SRAM Rival or Shimano 105 5700

Paul Kiernan

I'm in the market for a groupset. I have Ultegra 6700 on my other bike so would like some compatability (e.g. be able to swop rear wheels).

Basically I can get:

105 5600 for €440
105 5700 for €480
Ultegra 6600 for €510 to €550
Ultegra 6700 for €550 to €600
SRAM Rival for €510

I won't be racing so I want reliability and durability (don't want chain coming off when I'm racing my friend up a hill though, especially if my friend won't wait for me:rolleyes:).

I reckon it's between Rival and 5700. I'd appreciate any opinions?

DirkVoodoo

If this is a training bike and you only want 10 speed, I would probably go cheap and go for 5600. It might become a case of "for 40 euro more..." but then you can keep doing that all the way up to 6700.

TinyExplosions

I'm a SRAM fanboy, so I'd say Rival all the way.... very happy with mine, and not had any dodgy chain off incidents that I wouldn't have had on Shimano

Explosive_Cornflake

Depends if you like the Double tap on Sram.
TBH, I'd go with 5700, but then I prefer Shimano. I have 5600, 6500 and 7900 on my bikes. The bird has Rival on hers, and I don't like it, but that's because I'm used to Shimano.

DirkVoodoo

Yeah I think it's important to have consistency in shifter as well as freehub/cassette, I much prefer the campag action now, so as soon as I can afford it I'm going to swap (and downgrade) my training bike to veloce.

If you like Shimano, stick with it.

damo80

i use Rival myself and foind it extrememly reliable and easy to use. one downside is the hoods are shallower than Shimano (i had Ultegra and Durace). i find that sometimes it feels like as if my hands are going to go over the top of them. still though, that could be the way ive them set up too!!
in my opinion after using both types id swing for Rival.

blorg

It really depends on which shifting method and hood shape you prefer. They all work. For the small price difference between 5700 and 6700 I would go for the latter. I have it on my winter/trainer/travel bike and like it a lot, in ways it is better than the 7800 on my race bike I reckon. Rival is slightly lighter (~150g) but TBH that is small enough to not be a major decider IMO. Personally, and it is personal, I do not like the SRAM hood shape or shifting (having said that it does work better than I expected.)

xz

No trimming of front mech needed with sram either. I like the rival but as has been said the hoods are shallow. Double tap is easy to get the hang of. Aesthetically its neater as cabling goes under bar tape, although 5700 is the same now. Either way you are getting good solid components. Having used both, l prefer rival, but the new 105 5700 does look nice

Lumen

xz wrote: »

No trimming of front mech needed with sram either

My Red shifters have front mech trim on the big ring.

xz

Not on the Rival. Or it could be a case that l have set it up perfectly . Though Red is a better system

Paul Kiernan

Thanks for the replies, guys. Not any nearer making a decision, maybe further as Blorg now has me hankering after another set of Ultegra 6700.

The 5700 shifters look a bit cheap (not like the carbon Rival). But I probably should stick with Shimano. I also like the concealed cables (stupid, I know) so that kind of rules out the 5600 and 6600.

Lumen

xz wrote: »

Not on the Rival. Or it could be a case that l have set it up perfectly . Though Red is a better system

If you've managed to set it up so there is no mech rub, then I wouldn't say Red is a better system. The trim is annoying when you don't need it.

velo.2010

Hey, isn't 5700 meant to be 10% cheaper than the out going 5600? Sure it said so in the press release.

blorg

velo.2010 wrote: »

Hey, isn't 5700 meant to be 10% cheaper than the out going 5600? Sure it said so in the press release.

RRP is cheaper so it should end up cheaper than 5600 was when it was current. When a group is superseded though you have a lot of retailers selling it off at a big discount so "street price" for 5600 could be lower. IIRC though I got a 5700 hub for less than a 5600 one was available for.

Paul Kiernan

blorg wrote: »

RRP is cheaper so it should end up cheaper than 5600 was when it was current. When a group is superseded though you have a lot of retailers selling it off at a big discount so "street price" for 5600 could be lower. IIRC though I got a 5700 hub for less than a 5600 one was available for.

Yep, it's the same with SRAM. Everyone is selling Apex for more than Rival even though Rival is better. Shame they're not selling Ultegra for less than the new 105 though.

GeoffLebowski

Hey Paul,

Where can you get the new 5700? I've been looking around but the few shops I checked don't have it yet, and seem slow to order it..

Lumen

GeoffLebowski wrote: »

Where can you get the new 5700? I've been looking around but the few shops I checked don't have it yet, and seem slow to order it..

merlin

penexpers

Lumen wrote: »

merlin

Cheaper here

http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;menu=1000,4,26;product=15780

Paul Kiernan

I ordered it from Bike24 for €495 including delivery but they're really messing me around:(. I ordered Wednesday and they still haven't shipped it. Nor will they answer my emails. They had taken a charge on my credit card but this has now been reversed. I'm afraid to order from somebody else in case I end up with two groupsets.

Merlin are doing the old 105 5600 for only £300 which is a damn good price!

Cyclesuperstore told me Friday they'd be selling the 5700 for only €475 but it'd be about two weeks before they have it. Might be worth waiting for?

GeoffLebowski

Yeah, I checked with merlin, but they only had black. Wanted the silver finish to match my new ti frame

Guess i'll ring cyclesuperstore and wait for it to come in.. they do a good price.

paddyduc

5700 has been coming in on new bikes the last couple of months. Nicer hoods and much easier to replace cables.

www.chaindrivencycles.com

big mce

What did you buy in the end Paul, need a new groupset and am having trouble finding value in Ultegra 6700.

Paul Kiernan

big mce wrote: »

What did you buy in the end Paul, need a new groupset and am having trouble finding value in Ultegra 6700.

I ended up buying the 105 5600 from Merlin for £299 with free delivery. At that price it was just too good an offer to turn down! Very pleased with it too, no discernible difference between it and the Ultegra 6700 on my Planet-X.