Video: SRAM - The Relentless Pursuit - Then and Now

Jan 30, 2014 at 16:04
by SRAM  


Incremental enhancements. Perpetual improvements. Revolutionary Innovation. When advancements are continuously made to every attribute of every component, the result is overall performance that is simply second to none. And to real cycling enthusiasts, there is nothing more gratifying then achieving the ultimate ride. The best part is we just keep making it better.

This is what SRAM is all about. Sure, a casual rider will appreciate solid performance, reliability, dependability and all the standard qualities one would expect. But it's the riders who live and breathe bicycles who love us most because bicycles are what we love, too. In fact, they're our only love.

Title image by Dave Trumpore.

Author Info:
SramMedia avatar

Member since Apr 1, 2011
178 articles

97 Comments
  • 107 6
 avid brakes were designed to scare off bears and cougars
  • 160 4
 That's why I don't run avid brakes, because I'm looking for a wealthy cougar who's looking for a boy-toy.
  • 20 10
 Aren't we all? When you find one you won't be able to stop and you'll blow right passed her haha
  • 3 2
 lol!!
  • 5 4
 if you get the sleights bit of moisture on them they will sing you a song or too.
  • 1 8
flag erdadh (Jan 31, 2014 at 2:38) (Below Threshold)
 haha sometimes is better to have them on your bike,you dont need to be scared of them,just brake and every animal close to you will run away and never come back
  • 7 6
 Avids are so shit, dogs try to bury them in the garden
  • 3 2
 Customer care from AVID is 100%
  • 1 0
 @dylansageyo I 100% agree with you the brakes could use some work but the warranties are unheard of.
  • 53 10
 Like they said, they took on a company who dominated 85% of the market and look where they are today. SRAM have only done good things for the industry and have some killer products that I'd buy over Shimano etc...
  • 32 21
 my summer expierence with a boxxer and elixr brakes said different....
  • 16 4
 2013 sucked - Elixir not good, Boxxer delivering rattly ride, X9 rear wore quicker than previous years. And I am getting really bored with their corporate design to the point that there is now only shifter and derailleur from Sram left on the bike and no Sram on my roadbike at all. (and no Shimano at all)


The pep video is awesome - unicorns and puppies füccing on top of rainbows - more comedy please.
  • 10 0
 Sram, like most companies, can be both praised and hated. Personally, I am not a huge fan of their brakes, but am a fan of their suspension and drivetrain. Ive used most brands on the market over the years and find my self going back to rockshox, especially for their forks. I love how easy their forks are to maintain and work on, and although I have to say I like my double barrel much better than the vivid I used to have, I have always been a boxer fan. I am also a fan of the new cranksets (xx1 and the slightly but still not as cheap as id like xo1) cranksets. Most of all I have been most impressed with srams customer service and warranty program. That being said, on behalf of almost everyone, please work on your brakes for goodness sake! I have yet to own a reliable strong avid brakeset so until then, hope and shimano will be my choice of brake, especially for downhill where brakes seem to be somewhat important...
  • 15 12
 I've honestly never had a problem with avid, they just tend to come with a shit factory bleed. Spend an extra $15 for a new bleed at the lbs, and you have brakes that are better than shimano's, imo
  • 5 4
 Avid brakes - not bad. Its just that you get brakes from a good batch and they work well for a long time or you get one from a batch with problems and that means neverending issues with small airleaks, wrong tolerances. So maybe they just should make one brake only and make it a really good one instead of 6 different productlines and 20 models.Something with the features of a Hayes Prime. Great lever, cast body, single pad. Economy of scale restored.
  • 6 2
 avid brakes are terrible, sram driveterain are awesome, rockshox, is getting better Smile
  • 2 4
 Absolute bollocks mate roflol
  • 4 7
 Rockshox trumps FOX. SRAM gears trump Shimano. Shimano brakes trump Avid. Personally i'm happy with my Avid 7's, performance, aesthetics and how they sync with SRAM gearing for uncluttered cockpit. Two years of trail and dh abuse, crashed on them countless times, levers are mashed but everything still works sharp and true. Only one brake has needed a bleed in two years. Maybe i just got lucky with a good set. A great brake that needs zero attention in my experience.
  • 9 2
 Whilst fox and rockshox might not be that far apart anymore, SRAM gears are grim next to a shimano set, on mtb or road. as are their brakes. The best thing SRAM ever did for mountain biking was make Shimano up its game to the fantastic products it produces today. SLX everywhere.
  • 19 1
 You fanboys are a riot. I wonder how many of you have really ridden the variety of components required to make the blanket claims that pinkbikers love so much. Oh I had a set of Avid brakes that needed a bleed but I didnt want to bleed them and they didnt work well... uuughhh all avid products suckkkk. or fox is better than Rockshox or SLX is better than XX1.

A good quarter of you don't have your bikes set up correctly and a third of the rest don't ride enough to really review a product and yet the internet makes all of you experts. You know how many pro athletes or local heros compete and win regularly on SRAM? Oh wait, you must be riding harder than them. please.

In my humble experience while some of their products have issues and there have been setbacks, SRAM has been moving the ball forward and taking on the industry giant Shimano. End of story. Thanks to them for that.
  • 4 0
 SRAM on my mountain bike (X-0, 1 x 10 transmission, Avid Elixir 7 SL brakes)

SHIMANO on my road bike (Ultegra 6700 all round)

SHIMANO on my commuting bike (mix of Tiagra and Ultegra 6700 with XT brakes)


owned/ ridden a lot of SRAM and SHIMANO on both road and mountain bikes, since the days when it was Sachs-Huret, before SRAM bought them out

the Elixirs on my mountain bike had to be replaced 2 months from new because the MC had manufacturing faults that SRAM TECH could not solve.

If they ever develop any issues in the future I would not hesitate to dump them and get some Shimano SLX brakes!

As a professional bike mechanic I have worked on 100s of warranty claims for AVID brakes, Rockshox forks and SRAM components, and a much smaller number for Shimano or Fox products.

It's true that SRAM have very good warranty support, but the in-joke is that it's a good thing, because you will need it...I do admire what SRAM do with their design and ideas, but don't feel their QC and engineering is anywhere near that of shimano

Shimano lagged behind SRAM for some time, but are catching up and their brakes have surpassed Avid in terms of reliability and easy setup

Shimano's rear derailleurs seem to be much more "solid" and don't develop the sloppyness that I've seen in many SRAM derailleurs, even on brand new derailleurs on boxed bikes we are building for customers!

Both brands have stumbled along the way, and their current products have their +/- points, but on balance I'd take Shimano for both my mountain and road bikes
  • 2 0
 The pro athletes tend to have mechanics and new free equipment every 10mins hence why sram works for them. Personally and my riding mates have had nothing but trouble with sram and avid. They can't stand water and muck. In a dryer climate maybe they hold up better, but in UK conditions there worthless. I do love my pikes and revelations tho
  • 1 0
 I have a full sram kit on my dh bike and full shimano on my trail bike. Both oem kit. Both work brilliantly my avids have needed bleeding once in over a year of abuse and my rockshox gear has had one service. My trail bike isnt much different either. all runs remarkably well with only a small issue with my fox 32s. By good gear and look after it a little and neither manufacturers gear fails more than the other.
  • 17 1
 SRAM makes good stuff and bad stuff. But thank the lord for SRAM, because Shimano would be insufferable with out the healthy competition. Love my nine speed shifters changed all my bikes over. Don't care for their brakes. They were the first company to make a dropper post I could live with. Too bad the same hydraulic engineers made the post that make their brakes. Bleed often.
  • 6 0
 Yeah, you do have to give them credit for making inroads on Shimano. Campy gave it a shot and gave up quickly in mtb, all those expensive made in usa dersilleurs were not as good as a Shimano LX, but sram made it big with the now hated grip shift, and then bought all the right companies and grew and improved from there. . except they let Tektro make their brakes.
  • 10 3
 I'm always confused by people that have such issues with SRAM gear ... I'm running the first gen Reverb with zero issues.. except for same asshat frenchy at sun peaks who ripped the cable off for fun.. the french. But was an easy fix, took it all the way to the UK and back. Same with my Elixer CR's 3 years of riding lots of DH/Am on them and all the way to the UK and back. Lots of pads, but no noise and I've bled them once because I thought it would be a good thing to do. Also running a RS Lyrik with the air two step that was supposed to fail out of the box... I've serviced the lowers as per instructed to do by the manual, and changed the seals... but other than that. its always been smooth and the travel adjust has never failed on me. Again been running that for the last 3 years.

I've been running XO rear mech's for the last 8 years. One on my last bike, and one on my current bike. Zero issues. Put 3 years on my current 990 cassette and drive train and still shifts like a dream.. sure the front chain ring in one spot is worn out, but still works.. How.. I have no idea. Rainbows and Unicorns I suppose. Rad, keep up the good work SRAM. Thanks for many years of reliable parts.
  • 5 4
 PushingBroom, seriously, start playing the lottery. No one gets that lucky that many times!
  • 1 0
 @Protour

unfortunately, you speak the truth about the manufacturing plant (Tektro Taiwan) where Avid have their brakes made Frown
  • 1 0
 The Juicy 7s were nice, in fact I went out and equipped the next 2 bikes with a set of X.0s. The second set frustrated me to the point where I went to XTR Trail on one bike and don't ride the other one too often now. I run X.0 shifter and derailleur on 2 bikes with XT cassette and XTR or KMC chains though.
  • 20 7
 Dear SRAM , Please stop making shitty brakes Thank you in advance. Sincerely, Every mountain biker on the planet
  • 4 6
 I must unfortunately say, my avid 5 work better than my Saints...I mean, my Saints work way better, WHEN they work though !My boxxer...it's an other story, It came with the red knob turning endless...There're some good, some bad !
  • 2 1
 Saints are a shimano product
  • 14 1
 Damn, this was a tight video
  • 10 2
 Wow, every even slightly negative SRAM comment has been neg propped to drop below the viewing threshold within a few minutes of posting.

There's either a lot of SRAM love or the company take their reputation in the public eye seriously Wink
  • 11 5
 proud to be wearing my sram hat right now
  • 5 0
 Best warranty in the business! They are like GT was in the mid 90's when it comes to that.
  • 2 0
 Keep in mind, most of pinkbike's readers weren't born in the mid nineties...
  • 4 0
 Hmm, 7 months with my aurum, and it's SRAM gear and no problems. Yea the brakes moan a bit, once they heat up, they grab like the tax man on payday.
  • 4 0
 Lots of SRAM haters on here. I'd ride all their stuff but brakes and shifters. Have not had one single issue with the Reverb Stealth or XO1 drivetrain.
  • 3 2
 It cannot be argued that SRAM is a quality company. The sheer output of innovations and new technologies on the mountain bike scene, especially in recent years, has been impressive. Namely, XX1 and the redeveloped pike. I am a fan of sram and all if its daughter companies for several reasons. They work with a huge number of top level, world class athletes to develop and assess products. The innovations that they make using this feedback keeps the user on the absolute cutting edge of mountain biking technology. They employ the idea trickle-down technology perhaps more than any other company out there. They offer simple, easy to follow guides electronically and with products for installation and service. Perhaps most importantly, they have one of the most useful, dependable warranty services in the industry. I've been running SRAM for a while now, and those facts are the reasons for my happily staying on SRAM bikes
  • 1 0
 Sram 9speed was considerably better than the Shimano offerings using a stupid ratio. However now that shimano is making 10speed units and have changed the ratios I think it offers much more precise and smoother shifting compared to the sram 10speed units. Also the clutch design is much better on Shimano mechs compared to sram and is much easier to service. However Shimano jockey wheels are the worse designed ones ive come across and last about 3 months even on their top of the range xtr mechs. Like with anything its positives and negative just depends weather you can live with the negatives of the product.
  • 2 0
 Both Shimano and Sram make quality stuff but personally I feel Shimano use more durable materials. Its great that these two companies generate competition which ultimately brings us better toys!
  • 1 0
 Yea it was a great thing that my new bike came with two pairs of X9 Shifters... Because the first two broke imeddiatly upon building my bike. And Please Avid make a brake that works and I don't have to bleed every week. Rockshox nothing but good things to say.
  • 1 0
 I don't know where people get the idea that avids suck. I have an xo trail on my hardtail and al elixir r in my dh bike. Never have I bled either over them and they more responsive than any other break I have ever owned (xt and new saints). Also in my experience avids are pretty quiet as long as you change your pads when the wear out and if that's how you judge brakes, on the way they sound then your stupid.
  • 1 0
 Sram knows its way around many components, and the amount of info you can find in the website about all its products is amazing. Nothing to do with the crappy shimano website or what happens in Fox. The fox guys always seem to have in hand some kind of magic or top secret formula, and then release shit like CTD.
  • 1 0
 Would like to try their mechs, some of my buddies have shifted to SRAM mechs and never looked back again, I'am a shimano fan but my long time negative experience from their mechs is making me think twice on upgrading with their components again..
  • 1 0
 The BB7s I used to run weren't bad (but how do you screw up mechanical brakes anyway). However, a friend of mine bought a 2011 Fuel ex8 and it came with Elixrs. They SUCKED. I'll just stick with Hayes for my hydro brake needs, thank you.
  • 2 1
 Timely release of an inspirational marketing video to counterweight the bad press they are likely to get when they start suing all the small specialty manufacturers that are making Narrow-Wide rings! Wink


www.pinkbike.com/news/SRAM-X-SYNC-chromag-acell-press-release.html
  • 3 2
 I rode Shimano for year's, back in the day even Suntour drive train's, But I love the feel of SRAM derailleur's, its like the gear box of a sport's car, Shimano more like your mom's sedan. I have been running Avid brakes for 10 year's now and they are great, and yeah!!! Shimano brakes in the last 2 years with the new levers design finally made a decent brake, but again always trying to catch up with SRAM.Yeah every company make's mistakes "SRAM Red Disc" but sometime that's the price for innovation, Best warranty in the industry as well. Ohhh and Boxxer rider for life!!!! Well the new Suntour RUX looks great!!!Cheers!!!!
  • 1 0
 I personally have had no problems with my Avid Brakes they have never squeaked once. But Rockshox have allways been a crappy suspension fork I can't tell you all the forks I have destroyed and leaked all there juices out after 3 or 4 rides. The best fork I have ever ridden was my Foes F1 fork totally bomb proof.
  • 1 0
 I've got XX1, Pike and Reverb stealth. The overall quality of materials used is quite shoddy compared to top end Fox and Shimano equipment imo I will never again buy avid brakes, shimano any day. The function of 1x11 can't be matched though, XX1 is worth every penny. Pike seems ok so far, reverb broke first time out but been ok since it got fixed under warranty.
  • 4 0
 There is something about large corporations that makes my skin crawl. That was a very slick add for Sram. Im not buying in.
  • 4 0
 ah, LEDGEVIEW, awesome place to ride.
  • 11 11
 SRAM is great innovation executed poorly and Shimano is great execution of poor innovation IMO

I love Shimano quality and reliability but they are falling behind in function in so many ways unfortunatley. I've gone from XTR to XX1 purely for the practicalities of a wide range single ring drivetrain rather than a love of the quality etc. SRAM offers something different and that is winning out for me at the minute.

SRAM still need to work on MTB wheels, MTB brakes and of course road discs! Everything else is pretty sweet which is a great compliment for such a wide ranging company.

Not a huge fan of the video sounding like a beauty pageant contestant wanting world peace and a world full of unicorns but fortunately their latest products are pretty awesome Wink
  • 4 2
 These company has made me go to the bike shop every 3-4 weeks for brake bleeding. Thank you Sram
  • 2 0
 i always liked avid brakes until i bought shimano's.... then i realized what i had been missing out on
  • 1 0
 i just rode SRAM XO1 today on a Mach6 demo bike.. very impressive. I would like to try the Pikes as they seem to be all the rage at the moment
  • 1 0
 "The best part is we just keep making it better." But a derailleur is still a derailleur & you & the other big $ keep pushin' 'em.
  • 6 3
 IMPROOOOOOOOOOVE YOUR BRAKES !!!!!
  • 4 2
 As long as they keep up on the Pike, they can keep making crappy Avid brakes. My Pike works amazing with XT's.
  • 7 6
 I love how a video like this will change Pinkbike's "HUR HUR Avid's are so noisy and bad" view.
  • 10 1
 im all in for sram except their brakes
  • 2 0
 Have a pair of Avid XO Trail brakes, run them with Shimano Ice-Tech rotors and have no noise problems. Excellent brake combo! The XT brakes themselves are reliable and feel good, but on long descents when they got hot I felt like they didn't have enough bite power. Avid rotors have always given me a horrible turkey gobble noise no matter how clean they are!
  • 6 4
 My new RockShox fork came in today! Go Sram!
  • 6 3
 Awesome piece!
  • 3 1
 Sram, another 4 letter word i like.
  • 2 0
 sram 9 speed is the shit, take me back
  • 1 0
 I love sram but I don't get all the hate about the brakes I have 2009 Juicy 5's on my norco shore and they work great!
  • 1 0
 Tengo mis frenos avid ultimate carbon desde hace tres bicicletas ya (como unos 4 years o mas) feliz y contento con ellos!
  • 4 2
 Very happy with XO1 so far. It's cool shiznit!
  • 2 2
 i prefer avid brakes over Shimano. i hated my xtr's. love my boxxer wc, and might grab a new pike, plus 1 x 11 xo1 is plain sick! love sram customer service too!
  • 1 0
 Trying to wrap my head around working somewhere with a pump track in the office courtyard. So jealous...
  • 1 0
 Sram Shimano all have their pros and cons I like what Race Face is doing though.
  • 1 0
 For a road bike, to hell with Shimano and SRAM. For brakes, yeah...Avid never again.
  • 2 0
 MECHANICAL ENGINEER
  • 3 3
 I've been running codes all last year. not one problem. best brakes i've ever owned. same with the shifting.
  • 1 0
 The female voices sounded like robots. Very weird
  • 1 0
 How can you summarise SRAM in a video?
  • 1 0
 why am i watching a commercial?
  • 1 0
 You probably all suck anyways.
  • 4 2
 go sram
  • 3 3
 I love my sram man. For me a mark of a good component is one that you never have to think about.
  • 2 1
 Keep it up SRAM you guys kick ass love the parts a+
  • 1 0
 This is pinkbike not loose women for fuck sake.
  • 3 2
 Pretty awesome stuff.
  • 2 1
 Sram taiwan Smile
  • 2 1
 That was beautiful.
  • 1 1
 Guess I'm lucky. My XO Trails are amazing.
  • 1 0
 Thanks SRAM.
  • 1 0
 Shimano > Sram
  • 11 13
 Just imagine if there brakes and forks where as good as they claim they are.
  • 2 3
 How touching
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