you all get worked up about a groupset... any groupset.

 

I agree, now only if it was 2nd gen electronic, that would be at least something to get excited over.

Can I ask a stupid question, how many of you experienced campy users change 5 or 6 gears at a time ?
If you don't, isn't the "I can go down all 10 gears if I wanted too" shifting advantage over dura-ace, not a practical reality.

 

I definitely do (kind of)! When I ever have to jump into my lower gear (34 front) and then match up the same cadence (as I just was in the 50t), I quickly switch into the sixth gear (rear). But it actually is more of a 4-5 gear change. Never six or more.

The other good thing about doing this 10 gear change thing is when you setup the bike. I check if the rear derailleur is setup correctly by quickly shifting through all 10 gears and watching the rear derailleur's reaction.

But remember, I only use campy shifters. And a shimano rear derailleur. And of course that shiftmate. So "technically" my "reviews" are the least biased.

 

I shift 3-4 gears at a time in both directions. I'm cautous after trying to shift down too many gears at once when rounding a corner to face a very steep short hill. The chain skipped a little to far under load and put the chain into the spokes and killed the wheel, and no a piece of plastic in the spokes would not have helped! The inner limit is now set to make it a bit difficult to push into bottom gear so as to avoid this in the future (and I don't need bottom gear as often now!!)

There are plenty of people out there that will buy this new kit. Unlikely they will put it on a bike the build themselves, but people will ride demo bikes in shops when looking around, and posibly like it enough to buy that very model.

 

Hmm. So the pros have tested it and give it the double thumbs up. Then again, they have a gaggle of professional mechanics working each morning to keep it perfectly cleaned and in meticulous alignment...

The groupset sounds interesting, compelling in places.. but I'll let the early adopters do the longterm real-world testing to find the teething problems that might exist before I'll make a judgement one way or another. (I'm sure it works fine, I'm talking about those rough edges that always seem to appear when being used for months on-end and maintained by average people with average people schedules)

Price? Just wait for grey market OEM component shops to take care of that!

Aesthetics wise: the inboard trigger should be black to match the rest of the lever. And the rear mech looks crap, like an old Shimano 600 derailleur with two screws sticking out of its face. Why couldn't they make it look like X.0?

 

Have had multiple Record shifters in the last 50,000 miles with no problems and I can't count the times I have gone down, except for one brain concussion and last Christmas Eve when I had to have 11" of Ti installed in my hip. The back of your hand makes a protective cushion for your shifter. I wince when I see anybody riding without gloves.

 

No, one year of road testing is not enough for a new entry. One year of sponsoring people and having mechanics go over all their stuff every evening. " It is great stuff, CSC may even consider hypothetically potentially riding with it next year" is not enough for suspicious little old me.

I wonder how much the off-road experience translates to the world of superlight supersmooth road componentry... you are probably right on that one (I had not thought of that, do not own an MTB and know next to nothing about that world).

But like another poster stated, I will let the early adopters try it out first.

Disclaimer: I am sure it is an excellent group, but the hype is incredible (just for a group, as another poster would say!).

And for the record, I still think the entire group is ugly as sin.

 

Simultaneously shift to the small ring and 3-4 cogs smaller, BEFORE THE CORNER. I call it dumping both thumb buttons.This won't change the overall gear ratio you have been in and then all you have to do is sweep to bigger cogs AFTER THE CORNER. Done right, it's seamless.

 

Just bought full Force Gruppo for $1300. Have dealer call Quality in Bloomington, MN

 

New offer from Pinarello for the 07 model. You can find more photos here .



There are still so many people uninformed about the SRAM shifter saying it's a "me too" products, all they talk about it how it looks. It's not about whole component group nor how they look, it's about the brake lever/shifter that is innovative, some even say "revolutionary".

Here's a link to find out how it works.
The system eliminated the most of the issues from other makers had, awkward thumb shifter(Campy), cable routing that sticks out inward(Shimano), etc.

The question is not if the SRAM shifter is a "me too" product of other makers but when the other makers come up with their "me too" version of SRAM.

 

I just finished helping my girlfriend build up her Salsa Campeon with SRAM rival. She's riden it twice, me once and my initital impressions are very favorable. I really, really like how it shifts. It feels very solid, and the double tap didn't take very long to get used to. It looks pretty good IMO and is a ton easier to shift from the drops than campy. I plan to post some more, with pics, soon.

Justin

 

i have messed with a force equiped bike. it shifts ok. I hate the looks of it tho. but ergonomics feel good, only thing i dont like is the shape of the brake lever feels blocky to me. a local race had the sram cars and were doing a demo on the bikes. the sram guy was a dick... he did give me a few stickers tho.

 

yours is the first post to truly get to the bottom of this.

it doesnt have the dorky looking wire nest in the shimano cockpit...

and it doesnt have the Mack-Truck-double-clutching thumb button of the campy.

hopefully, the've taken the best of both existing and created something better.

now, if only they can make it LOOK fast!