Bill Bove
06-08-2006, 06:38 PM
My Orbea rep came by with a 2007 Opal today with SRAM's Force group on it. I got to take it for a spin. I wasn't interested in the bike itself as I've already ridden it but I did ride for about two miles to get a feel for the shifting.
I am not terribly impressed. It is a comprimise between Campy and Shimano and you know when you try to comprimise nobody is happy. The hoods are slightly larger than Campy and lack the bulb of the Shimano. The actual shifting Bio mechanics are easy to pick up, push it in to go up the cogs, touch it to go down. Really easy. The shift itself is stiffer than Shimano but not as stiff as Campy. Like I said, a comprimise. I do not think many people will "upgrade" To SRAM. The Force gruop is lighter than Dura-Ace and will be significantly less expensive. Close to 400 bucks less. I think the market will associate Force with Ultegra and Rival with 105 because of the proximity in price. I'm not planning on stocking either Force or Rival as components but will put a bike with both on the floor. I think Rival will outsell Force due to the person buying an entry level enthusiast bike will not have any prejudgidices to either Campy or Shimano.
There is one place where Force does blow away both Campy and Shimano. The abilty to drop a gear in an all out sprint is so much easier and precise with Force. If your livelihood depends on getting across the finish line first you will be riding Force. Period. It is that much better. Because the inner lever is both the down shift and upshift lever you can squeeze the lever in close to the bar and hold it with your fingers wrapped tightly around both the bar and shifter allowing you to just twitch the lever to get a bigger gear. Really fantastic to sprint on. But I just don't see it being any better all around than what is already out there to cause me to switch. Not yet. Of course yammv :D
I am not terribly impressed. It is a comprimise between Campy and Shimano and you know when you try to comprimise nobody is happy. The hoods are slightly larger than Campy and lack the bulb of the Shimano. The actual shifting Bio mechanics are easy to pick up, push it in to go up the cogs, touch it to go down. Really easy. The shift itself is stiffer than Shimano but not as stiff as Campy. Like I said, a comprimise. I do not think many people will "upgrade" To SRAM. The Force gruop is lighter than Dura-Ace and will be significantly less expensive. Close to 400 bucks less. I think the market will associate Force with Ultegra and Rival with 105 because of the proximity in price. I'm not planning on stocking either Force or Rival as components but will put a bike with both on the floor. I think Rival will outsell Force due to the person buying an entry level enthusiast bike will not have any prejudgidices to either Campy or Shimano.
There is one place where Force does blow away both Campy and Shimano. The abilty to drop a gear in an all out sprint is so much easier and precise with Force. If your livelihood depends on getting across the finish line first you will be riding Force. Period. It is that much better. Because the inner lever is both the down shift and upshift lever you can squeeze the lever in close to the bar and hold it with your fingers wrapped tightly around both the bar and shifter allowing you to just twitch the lever to get a bigger gear. Really fantastic to sprint on. But I just don't see it being any better all around than what is already out there to cause me to switch. Not yet. Of course yammv :D