SR 11 vs. Sram Red. Thoughts?

[camchris1]

Hey All,
I have a new build in the works and am looking at a new group for it. Never ridden SR. Love the look of it. I have been riding Sram red but have not tried the 2012 stuff.
Just looking for any thoughts or strong recommendations for one or the other.
Happy new year and thanks!
Chris

[FlashUNC]

Campy. Campy. A thousand times Campy.

[Dave]

You should try the Campy shifters - that's where the big difference lies. Some like the thumb shifters and some don't. I'm on the Campy side and wouldn't even consider SRAM.

Whether you need 11 cogs or not, it's the future and SRAM is lagging there.

I've always opted for Chorus cassettes, because steel cogs last about twice as long as Ti and cost far less.

The SR group, as a whole doesn't offer a whole lot of bang for the buck. I bought Record 11 back in '09 because it was only about $200 more than Chorus, but now there's a lot greater price difference. I'd probably just buy Chorus these days.

[bfd]

Agree with others that the first thing to do is figure out what shifter you prefer. Campy, Sram and even Shimano shifters are similar, but all have slight differences. So figure out if one "fits" better than the other.

One thing about Sram Red is its light. The group is arguably the lightest on the market and is really only rivaled by Campy SR ti group - $$$$. BUT, Sram does have some negatives that may or may not bug you.

First, frt der shifting. My buddy loves Sram Red and wouldn't get anything else. Yet, he would be the first to admit that the Red ft der is terrible. His "upgrade" was to get a Force ft der. Recently, he tried the new 2012/13 Red ft der with yaw and says its even better.

Another negative, for some, is that the cassette is loud. The hollowed out steel Red cassette is super light and supposedly strong, but it makes alot of noise. Then again, many aftermarket wheels have loud freehub, so if that doesn't bother you, go for it.

Finally, the bearings on the Red crank is supposedly not very good and reportedly wear out fast. In contrast, Campy bearings are great and should last a long time.

So, get down to your lbs and try out a bike or two with Campy and see whether you like the shifters. Good Luck!:banana::eek::bike::butt:

[cfox]

I was a Campy guy for years. One thing I noticed with the 11 speed stuff was I could never dial it just right for every useable gear. There were always a couple noisy gears that would drive me nuts. They shifted fine in and out of said gears, but they were just noisy. If you adjusted them to quiet them, another gear would be off. It was like derailleur whack-a-mole. I replaced my SR11 with DI2; no "off" gears with Di2, I assure you.

[oldpotatoe]

Hey All,
I have a new build in the works and am looking at a new group for it. Never ridden SR. Love the look of it. I have been riding Sram red but have not tried the 2012 stuff.
Just looking for any thoughts or strong recommendations for one or the other.
Happy new year and thanks!
Chris

SR, w/o doubt(or a mix of Record and Chorus, like Chorus cogset and chain-all 3 work exactly the same).

Even tho the red FD is 'better', still not there. Red brakes work but again, more complicated than they need to be.

PLUS, don't expect sram to stay at 10s...it would be a shame to get 10s sram and see it become obsolete in 2014.

Many 'teams' sponsored by sram still opt for shimano cogsets and chains...non-red BB bearings(horrible, at least they are expensive), that speaks volumes.

As for the gent above...IME, adjusting the Campagnolo RD is like any..not sure why yours was 'noisy'.

And for $...SR/Ti, in some places, is the same $ as 2013 red...

[oldpotatoe]

I was a Campy guy for years. One thing I noticed with the 11 speed stuff was I could never dial it just right for every useable gear. There were always a couple noisy gears that would drive me nuts. They shifted fine in and out of said gears, but they were just noisy. If you adjusted them to quiet them, another gear would be off. It was like derailleur whack-a-mole. I replaced my SR11 with DI2; no "off" gears with Di2, I assure you.

should've looked at EPS......

[zandrrr]

This is like asking "Ford or Chevy?" on a Mustang forum.

[vqdriver]

This is like asking "Ford or Chevy?" on a Mustang forum.

yup.




also, is there a reason 9000 is off that list?

[EDS]

Hey All,
I have a new build in the works and am looking at a new group for it. Never ridden SR. Love the look of it. I have been riding Sram red but have not tried the 2012 stuff.
Just looking for any thoughts or strong recommendations for one or the other.
Happy new year and thanks!
Chris

My teammate went down hard recently and broke his kneecap because his Campy Super Record chain broke. If you go campy consider one of their more robust chains instead.

[thirdgenbird]

My teammate went down hard recently and broke his kneecap because his Campy Super Record chain broke. If you go campy consider one of their more robust chains instead.

I've seen broken chains from lots of brands and nearly every time the culprit is incorrect installation. I would trust a record 11spd chain every bit as much as a shimano or sram chain.

[bikinchris]

Anyone who still uses the weak factory links is asking for a bad crash. I have never had a quick link from any source fail ever.
Record and SRAM red both work great. Buy what fits your hands and shifting preference.

[camchris1]

Thank you to all who commented. Lots to consider. A couple clarifications:
I have a 2011 Red group on a bike and I do run a Force fd for all the reasons stated. I have not heard much about the new fd so thanks for that input.
As for Shimano it is an aesthetic thing. I just do not care for the looks of the cranks (I could certainly go with an alternate crank, just another thing to do!).

I would love to hear more about folks experience w Chorus. I am not committed to SR as the only Campy group. Thanks!

[merlincustom1]

My teammate went down hard recently and broke his kneecap because his Campy Super Record chain broke. If you go campy consider one of their more robust chains instead.

It wasn't the chain.

[Dave]

My teammate went down hard recently and broke his kneecap because his Campy Super Record chain broke. If you go campy consider one of their more robust chains instead.

There is no super record chain, only record and chorus. The only difference is hollow pins on the record chain. Both use the same joining pin.

Most often, when a chain "breaks", it's a case of an outer plate coming off the end of a pin and it's usually due to improper installation of the joining pin.

I'll be interested to see in Shimano 11 uses the same type of weak joining pin with their 11 speed chain. At least the Campy pin requires a flaring operation to hold the pin tighter. I've never had a problem with it.

I do like master links and you can choose form IRD or KMC, that should fit any 11 speed chain.

[oldpotatoe]

My teammate went down hard recently and broke his kneecap because his Campy Super Record chain broke. If you go campy consider one of their more robust chains instead.

Or have the chain installed correctly. To imply that Campagnolo 11s chains are flawed in some way is not accurate. Holes in the pins doesn't make the 'Record' chain(no SR chain), weak.

I have installed many 11s Campagnolo chains and one thing for sure, if a customer isn't happy(like cuz of a broken chain) you will hear about it.

Haven't heard that.

[Black Dog]

Thank you to all who commented. Lots to consider. A couple clarifications:
I have a 2011 Red group on a bike and I do run a Force fd for all the reasons stated. I have not heard much about the new fd so thanks for that input.
As for Shimano it is an aesthetic thing. I just do not care for the looks of the cranks (I could certainly go with an alternate crank, just another thing to do!).

I would love to hear more about folks experience w Chorus. I am not committed to SR as the only Campy group. Thanks!

Chorus will perform exactly the same as SR, will last as long, will cost less, and will weigh a few grams more. Best value for your $'s.

[Louis]

PLUS, don't expect sram to stay at 10s...it would be a shame to get 10s sram and see it become obsolete in 2014.

I don't think anyone expects Campy to stay at 11s either...

[oldpotatoe]

I don't think anyone expects Campy to stay at 11s either...

The post saying that as many bike 'writers' have noted, in spite of sram's 1by11 MTB group and really funky wet hydros shoe-horned in Red levers, sram is playing catch up football in the road market.

Just think, in the 2013 pro peloton, neutral wheel support and sram 10s wheels are the one's the guys have to 'search' for...

[uber]

I have Campy 10 on two bikes and got SRAM Red on a newer bike. Switched it to SR11. They are all great and it really is a preference issue. If you are a racer and are used to SRAM, you might find the Campy thumb shifters unnatural. Customer service from SRAM is superb. Campy seems smoother and quieter to me. Can't go wrong either way.

[thirdgenbird]

Customer service from SRAM is superb.

I hear people say this and often times, it is a result of people getting a new set of shifters when theirs breaks. I know your situation may be different, but I prefer parts that are so reliable you never find out how good customer service is.

[bargainguy]

Chorus 10 on two IF's and love it. Never a lick of trouble. No interest in 11 sp. There's a point of no return with a lot of this stuff. I like to keep it simple.

[OtayBW]

Thank you to all who commented. Lots to consider. A couple clarifications:
I have a 2011 Red group on a bike and I do run a Force fd for all the reasons stated. I have not heard much about the new fd so thanks for that input.
As for Shimano it is an aesthetic thing. I just do not care for the looks of the cranks (I could certainly go with an alternate crank, just another thing to do!).

I would love to hear more about folks experience w Chorus. I am not committed to SR as the only Campy group. Thanks!

I've got Record 10, Chorus 11, and Centaur 10 on my bikes. New, out-of-the-box, I think you'll be hard pressed to find much difference between the shifters for the Record and Chorus - and even the Centaur is very similar. SR would be nice if for no other reason than you can slam (er...shift) more more than 3 cogs at one time, but I'm not sure I see the cost-benefit beyond that. Chorus looks like a good bang for the buck to me.

[blantonator]

the new Red Yaw FD is a revelation. Anyone who says otherwise hasn't ridden it yet. It's easily as good as 7900, if not better. Also the 2012 group fixed the noisy cassette.

[Black Dog]

I've got Record 10, Chorus 11, and Centaur 10 on my bikes. New, out-of-the-box, I think you'll be hard pressed to find much difference between the shifters for the Record and Chorus - and even the Centaur is very similar. SR would be nice if for no other reason than you can slam (er...shift) more more than 3 cogs at one time, but I'm not sure I see the cost-benefit beyond that. Chorus looks like a good bang for the buck to me.

You can shift more than 3 cogs at a time on the thumb lever with chorus just like with R or SR. They share the same guts.

[dd74]

Campy EPS if you and your frame can swing it. Mechanical Campy is good. EPS is much better, IMO.

[soulspinner]

You can shift more than 3 cogs at a time on the thumb lever with chorus just like with R or SR. They share the same guts.

I have chorus 11 it works well. Go to Totalcycling, and read the weight diff between Record and Chorus. Its 122 grams and that includes a ti/alloy cassette I would only have on race wheels(havent raced formally since 80s). Thats just over 4 ounces. Drain yer bladder better, take the 400 dlollars saved and throw it towards better wheels.YMMV

[ultraman6970]

Anybody have used this one with campagnolo?

the new Red Yaw FD is a revelation. Anyone who says otherwise hasn't ridden it yet. It's easily as good as 7900, if not better. Also the 2012 group fixed the noisy cassette.

[camchris1]

This has been very helpful! Thanks. Looking into the Chorus 11 group.

Now I just need to switch the body on my CK hub to accept the Campy cassette. Always something!

[Joachim]

This has been very helpful! Thanks. Looking into the Chorus 11 group.

Now I just need to switch the body on my CK hub to accept the Campy cassette. Always something!

I thought it was quite an involved process to go from R45 Shim to Campy and not just a plain hub body change.

[559Rando]

Go watch Spinal Tap. It'll clear everything up!

[jdp211]

I rode Red for a couple seasons and had no issues with it, unlike those that many others have expressed. At the time, it was cheap and very light, which is what I was after. I had a bad crash that put me off the bike for a couple months last season and figured it was as good a time as any to sell off the Red parts and give Campy a try. Long story short, I now have my primary bike built with Record and there's a Chorus group in a box thats waiting to be fitted to a cross frame set. The shifting action is actually kind of similar (more clunky than Shimano, which I prefer), but the hood shape of Campy is worlds better than Red. Try Campy if you can, but if not I doubt you'll be disappointed.

[Cdub]

I have record 11 and chorus. I put Chorus 11 on my CX and road racer. They work perectly. Like others have said, same stuff, slightly heavier, more durable.

I have big hands and enjoy the 11 hoods much more than i did the 10.

[norcalbiker]

I have both SR11 and Sram Red.
They both work great for what I need, or should I say more than I need.
But if I have to pick one, I'll stay with SR11. Not that there is anything wrong with Sram Red.

Good luck!

[OtayBW]

You can shift more than 3 cogs at a time on the thumb lever with chorus just like with R or SR. They share the same guts.
I can't get >3 at a pop. I've rebuilt the Record 10 and the Chorus you can't rebuild so I can't specifically speak to the guts, but the 11 works just like the 10 and about as well. Have been told by several folks that there is a difference in the SR, though, but I have no first-hand exp. with that.

[camchris1]

I thought it was quite an involved process to go from R45 Shim to Campy and not just a plain hub body change.

Sadly you are correct. This new group decision just got more expensive...

[krismac23]

Get the new DA 9000. The whole system with the new shimano cable's and housing make everything else feel obsolete.