Is SRAM really better than Shimano?

Sounds like the Shimano stuff is working great for you. 😎

As with everything else, everyone has a favorite. I don't think that SRAM is better than Shimano or that Shimano is better than Campy or vise versa on any of them. Each manufacturer has thier strong points and their weak points and if their particular strong points are what is important to you, then you will probably like them. I mainly use Shimano 105 and Ultegra because I find that it is reliable, easy to use and maintain, relatively inexpensive, and easy to find replacements when the parts wear out.

Which is longer: a string or a log?

Your LBS made a claim that can't be backed up.

Solanog said:

The guy from one of the BShops I visit is a fan of SRAM, he always tells me that SRAM is great shifting and Shimano always needs adjustments to keep it working well.
My MB is all Shimano and I never have to adjust it, it rides on sand and mud, not heavy but this has "eaten" sprockets and chains that btw were not Shimano. I replaced them with Shimano and only have replaced one broken chainring (tooth broke) and the chain.
I don't own SRAM and don't plan on buying it in the near future, I put together a bike about 8 months ago with all Ultegra (6600 I think) components. They shift great I don't know how they could shift better, you hear or feel the click on the levers and it is already in the wanted gear up or down sprocket or chainring. Durability is O.K for me, I don't ride that much and my older bike has 105 from about 10 years ago and I have only replaced the chain everything else is working perfectly.
So they say Campagnolo is longer lasting than Shimano and has the advantage of being repairable. So what is the advantage of SRAM over Shimano or Campy? From my point of view SRAM is overpriced.

For those of us that do SERVICE and aren't tied to this bicycle brand or that......Campagnolo is great stuff as is shimano. sram, replete with red frogs and all, is a distant third in terms of function and reliability. sram has really deep pockets(sponsorship run amok) and cute ads but third....I think bike shop people who really like it, like it because of the OEM dollars sram is spending or because they like the hype or because for a bike shop guy it's CHEAP but......third.

Solanog said:

I put together a bike about 8 months ago with all Ultegra (6600 I think) components. They shift great I don't know how they could shift better, you hear or feel the click on the levers and it is already in the wanted gear up or down sprocket or chainring. Durability is O.K for me, I don't ride that much and my older bike has 105 from about 10 years ago and I have only replaced the chain everything else is working perfectly.

Those that know Campagnolo must know what they're talking about, but for my money (and not that much), Dura-Ace 7800 is just dandy. And 105 suffers more from ham-fisted mechanics than any incipient drawbacks.

Thanks for your responses.
More or less I had similar impressions but wanted to know other opinions on this.
In my mind Campagnolo is reliable, serviceable, durable and expensive. I had some campagnolo components in the past worked perfectly. Now I wish I could afford them.
Shimano, reliable, nice actions (clicks), durable I don{t know if as durable as Campy but good enough for me. Not as expensive but not that affordable either.
SRAM, I have never had any SRAM component, only a chain on an all old Shimano 105, has worked well and has been durable. But my perception is that it is overpriced and doesn't offer anything more than Campy or Shimano.

Thanks to Peter for his response, he works with different stuff and he has the knowledge to back his opinion.

Campy - aesthetically pleasing, prett much completely rebuildable, EXPENSIVE, hard to come by replacement parts in some parts of the States if you need them immediately.

Shimano - more "industrial" or "modern" look (refering to 7900 and 6700), price points are more friendly to entry level riders (sora, tiagra), more readily available parts (once again, in the USA).

Sram - light weight, not too bland but not overly attention grabbing, not over-expensive.

As far as performance, they all really shift equally as well when properly set up and seem to all need around the same amount of maintenance. From a shifting standpoint, the only thing that makes one company better than the other is your preferance on how the levers work. Personally, I love the way the sram levers are shaped and fell in love with the double tap shifting the very first time our Sram rep brought it in. Other mechanics at the shop swear by Shimano, and some by Campy. Its all a matter of personal preferance and comfort.

Aesthetics aside:
Campy works great, runs smotth, shifts are solid in feel. Personally I hate the second thumb shifter. It can be hard to reach for riders with small hands while in the drops. Very expensive though and has about the same mechanical life as shimano. Shifters can be rebuilt.

Shimano has a lighter shifting feel and is less expensive than campy. I like the direction shimano is going with electronic shifting. It is much better than going to 11 speed like campy did.

Sram is lighter than Shimano across the board. Sram Rival Carbon shifters are about 80 grams lighter than Shimano dura ace shifters. I prefer the single paddle shifting to shimanos dual paddle. Advantage being that in cold weather for someone with small hands like myself i dont have to wrap around two paddles and push hard for a big ring shift. Leverage on the Sram shifters is excellent and durability is great. Only beef I have is that the Chains suck. I find that shimano or Kmc chains shift better on sram components than sram chains do.

Shimano and Campy prices are not that different.

Solanog said:

Thanks for your responses.
More or less I had similar impressions but wanted to know other opinions on this.
In my mind Campagnolo is reliable, serviceable, durable and expensive. I had some campagnolo components in the past worked perfectly. Now I wish I could afford them.
Shimano, reliable, nice actions (clicks), durable I don{t know if as durable as Campy but good enough for me. Not as expensive but not that affordable either.
SRAM, I have never had any SRAM component, only a chain on an all old Shimano 105, has worked well and has been durable. But my perception is that it is overpriced and doesn't offer anything more than Campy or Shimano.

Thanks to Peter for his response, he works with different stuff and he has the knowledge to back his opinion.

shimano 7900 and Campagnolo SR are about the same price. Same for 6700 and Chorus. Same for Veloce and 105. 7900 chains are abou the same as SR, levers are more expensive. Tough to compare by price tho. I really like 7900/6700 but my first choice is always Campagnolo. Sram is cheezy, overhyped, relies on 'bullets' rather than performance or reliability(Carbon, Titanium, ceramic).

Peter@vecchios said:

shimano 7900 and Campagnolo SR are about the same price. Same for 6700 and Chorus. Same for Veloce and 105. 7900 chains are abou the same as SR, levers are more expensive. Tough to compare by price tho. I really like 7900/6700 but my first choice is always Campagnolo. Sram is cheezy, overhyped, relies on 'bullets' rather than performance or reliability(Carbon, Titanium, ceramic).

Explain "bullets" I have 2009 SRAM Force and it's never shot any bullets. It has however never let me down. Lighter than 7800DA cheaper than DA, and Record. It is a mix of parts thou. Force FD and RD, crank and shifters, DA chain and DA cassette. The cassette on SRAM is my only complaint, it's flat out noisy and had to go. I think SRAM is a mix of both Shimano and Campagnolo, just my take. Now for my hit SRAM is great stuff, love double tap, if you have never used double tap you are missing out. Shimano is flat out reliable and very smooth and quiet. Campagnola is in my mind the best looking but I have no use for the thumb shifters, could never get use to them so won't put them on my bike.

BigUgly said:

Explain "bullets" I have 2009 SRAM Force and it's never shot any bullets. It has however never let me down. Lighter than 7800DA cheaper than DA, and Record. It is a mix of parts thou. Force FD and RD, crank and shifters, DA chain and DA cassette. The cassette on SRAM is my only complaint, it's flat out noisy and had to go. I think SRAM is a mix of both Shimano and Campagnolo, just my take. Now for my hit SRAM is great stuff, love double tap, if you have never used double tap you are missing out. Shimano is flat out reliable and very smooth and quiet. Campagnola is in my mind the best looking but I have no use for the thumb shifters, could never get use to them so won't put them on my bike.

Marketing items that bring your eyes to a product, 'bullets'. 'TITANIUM, MAGNESIUM, CERAMIC, RED FROGS....etc.

If ya like the levers, use those levers. The ONLY real way to decide what group to use. Too bad that 20% of sram group is poor, cassette and chain, you are not alone in these views. PLUS ceramic Red BB poor longevity, chainrings somewhat 'soft, my take.

If ya don't like the thumb buttons, good reason to not use Campagnolo.

I've never been riding a bike with SRAM double tap I gave it a try in the shop and feel very weird, I didn't like them. Maybe because for around 15years I've been using Shimano shifters and didn't see any advantage on those from SRAM. BTW I don't feel that for changing chainrings you need to: " i dont have to wrap around two paddles and push hard for a big ring shift" for the old ones the part of pushing hard for a big ring shift may bear some truth but I found a big difference on my more modern Shimano set up in neither of old or new you need to wrap around both levers, the new one needs less movement for the shift. I've never have had to push hard and I even shift only pushing with my middle finger on the upper part of the lever and the shifts are done, very easy and effortless.
I can't compare to Campagnolo since I have not tested modern set ups only old ones and SRAM only in the shop. But I really don't see any advantage with the shifting by SRAM.
BTW on other thread I read that Shimano shifters had a flaw in design and that's why the front chainrings have pins and ramps, with these the overcome the design flaw. Can someone explain to me what is this design flaw? And how it is different in SRAM and Campy?

Solanog said:

I've never been riding a bike with SRAM double tap I gave it a try in the shop and feel very weird, I didn't like them. Maybe because for around 15years I've been using Shimano shifters and didn't see any advantage on those from SRAM. BTW I don't feel that for changing chainrings you need to: " i dont have to wrap around two paddles and push hard for a big ring shift" for the old ones the part of pushing hard for a big ring shift may bear some truth but I found a big difference on my more modern Shimano set up in neither of old or new you need to wrap around both levers, the new one needs less movement for the shift. I've never have had to push hard and I even shift only pushing with my middle finger on the upper part of the lever and the shifts are done, very easy and effortless.
I can't compare to Campagnolo since I have not tested modern set ups only old ones and SRAM only in the shop. But I really don't see any advantage with the shifting by SRAM.
BTW on other thread I read that Shimano shifters had a flaw in design and that's why the front chainrings have pins and ramps, with these the overcome the design flaw. Can someone explain to me what is this design flaw? And how it is different in SRAM and Campy?

I don't think that the ramps and pins in the chain rings were added to correct some sort of design flaw with Shimano, just a different design. If you check the cassette of nearly all of the modern manufacturers, you will find ramps and twists in the teeth to facilitate shifting. Shimano just uses this same design on their chainrings.

I did have a shift situation with my 2003 Shimano 105 levers where it took a lot of force to shift from the small chainring to the large chain ring. Then the nylon BB cable guide broke and I replaced it. That took care of the shift situation. If you are having to exert a lot of force to shift the front and your cables are all good, try replacing the BB cable guide, even if it "looks" good.

I can't speak for SRAM road groups, but the SRAM X.9 group on my MTB has performed beautifully and reliably with almost no adjustments needed in two years of hard use. I know several people who ride and race with SRAM X.9 and X.0 (without sponsorship) and they have also had great results. Not to say they are better than Shimano, but they are good and reliable components.

I have both Shimano and Sram Red groups not going to say one is better than the other, they both work great.
Shimano is much quitter at the levers and drive train.
Sram's Red dive train is nosier from the chain, and levers well when you shift you know it with a load click.
I do think the Sram Red double tap shifter is slightly faster to move the chain moving from the larger gears on the rear to the smaller is noticeably quicker up is about the same as Sram but lever movement may be shorter.
Bottom line both do what they are designed to do and whatever you get use to is what you are going to like, for me personally I do like the Sram Red fill but still have no problem getting on my other bike with Shimano and being happy 😄
If you have Shimano and it works keep it if you need to buy a new group ty it it's no worse thats for sure you will get use to it.

kdelong said:

I don't think that the ramps and pins in the chain rings were added to correct some sort of design flaw with Shimano, just a different design. If you check the cassette of nearly all of the modern manufacturers, you will find ramps and twists in the teeth to facilitate shifting. Shimano just uses this same design on their chainrings.

That's right: there are many chainrings of different makes that have ramps and pins. They're there solely to speed shifts up to the big chainring.

You can have sram shifter and derailers with Shimano chains and cassettes (and visa versa) so you can get the nice double tap with quite Shimano chains if you like..

Most Shimano groups are interchangeable, i.e. you can mix almost any tiagra 105 or ultrega (and even most MTB groups too...). you can even use almost any Shimano MTB or STI shifter on most Shimano derailers..

All sram part are interchangeable, i.e. you can mix red, force and rival as much as you want..

I'm also fairly sure you can mix and match Campa part too..

All campa and sram and the newer Ultegra shifters "hide" all your cables, all other Shimano shifters have your gear cables popping out the side.

Whatever your choose, stick to one type on all your bikes so you can borrow parts from you other bike when things break or you want to upgrade your nice bike, your other bike can also get a "hand me down" upgrade too.

I use both Sram (on my road and cross bike mixed force and rival) and Shimano ( on my winter and MTB both with mixed road and mtb parts.)

kdelong said:

I did have a shift situation with my 2003 Shimano 105 levers where it took a lot of force to shift from the small chainring to the large chain ring. Then the nylon BB cable guide broke and I replaced it. That took care of the shift situation. If you are having to exert a lot of force to shift the front and your cables are all good, try replacing the BB cable guide, even if it "looks" good.

That is a good advice, something similar happened to me with my MB, It was rainning and I was going through and unpaved road, that's what MBs are for, and all of a sudden the chainring shifting became hard, I thought the lever or the deraileur were broken but then I got to a paved road, still rainning, and maybe with the front tire spattering the BB it washed and shifting was easy and normal again. MB should all have cables running up the top tube as some Treks I've seen, then the BB guide wouldn't be there to get clogged with mud or whatever road debris you go through.