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.
The pep video is awesome - unicorns and puppies füccing on top of rainbows - more comedy please.
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.
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
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.
unfortunately, you speak the truth about the manufacturing plant (Tektro Taiwan) where Avid have their brakes made
There's either a lot of SRAM love or the company take their reputation in the public eye seriously
www.pinkbike.com/news/SRAM-X-SYNC-chromag-acell-press-release.html
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