[jmess]

I am looking at an early 2012 frame bike with a 2011 SRAM Red Compact based Groupo. How much will I wish I had the improved 2012 Red?

How well will 2012 WiFLi derailleur work with 2011 shifters? The SRAM specs indicate they are compatible.

I am currently rolling with DuraAce 7800 stuff.

 

[cxwrench]

I am looking at an early 2012 frame bike with a 2011 SRAM Red Compact based Groupo. How much will I wish I had the improved 2012 Red?

How well will 2012 WiFLi derailleur work with 2011 shifters? The SRAM specs indicate they are compatible.

I am currently rolling with DuraAce 7800 stuff.

the 'new' '12 rear derailleur will work perfectly w/ the 'old' '11 shifters. nothing has changed at all w/ the rear shifting. the '12 front derailleur works very well w/ the old shifters too, just in case you were wondering.

 

[TrojanHorse]

Apparently the big improvements are with the front shifting - the old Red ti FD was a noodly POS (I could be exaggerating) and you will probably REALLY notice it coming from DuraAce. The new chainrings apparently also contribute to the new group's effectiveness.

I'll let you know on Monday when i get done installing mine - I'm going from old Red shifters, Force FD and Red cranks to (same shifters) new Yaw and new chainrings up front.

WiFli just refers to the lengh of the cage of the RD, so you can install up to a 32 cog on a wifli RD (I think it's 32). Other than that, no difference.

 

[jmess]

Thanks to all, let us know what you think after the upgrade. Coming from a 7803 I will need the 11-32 cassette option.

Apparently the big improvements are with the front shifting - the old Red ti FD was a noodly POS (I could be exaggerating) and you will probably REALLY notice it coming from DuraAce. The new chainrings apparently also contribute to the new group's effectiveness.

I'll let you know on Monday when i get done installing mine - I'm going from old Red shifters, Force FD and Red cranks to (same shifters) new Yaw and new chainrings up front.

WiFli just refers to the lengh of the cage of the RD, so you can install up to a 32 cog on a wifli RD (I think it's 32). Other than that, no difference.

 

[Cdale EVO Tom]

My 2012 Cannondale EVO came with the older SRAM Red groupset. Frankly the FD shifting was lousy.

After several months of fighting that I upgraded to the newest Red generation Yaw FD & 2012 Crankset. Front shifting was vastly improved.

As cxwrench has mentioned the 2011 shifters will work just fine with the new setup. There will be an extra trim click on the LH lever that you don't need but it's no big deal.

I like the new SRAM Red as much as the Shimano DuraAce 7900 on the old CAAD9-1.

 

[2Slo4U]

I have a Tarmac with the new Sram Red, a Venge with the old Sram Red. Only difference I notice is the front shifting. I've put the yaw derailleur on the Venge with the old Sram red. The front shifting is better but its not Shimano quality. A riding buddy of mine told me the front shifting doesn't really matter if I'm riding a Venge, I should never be in the small chainring anyway

 

[Cdale EVO Tom]

I think BOTH the FD & Crankset on the old SRAM Red were responsible for the poor front shifting of that group. There were times my Derailleur moved the chain but the chainrings weren't picking it up.

The 2012 SRAM Red featured a redesigned crank that really improved front shifting. The Yaw FD got all the press but the new crankset also contributed to the better shifting.

Agreed that Shimano DuraAce is the standard SRAM was chasing. In my opinion 2012 Red has taken them much closer and that needed to happen.

 

[jmess]

Found this from Velonews. Seems like going with new FD and cranks is a good upgrade.

It works! We test SRAM Red backwards compatibility

 

[TrojanHorse]

Found this from Velonews. Seems like going with new FD and cranks is a good upgrade.

It works! We test SRAM Red backwards compatibility

Uh oh - I have a new Yaw FD and some new chainrings sitting on my work table (aka the kid's ping pong table) and although I ordered the "non hidden bolt" large chainring, I wonder how it will work: (from the article)

Swapping chainrings
The improvements in front shifting come from a combination of the new Yaw front derailleur and drastically improved chainrings, which have been made significantly stiffer and include improved ramp and pin timing. Why not, therefore, just put the new rings on an old crankset and save some cash?

Turns out that is not such a good idea. The new rings may still be five-arm with a 130BCD (bolt circle diameter), just like other standard road rings, but SRAM now uses a hidden bolt behind the crankarm rather than five independent spider arms. That means that the new Red rings have to be rotated 180% in order to mount up to a regular crankset. The pin that normally sits behind the crankarm to prevent chain jam sits either to the left or right of the crankarm, making it useless.

Further, the inner ring doesn’t fit on a regular crankset at all unless you’re willing to file it down a bit. The tab that is intended to sit behind the crankarm on the new Red crank is a bit too long to attach to a five-arm spider on a regular crankset. Running an old little ring seems to mess up the spacing sufficiently to negate the advantage brought by using the new big ring.

 

[TrojanHorse]

Phew - everything fit like a charm. I have a Red compact crank, maybe that makes a difference, but the non-hidden-bolt chainring looks and functions exactly like a normal chainring. and the 34 tooth ring did too (I coudln't find anything that said whether the inner rings cared whether you were using hidden bolt or not)

It's possible the spacing will be a little off, I'll find out when I hook the chain back up tomorrow.

 

[shoegazer]

To those who have both or have switched, do you have a preference over the hoods? Is the 2012 redesign a significant improvement in feel, hand positioning, braking? I'm totally happy with my '11 Red with DA FD but I've been lightly tempted by the "imagined comfort" of that redesigned contact point.