SRAM's Technical New Dawn - The Bossman's Take
Firstly, here is a cronological assessment of my SRAM thoughts over the years for context:
2010 - SRAM. Not my bag
2015 - Dislike
2019 - Bauke Mollema Shouts "Fucking SRAM!! Live on Eurosport"
2020 - SRAM is shit
2021 - Still Shit
2022 - Nah fuck it, back to Shimano
2023 - My God help me
2024 - Ok, now we're talking.......
Again, to be fair and give context, for Mountain biking, I'm a fan. I like it. But on the road, it's just a no from me. Until finally, SRAM, and in particular the new SRAM Red AXS and AXS XPLR options arrive. And they are epic, you cannot deny it. It's taken a long time but they have nailed it.
Historically, SRAM has just never been Shimano. The brakes not quite as good, the shifting not quite as crisp. But all of a sudden we hit 2024, and boom, SRAM Red is right up there. Shifting is fast, the brakes are crazy light to pull, modulate well and the shape of the shifters just works.
OK, I had to spend a load of money to do the Upgrade on my Crux, but going from SRAM's lower tier Force groupset, to the top-tier RED level, has made the bike so much more enjoyable to ride.
With a hand position and shape that nurtures your palms along the way, with brakes that seriously feel so good to pull, if you closed your eyes for a few kilometres (Please don't!), you could be fooled into thinking it's Shimano. Don't get me wrong, it still feels different, but seriously, now we're talking. It is right up there with the best. It works and boy does it work well!
SRAM have always had that edge in the single chaining world of Mountain Biking and Gravel, with amazing gear ratios and crazy %%'s of range. But with its downfalls of a far from perfect brake feel, poor shifter feel and front mech design, the gap was simply too big for most of us. This clearly isn't and was not the same for the MTB world. SRAM has been the leader here in gearing and shifting for a long time, with many mountain bike brands choosing them as their sole 'OEM provider' on complete bikes. Simply, SRAM's MTB linup works and offers a great option to most of its customers - Especially with the recently released Maven brakes...... they are honestly the most incredible brake we have ever encountered.
This latest revolution in the road component market in my opinion, puts SRAM out in front now. It will be interesting to see if and how Shimano come back to counter as the goal posts have been moved now.
It's been a tough few years, especially given the limited choice in bike specs, forcing us to make difficult choices with bikes being available only in a SRAM build option. We had to work hard to innovate and create ways of providing bikes through the 2022/2023 post-Covid period with Shimano set-ups. We were simply unhappy with the quality of some SRAM components.
With 2025 fast looming, it's gonna be pretty cool to finally offer a compelling choice for our customers between Shimano's ever-strong Dura-Ace offering and now SRAM's powerful new Red AXS lineups. But more so, what is really exciting is that it's only a matter of time before this new benchmark quality from SRAM will filter down to the mid-level most of us can afford, especially into gravel bike builds.
So, if you're struggling at all with the comfort of your current SRAM shifters, can't quite get that right, suffering pins and needles and constantly shifting your hands around, or moaning about the brakes not being so good, consider walking in the door and having a crack on mine. I can but guarantee you'll have a surprised smile on your face.
Thankfully we won't need to listen to Bauke's painful cries anymore. But what the hell, we thought we'd embed it below for one last cringe!
Anyway, over and out
Rich
More from the Journal
