Price Paid:  $650.00 at Spokes Etc.

Favorite Ride:
Sugarloaf Mtn. loop

Bike Setup:
2004 Specialized S-Works E5 (full aluminum), Sram red shifters and derailleurs, ultegra brakes and cassette, FSA gossamer crankset, FSA compact carbon bars, FSA OS-115 stem, Look Keo Classic pedals, custom wheels w/ velocity rims and SpeedCific hubs, stock Specialized carbon seatpost, selle san marco aspide saddle.

Summary:
I am a 15 year old junior racer and I bought the Sram Red shifters and derailleurs 3 weeks ago. I bought it real cheap (less than list price for the same Dura-Ace components) at a promotional event for my team's sponsor. Installation was no harder than Shimano. I have ridden about 500 miles on them and love them. The DoubleTap was hard to get used to after using shimano for a couple years. but after a couple rides i got the hang of it. The shifters are super comfortable in the drops b/c of the thing where the shifters look like they are bent. however the hoods arent as comfortable as the shimano ones are b/c i think they took out gel to save weight. the throw on the paddle is real short and really makes a nice little click to tell you when its ready to shift. The rear shifting is unbeliavably fast compared to Ultegra. the rear deraileur also looks totally cool. The front shifting is the only complaint i have about the group. It is unreliable and hard to adjust. Sometimes it takes more than 1 try for the FD to grab the chain, which really shouldn't happen on a high end group. They definetely sacrificed performance for weight in that category. However i am adjusting after every ride and it is starting to get better. When i was putting it on my bike, i compared the weights of it Ultegra to it and was amazed. the shifters and rear derailleur are significantly lighter (the front derailleur difference is negligible. I can see thei group being ridiculosly expensive without a discount so I wouldn't buy it unless you are really serious about riding/racing. I also can't help you on the other parts but my friend has the brakes and he says that they aren't quite as powerful as the DA brakes but they are much lighter.

Strengths:
Rear shifting is amazing
super-light
looks awesome (especially on my red, white and black specialized)

Weaknesses:
front shifting is unreliable and hard to adjust
hoods aren't as comfortable as i would like

Similar Products Used:
shimano ultegra and 105

Price Paid:  $0.00 at Cycleworks

Favorite Ride:
Climbing

Bike Setup:
06 Specialized Tarmac E5 (aluminum downtube and chain stays with carbon top tube and seat stays). Full RED gruppo. FSA Energy Bar with FSA OS 115 stem. Specialized Carbon post with Fizik Arione saddle. Bontrager Race X Lite Wheels. Conti Gator Skin Tires.

Summary:
Compared to Dura Ace, Red is not as smooth, but everything else is much better. Previous reviews complained about RED not shifting right they did not have their groups adjusted correctly. Shifting is VERY crisp. The Zero Loss technology is really noticeable, the overall throw needed to shift is 40 percent less than Force or Dura Ace. Its just awesome. The ceramic bearings in the bottom bracket and RD pulleys make a HUGE difference in drive terrain efficiency. Crank is stiff. Shifter hoods feel awesome, and the brake levers are longer compared to force. Brakeset has alot of power which i would say is on par with Dura Ace. If you are looking for a group the shifts flawlessly with little effort RED is your only choice. Overall an upgrade to any group out there. Excels in shifting, drive terrain efficiency, and weight. I am never going back to Shimano.

Strengths:
Weight, Shifting performance even though its not as smooth as Dura Ace (compares to the "clunkyness" of campy), Looks, Brakes, Egronomics, and

Weaknesses:
Crank not quite as stiff as Dura Ace

Similar Products Used:
Dura Ace, Ultegra, Record, and Chrous

Price Paid:  $0.00 at The Bike Gallery

Favorite Ride:
Orbea Orca

Summary:
The SRAM Red kit is by far the most advanced group set you can buy. It is lighter and better working than any other on the market.

With that said, we (Team Rubicon) will be auctioning off a RED kit on April 26th as a fundraiser for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. All the proceeds will go to the LAF so if you want the best and want to support the LAF, get your bid in.

Go to www.trubicon.org for more details.

Strengths:
A great group set
A great cause

need I say more?

Weaknesses:
not really.

Price Paid:  $1500.00 at ebay

Favorite Ride:
Mt. Wilson, CA

Bike Setup:
Cervelo R3 size 54

Summary:
After reading the first 2 reviews I felt glad and sad at the same time. Glad that I wasn't the only one having the same problem. Sad knowing there's no fix for my problem. I've always used DA and I loved it. Never had any problems even after 5000 miles on the same group. I bought RED coz of the weight savings and I just want to try something new. I have the whole group (compact) except for the cassette (DA 12-27).

Most of my problems are on the cranks/front shifting. True, on the small ring, the cage starts rubbing when I'm on cog 12-15. I wish sram had the trim on the small ring too. When on the big ring, the chain just drops down to the small ring when I'm on the 27 cog. I have a 54 size bike. I think the chainstays might be too short and the chain simple doesn't catch the teeth on the big ring the more I shift the rear to the left. Sounds stupid though, meaning smaller guys with smaller size bikes can't use the whole potential of RED. Also, shifting from small to big ring takes more than 1 revolution and sometimes does not even move up. I have to push the shifters all the way in for the chain to bite. It doesn't happen a lot when my cadence is high. but even with the DA on a low cadence, moving to the big ring was quick and easy. I've had the chain fall outside and inside of my cranks a few times too.

The cranks/rings are not that stiff. I notice when I down pedal on my right while on the big ring, the chain starts rubbing the cage. If I unclip my right foot and just pedal on my left, there is no rub at all. something I never experienced with DA.

That said, I have no other complaints. brakes are as firm and progressive as DA. hoods are a better grip than DA. rear shifting is good.

I hope sram will fix this and come out with a new front shifter with trim on both small and big rings. and maybe a stiffer ring/arm. Till then I have to work with my expensive upgrade or sell this on Ebay and go back to DA. I heard there's a new DA coming out....

Strengths:
Light, great grip and reach on the hoods, strong and steady brakes.

Weaknesses:
expensive, front shifting is unreliable and hard to adjust. rings and cranks are not stiff enough

Similar Products Used:
DA

Price Paid:  $0.00

Bike Setup:
Scott CR1.

Summary:
Prior to Red I rode Ultegra/DA 10 mixed group before upgrading to all Red on the same bike. Red shifting is more positive and stays in adjustment much better, but has some quirks for sure. Last year I upgraded to the new XTR on my MTB and that group is absolutely awesome, no complaints (other than the different size torx need for the front rings) at all, only much happiness. Can’t say the same across the board for Red tho.

I've got 50/34 crank w/ 11-23 cassette. While I was looking forward to the increased range with this setup (a 50/11 is as fast as a 54/12 and the 34/23 is easier than a 39/25) what I don't like is the increased overlap of gears... when I drop from the 50 to 34 I’ve got to drop 3 or 4 cogs instead of 2 or 3 with a 53/39 setup. But that's more a compact issue than with Red. And I’ll probably get used to it over time.

Crank installation and adjustment is easy. Installation of the group in general was easy. Front derailleur adjustment is the puzzler though as I’ve no need for big ring trim (see more, below).

The rear shifting is very positive, and is easy to get used to. But not as brain dead simple as Shimano (I've no experience with Campy). Red shifting is consistent across the cassette, but with Ultegra I always had a difficult cog or two. The Red shift paddle is very nice: instead of having to push on it directly, its shape lends to simply hooking it with a finger to click off a shift—way easier to drop cogs when sprinting. The reach adjustment is really welcome too. The open glide cassette I think helps reduce the shifting effort. Watching the chain it moves through the gates rather than over them as with Shimano, so the force at the shift paddle is really low. But the detents are positive. A double-tap quirk on the rear shifting: if you’re in the largest cog and hoping to find another, easier gear, pushing on the paddle will release cable, dropping you to the next harder cog. No choice, bump the paddle and you’re dropping a cog, can’t push through it as in the front shifting (see below). Also, I’m having problems back pedaling in the big ring in the 17-21 cogs. Pull up to a light, backpedal and the chain drops down to the next harder cog. Not welcome when trying to track stand at an intersection. I have the b-screw setup according to instructions w/ ~6mm spacing from top of upper pulley to bottom of cog.

Front shifting is good. Not as good as Shimano though. I wonder if Red’s Ti front cage is less rigid? I've not sprinted much on it yet. Write-ups of Red made mention of the trim adjustment in the big ring... I set it up as per instructions and don't need to use the trim at all in the big ring. Wish I had it in the little ring though. 34/12 doesn't rub the big ring. But with the fder cage parallel to the big ring, the chain starts rubbing the fder cage in 34/14 (with an 11-23 cassette). So I’ve turned the trailing edge of the fder out a bit to allow me to run the 12 and 13 cogs on the little ring and I still don’t have any need for big ring trim. Another Double-tap quirk related to the trim is that if you do need the trim, and you work your way up the cassette and then back down and want to trim the fder back out, simply pressing on the front shift paddle will drop the chain to the small ring. You have to push through the click to re-tension the cable and pull the fder back out.

The brakes setup great. The ability to toe easily with a screw to adjust centering are nice. They are powerful and modulate well. They’re nicely aesthetic too.

Strengths:
Reach adjust, paddle shape, really positive rear shifting, light weight, brakes operation and setup, openglide, powerdome cassette.

Weaknesses:
Double-tap quirks, fder setup, drops cog while back pedaling.

Similar Products Used:
DA 10 (on test rides), DA 9, Ultegra 10