SRAM Force 22 or Ultegra 11 speed

[Doyleyburger]

Leaning towards the SRAM although not sure why to be honest. Probably coz it's something different and looks cool but not sure how I'll get along with the double tap system. Iv heard that the 105 11 speed is just as good as ultegra so that may even be another option and save a few pennies in the process.
Would love to hear thoughts, opinions and experiences on either please
Thanks in advance

 

[MiK1138]

I am running a Sram force 10 speed the double tap becomes 2nd nature after a couple of rides. the changes are smooth and very quite, and i believe its lighter than the Shimano if weight is important

 

[Andrew_P]

I have had Shimano on 3 bikes the 4th had SRAM and I do not think I would go back to Shimano. The 22 system is lovely I like the clunky operation. If you have large hands Shimano might be better as the SRAM has less room on the hoods but I prefer it that way.

 

[Hacienda71]

I have Sram on one Shimano on the other. Prefer Sram but it is down to personal preference. Both systems do the job just fine.

 

[Doyleyburger]

Thanks guys much appreciated. On the shimano shifters you can sweep accross and change to lower gears as much as 3 cogs with one gear change if I remember correctly. Is that possible with sram?

 

[cosmicbike]

Thanks guys much appreciated. On the shimano shifters you can sweep accross and change to lower gears as much as 3 cogs with one gear change if I remember correctly. Is that possible with sram?

Yes. I have Sora, Ultegra and Apex, all can change 3 cogs in one sweep. I love the Ultegra, it is silky smooth.

 

[Dirk]

Di2.

 

[martint235]

I've got Shimano on the commuter and the older SRAM Red on the older bike. I much prefer the SRAM, changing to larger cogs (front and back) is much smoother than on the Shimano. However, although I don't mind it, if you're a sprinter you're not going to surprise anyone if you change down a rear gear! It's smooth but it doesn't half go clunk!

 

[Andrew_P]

Thanks guys much appreciated. On the shimano shifters you can sweep accross and change to lower gears as much as 3 cogs with one gear change if I remember correctly. Is that possible with sram?

Yes you can, also you can adjust the reach on the brakes which I found useful, not sure about new Shimano but you couldn't the 105 I had. I never really understood double tap, its the the same as Shimano only on a single lever a Sweep to go up the cassette and a tap to go down. It is a really intuitive system and it very rarely misses a gear or gets in that in-between gear change. To be fair I am not comparing like for like, I had 105 10 speed and the SRAM I have now is Red 22.

 

[MiK1138]

Lots of folk saying the SRAM is noisy on rear gear changes do you mean from the Cog or the shifter? i feel the shifter has a reasurring CLICK but no noise from the cog

 

[martint235]

Lots of folk saying the SRAM is noisy on rear gear changes do you mean from the Cog or the shifter? i feel the shifter has a reasurring CLICK but no noise from the cog

Shifter. Mine isn't a click, it's a clunk. Cassette is a very smooth and quiet shift.

 

[Doyleyburger]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. Can anyone tell me if the SRAM force front derraileur has a band-on option as I can only see braze-on when I look online

 

[Breedon]

I've had shimano 105 on my ribble for 6 years and was quite happy with it until I put sram red on my new carbon OMG what a difference the sram is so silky smooth and the double tap system is brilliant took about 10 minutes to get used to.
i currently have shimano on my commuter but will be changing it to sram rival or force bit more expensive than shimano but well worth it.

 

[User33236]

I have Ultegra 6800 on one bike and had 105 5700 on my commuter until it got written off recently.

I replaced it with a new bike with 105 5800. What a difference! It's up there in terms of shifting with my Ultegra.

 

[huwsparky]

Happy with my 6800 Grant. Had an issue with cable stretch after about 150 miles but it's been flawless since and I've probably done about 2.5k on it now without any issue. Smooth changes every time.

Ultegra is also considerably cheaper than Force if I remember? Think PBK had the group up for £460 last time I looked and there's always a 10% new customer discount code online for PBK.

Best value would have to be 11 speed 105 though IMO. Depends how much you want Ultegra written on everything I suppose!! ;-)

As for SRAM, I know a few that don't like it but have never used it myself so can't comment.