Sram Red vs Dura Ace

[ni78ck]

Im looking at upgrading my current bike
its taken 2 and a half years, but upgraditis seams to be getting the better of me.
i currently ride on dura ace 7800 and im very happy with it. for my next bike im considering sram red. what are the advantages/disadvantages of each, for those who have tried both? i would be looking at 7900 dura ace.

is Di2 worth it?

[sogood]

Go and take a test ride and see which you prefer! Fortunately your existing wheels are compatible with a SRAM move. Enjoy shopping!

[ni78ck]

Go and take a test ride and see which you prefer! Fortunately your existing wheels are compatible with a SRAM move. Enjoy shopping!

good point, i have been offered by some of my fellow riders to try their sram red. they love it! the like the fact they you dont have to extend your fingers all the way to move the brake lever.

[DaveOZ]

sogood is right, ride them both. I love the operation of my SRAM Red. They both move the chain and are of similar quality so go for the one you are comfortable with.

/I'm just a hack with no idea but this is the advice I was given and it worked for me.

[Solirossi]

Both are great gruppos. Trying to differentiate....
Red is lighter, DA is quieter, DA is probably a bit better 'quality'. But its 6 one way half a dozen the other. Iv never used Red but apparently its ergonomics are brilliant.

[Uncle Grumpy]

At that level, you're going to find that Dura Ace, Record and Red all work really well. It really comes down to cost and ergonomics.

Or to be shallow about it, brand allegience.

Grumps

[ni78ck]

At that level, you're going to find that Dura Ace, Record and Red all work really well. It really comes down to cost and ergonomics.

Or to be shallow about it, brand allegience.

Grumps

my allegiance is with shimano at the moment, but happy to shift to sram, but not campo as parts seam way more expensive

[BigVin]

My new bike has Sram Red and I love it!

[sogood]

At that level, you're going to find that Dura Ace, Record and Red all work really well. It really comes down to cost and ergonomics.

I completely agree with your statement... And then Super Record rises above them all!

[philip]

My allegiance has also been with shimano, mainly because I've bought all the tools to do work on my shimano bits, but apparently sram is all interchangeable with shimano so it's all good, no new tools involved.

The main reason for me saying sram is that when I was down in Adelaide on the ride out to Wilunga, my FD cable snapped (inside the shifter, keeps happening, pain in the arse) so I was stuck in the small ring. I had actually brought a spare with me and a mate had it at the bottom of the hill, although I didn't have cable cutters so it wasn't going to be easy. On the way down the hill I happened to notice one of the vans parked on the side of the road had "SRAM neutral service" on the side of it. I got to the bottom of the hill and my mate was still a way away and there were huge crowds so I wasn't going to be able to get to him in time for the race going up the hill. So I rode back up to the van that I'd seen on the way down and asked about, a mechanic stopped what he was doing, took my bike, put it up on a stand, replaced the cable, tuned it all up for me and refused any sort of payment! Super nice guys. All they wanted was to have a go at me for having a "treeeek" bike with shimano gear, they made me promise to get a bmc with sram next. Pretty convincing!

[familyguy]

At that level, you're going to find that Dura Ace, Record and Red all work really well. It really comes down to cost and ergonomics.

Or to be shallow about it, brand allegience.

Grumps

my allegiance is with shimano at the moment, but happy to shift to sram, but not campo as parts seam way more expensive

In that case, can you afford to replace either if you stack it and bust the brifters?!

[ni78ck]

At that level, you're going to find that Dura Ace, Record and Red all work really well. It really comes down to cost and ergonomics.

Or to be shallow about it, brand allegience.

Grumps

my allegiance is with shimano at the moment, but happy to shift to sram, but not campo as parts seam way more expensive

In that case, can you afford to replace either if you stack it and bust the brifters?!

i will take out insurance so all should be good if a stack does happen.

[MichaelB]

...., my FD cable snapped (inside the shifter, keeps happening, pain in the arse) so I was stuck in the small ring. I had actually brought a spare with me and a mate had it at the bottom of the hill, ....

Any reason as to why ?

From what I have read (Shimano DA7800 & 105/5600 user here) is that for shift quality/noise, Shimano wins, but SRAM is still pretty good with some nice features.

[laager]

.

[JV911]

Both are top notch, as is Record. IMO Red definitely looks better esp the cranks, has adjustable reach and is a lighter

The operation is a different (pretty easy to up-shift instead of down-shifting on your first few rides) so ultimately it comes down to preference...and allegiance.

[Richard.L]

If you are looking to get bits on a budget Force is just as light as DA. I noticed that 7900 DA has reach adjustment too?

[Ross]

At that level, you're going to find that Dura Ace, Record and Red all work really well. It really comes down to cost and ergonomics.

I completely agree with your statement... And then Super Record rises above them all!

Friends don't let friends ride Campy...

As to the question from the OP, I can't comment on the functionality or ergonomics of SRAM having never ridden a bike equipped with it, but I think you would have to take into account the availability at most LBS' of Shimano parts whereas a lot of them probably don't keep any SRAM parts in stock. OK, you are probably going to buy most of your parts from Wiggle/PBK et al but what if something breaks or bends and you simply must have a new one TODAY?

[JV911]

my allegiance is with shimano at the moment

DA will go nicely with the new C50 wheels

[Dr_Mutley]

I went with DA7900 on my latest S3 build and must say i am quite disapponted with it... All my previous bikes have been shimano shod, and unless I take the jump to Di2 one day, this will probably be the last DA gruppo I go for... My RS cervelo runs DA 7800 and it is fantastic, pure quality, and shifts very very well. DA7900 feels inferior in quality with is over use of plastic. Shifting is significantly poorer than 7800, altho this maybe due a little with the S3s cable internal routing being less than direct. Also for some reason Shimano decided that increasing the throw of the brifter to change gears from the 7800 to 7900 would be a good idea? WT?? I also dislike the 7900 exposed internal shifting mechanism as it looks crap and also rubs blisters on my fingers when climbing (have to put my gloves on before getting out of saddle!). The only aesthetic positive to 7900 is the concealed cabling, besides the small weight drop.

Try Red prior to your build. If u ike it go wth that. It looks better, shifts better than 7900, weighs less, and is significantly cheaper.

[ni78ck]

I went with DA7900 on my latest S3 build and must say i am quite disapponted with it... All my previous bikes have been shimano shod, and unless I take the jump to Di2 one day, this will probably be the last DA gruppo I go for... My RS cervelo runs DA 7800 and it is fantastic, pure quality, and shifts very very well. DA7900 feels inferior in quality with is over use of plastic. Shifting is significantly poorer than 7800, altho this maybe due a little with the S3s cable internal routing being less than direct. Also for some reason Shimano decided that increasing the throw of the brifter to change gears from the 7800 to 7900 would be a good idea? WT?? I also dislike the 7900 exposed internal shifting mechanism as it looks crap and also rubs blisters on my fingers when climbing (have to put my gloves on before getting out of saddle!). The only aesthetic positive to 7900 is the concealed cabling, besides the small weight drop.

Try Red prior to your build. If u ike it go wth that. It looks better, shifts better than 7900, weighs less, and is significantly cheaper.

thanks for your input doc, im looking at the S3 and most of them are built with sram red now
good to get your feed back on the 7900 and S3 they also come with rotor cranks which do look hot, and are specifically made to fit the BB30.

[ni78ck]

If you are looking to get bits on a budget Force is just as light as DA. I noticed that 7900 DA has reach adjustment too?

im really not too too fussed on weight, but lighter is better!

[black4tress]

My new bike has Sram Red and I love it!

+1, I'm a fan. I also dont have big gorilla hands so these fit me well.

[BigVin]

I have semi - gorilla hands I love it!

[laager]

.

[philip]

...., my FD cable snapped (inside the shifter, keeps happening, pain in the arse) so I was stuck in the small ring. I had actually brought a spare with me and a mate had it at the bottom of the hill, ....

Any reason as to why ?

From what I have read (Shimano DA7800 & 105/5600 user here) is that for shift quality/noise, Shimano wins, but SRAM is still pretty good with some nice features.

Yeah besides the issue with the cables fraying on the inside of the brifters (105) I have no problem with my 105 gear, I train/race on it and it's solid. I've only had a quick look at sram red and it looks nice and the shifting felt fine, so the choice probably just comes down to a personal thing.