Miller2

Looks like the internals, and I havent had it formally diagnosed yet, on my drive side Force shifter broke...again. I had it warrantied last summer so this is the replacement unit. Last time it was some cheap plastic piece that snapped and I suspect the same thing this time.

Anyone else had quality issues with their SRAM?

TrojanHorse

Not here with my pre-2012 Red shifters. Sorry! Sounds like you get to enjoy some more warranty service.

Miller2

Mine are 2010 so right about hitting 4 yrs old. 2 failures in 4 yrs seems excessive. I hope they warranty the broken one and Im going to ask for a warranty on the other one. I dont trust them now.

BoSoxYacht

Thousands of people have, and SRAM is very aware of the problems.

Don't worry, they always replace it under warranty because they feel bad for charging anyone for their crap in the 1st place.

Bob Dopolina 

+1.

Not a fan.

Adrianinkc

+2

2 broken shift levers, 2 cracked sram red cranks, hydro brakes on crux recalled. It's safe to say I will never buy anything sram ever again.

Miller2

Wow...I had no idea.

timmbo

Over a 1000 miles on mine and no problems at all.

c_bake

2010 Force-over 28K miles. No problems, rock solid.

Samfujiabq

Everything fails,,some people just say stupid things.I gave both shimano and sram red both are fine!

BoSoxYacht

Not everything fails as often as SRAM, but don't worry because SRAM will warranty it when it breaks on you. I just hope you don't get injured by the product failure.

Samfujiabq

And we're all going to listen to you,because of your qualifications on a road bike forum?I have it and use it routinely without a hitch,but we all have our opinions.I just try not to make generalized,sweeping statements to be provocative.

BoSoxYacht

I give a damn if you listen, but facts are facts.

Since SRAM released their road component groupsets, I have seen far more SRAM failures than Shimano and Campagnolo combined. In 2010 nearly 70% of the components that were warranty replaced, by the shop I managed, were SRAM. When you take into account that Shimano out sold SRAM by nearly 2-1 in that shop, that is an alarming failure rate.

BoSoxYacht

Wow! Over 1000 miles without a problem.

That's quite a testimony to it's durability.

Samfujiabq

Don't get your panties in a twist,,geeze I have two bikes with DI2 shimano one Ultegra,one DA,so I ride all three.MY OPINION,,I do have the right to have one,,is
I've had no issues with any of them,My red is 2013 so that may be the case,,now go have a glass of wine and relax!

BoSoxYacht

Maybe you are having a bit of trouble reading the first sentence of my last post. I'm not in the slightest way even remotely upset with you or your opinion.

Most people will never have a problem with their SRAM components, but SRAM components fail far more often than Shimano or Campagnolo. This is a fact.

I'm not a big fan of how their components shift. I think it feels rough/cheap, and it's far too noisy. This is my opinion.

Do you see the difference?

roadwarrior

YMMV...I've had Red and Rival, two bikes each, and have rival on a cross bike. the cross bike groupset really gets abused. I've had no problems. But I baby the stuff, keep it clean, etc. I maintain it.

I've just had no problems since day one. The only shifter I broke was Shimano Ultegra, but that does not mean that Shimano is crap. It just broke.

Sometimes stuff just happens.

roadwarrior

254 posts probably means you really are not aware of a few posters that do know what they are talking about, and the one you took on actually does know what he is talking about. So I chuckled at your comments.

zymphad

My impression is people buy SRAM for weight savings. Like Apex is lighter than 105? People buy Campagnolo for the supposedly superior feel/shifting. And people buy Shimano for the combination of smooth shifting and reliability. That's just from reading forum posts, reviews and some vids, since I only buy Shimano.

But I have noticed some interesting sentiment about the three. Campagnolo fans are die hard fans. Shimano fans just love the easy maintenance and reliability, read plenty I decided to try ____ but went back to Shimano even though shifted not as smooth, it's just more reliable/easier to maintain etc. But for SRAM? Have not read not much good. It's either raving about how light it is. Or it's laughing, too bad you have SRAM, get something that doesn't break.

I hope SRAM changes their reputation, it's not a nice one to have. Those recalls suck too. Seriously, the only good thing I've read about SRAM is their weight savings. Even on their top of the line, their FD shifting has more horror stories than their competitors. Chain dropping for example. RD shifting just not as smooth. Some even go to say the only good thing about SRAM is their cassette. I dunno, maybe folks who had bad experience are just extremely vocal about SRAM cause it's SO EXPENSIVE and it failed them.

roadwarrior

^^^What I tell customers is that if you buy a bike with pro components, be aware that, indeed, pros use it too. And they don't pay for it and if it does break someone will come along and fix it for free. If you want something that will last "forever" then there are other groupsets that are better for that. Buy the less expensive and more durable groupset and get better wheels.
Most customers want a nice bike they don't have to worry about.
One big thing in Sram's favor is the adjustability of the brifters....for women that is a big feature. Being able to move the shifter and brake handle back without using a shim is a really nice feature.
But I've had SRAM on everything for a number of years without issue. Like I said, it gets maintained. Not sure if that is cause and effect, but I have not had an issue and I do point to the Rival on the cross bike as evidence.

rpenmanparker 

Just more anecdote here, but hopefully I can provide a little balance to the discussion. I have had four SRAM group sets/partial group sets, two Red and two Rival. I love the shifter action, much preferring the Double-Tap system to the multiple shift levers of Shimano and Campy. I especially dislike the moving brake-shift lever combo of Shimano. I like the SRAM sound, and I like the way all the stuff looks. I admit to also liking the light weights.

Truth be known I have had failures on both the right and left side levers on one set of 2010 Red. The plastic cradle that holds the rear derailleur cable head inside the lever broke on me very early in the use life of a right lever, maybe after no more than 1,500 miles. I was able to kluge it together and continue using the right lever until the left lever just plain gave it up, jammed, wouldn't shift at all. That was at about 5,000 miles. At that point I replaced the pair. Having bought them new but as take-offs from ebay, I had no warranty and had to replace the pair of levers out of my own pocket. I have still ended up spending less so far than buying the first pair from an authorized dealer and having warranty coverage, but just barely. I have to agree that SRAM levers appear to be less durable than the competition. I am not happy about it, but I like the stuff, so there it is.

Samfujiabq

Well I'm glad you got a "chuckle",but I'm not trying to"take on" anyone,just allowed to voice my opinion until told not to by the moderators.Ive been riding for 25 years so I'm not a newbie to cycling or running that I've been doing for 43 years,but I've still learned a lot from the forums which I am appreciative of that.And now I have 255 posts.

thirdgenbird

You are more than welcome to your opinion, just realize, the failure rates bosox sited are pretty universal. I know a number of shop owners that have said failure rates on sram parts far outnumber everything else they sell combined.

roadwarrior

If you go back and look at your post, the first sentence, the question, is what I am referring to.

It's a symptom of this forum. Because someone has ridden for 25 years somehow they believe they are really knowledgable and in the case of the poster you were communicating with, he (along with a few others of us like Dopolina and PSIMET) and others actually work in the business. His post was accurate.

Enjoy.