Gunther20

Hi. Newish guy here. I test rode a great bike today (in stock and on sale!). Only thing that kept me from pulling the trigger is that I never got comfortable with the sram rival double tap. Never could get it in the gear I wanted. Mostly by coincidence all my current and previous bikes have been shimano 105, ultegra, or dura ace and I have zero experience with sram.
soooooo......... is this something I will ‘get used to’ or should I avoid the great deal on a great bike and stick with what I know in shimano?

also my lesser concern on this gravel bike is the 1x11 drivetrain. Not sure if it offers enough range as I’m accustomed to a 2x10

seinberg 

Yes. You will. I had the same group on my old CAAD10 and actually came to really like it. If you've got a good deal and want or need the bike, so it!

dsaul

Double tap is very easy tp get used to. The only annoying thing about it is the way it reacts to trying to shift to a lower gear, if you are already in the lowest gear. If you are already in the lowest gear and try to downshift again, it will shift up a gear. Once you learn this quirk, you can overcome it by holding the shift lever over until it clicks and then it won't upshift.

Dino_Sore

I have bikes with SRAM Apex 2x10 double tap (gravel), Shimano 2x11 GRX (gravel) and Campy 2x11 Potenza (road). For the first five minutes on any bike, I'm usually fumbling because I forget which system I'm on. But after a couple of shifts, that goes away and I can shift without thinking.

You will get used to the SRAM double tap in no time. The only downside I've experienced with SRAM on gravel is that I sometimes miss a shift when I'm on really rough terrain and bouncing around. I think for really rough terrain it is easier to hit your shifts with the GRX.

That said, with the difficulty in getting any kind of bike today, I wouldn't pass up the SRAM bike if its a good deal and available. My SRAM group has been extremely reliable.

With regard to 2x or 1x? Just check the high and low gear ratios to make sure you have the range you need. Yes, there are bigger gaps in the 1x group, but they are usually in the very lowest gears where you won't notice as much.

woodcraft

Plus shift cables last much longer.

Gunther20

Good points by all and I'll look to give it another test ride. As long as the double tab is functional as advertised it's just something I could get used to over time.
Regarding the 1x11 setup with 40t chainring and 11/32 cassette, as long as I'm doing the math correctly I will only be missing out on the top 2 gears I currently have. Chainrings on my current bike are 36/46 with 11/28 cassette.
46/13 = 3.54 and 40/11 = 3.64. As long as I'm using for the intended purpose of gravel riding with knobby tires I won't be affected. But if I decide to put GP5000 tires on it and ride on paved roads, that's when I'll start running out of gears.

franswa

Double tap is not a bad system, just different.

I got my first nike with SRAM in January and it took half a ride to adjust. Hadn't ridden my Shimano bike until yesterday and was a little lost at first. That was fun!

Bmach

I ride Shimano grx Shimano Di2 and sram force. They all work well once set up correctly and maintained properly. I like my Di2 best, then sram, I really like the double tap system. Once you ride it you will like it. It took me maybe 10 shifts to learn to like it.

msu2001la

I have a bike with SRAM Force 1x and love how fast and hard it shifts between gears, and that the brake lever doesn't move. It makes a nice satisfying POP noise on each shift.
I have a bike with Shimano GRX and it's super smooth and quiet. I feel like I can dump more gears on downshifts with Shimano, but it's possible I'm wrong on that.

I don't really have any issues going between the two bikes. I guess occasionally I may try to shift one like the other and immediately remember that it doesn't work that way.

TeamJAB

The easiest way to remember the Sram double tap is the first push is the trigger. What you do next makes the shift. Push again and it goes into a lower gear, release the lever and it goes into the higher gear.

Chilepines

Surprised there are not more comments about the 1X. In Minnesota you may be fine with a 40/32 low gear, but you have to be really strong to ride steep New England hills with that. I have a 46/30 and 11/36 cassette and use all of the gears, and often find myself wishing for a bigger gear than 46/11.

unterhausen

I have both shimano and sram. I have trouble getting used to the Shimano. You will get used to double tap, no problem.

Gunther20

Yeah no mountains in Minnesota. Generally if they are steep they are not long, maybe causing me to get out of the saddle for a short burst. And if they are long they are not steep so I just put my head down and keep pedaling. 40/32 would be quite similar to my current 36/28 so I don't anticipate any problems on that end of the cassette.

oris

I have the same feelings about SRAM Rival 1X and my SuperSix with SRAM Red.

The OP noted that he had mixed feelings about it being 1X; it just depends on your riding style. I just changed out the cassette on my Crux to the PG1130 11-42 and it's been great so far with a 40t up front. I'm in SoCal and have been taking on some of the local MTB trails without an issue.

Previously the 11-36 on there had limited my climbing but going to the 11-42 drops out the 12t to add the 42t. With 40X11, you can still get a decent road speed at 90 RPM.

Gunther20

This was helpful. I did another test ride with this quote in mind and it clicked, both in my head and on the bike. Anyway I am now the proud owner of a new 2019 Trek Boone 5. I realize it will never be this clean again and our gravel roads are a muddy mess right now so I may wait a month or so to really start riding it.

TeamJAB

Congrats on the Boone. Glad you got the shifting to "click". Hopefully the mud season will be short and you can get on the bike sooner.

Bmach

Congrats on the bike.

Now go and ride the bike. You can ride it on paved roads for a while to get used to it and get it dialed in.

As far as mud, bikes clean up fairly easily.