Is there a viable alternative to the Shimano 105 groupset?

I’m a big fan of SRAM suff for the road bikes.

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Only Ultegra.

SRAM Rival?

Sram Rival. Much better than 105, much cheaper than Ultegra. The engineering is mechanically more elegant too.

Well set up 105 is flawless and a joy to use. I have bikes with 105, Ultegra and Dura Ace 9000. The 105 performs comparably, the only major difference being the weight.

I rode the 105-equipped bike yesterday after a strip/rebuild and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Ribble are selling the 105 5700 stuff reasonably discounted at the moment I think. I’ve just built a bike with the older 5600 groupset, but yet to get a chance to ride it…

Campag 😉

I have all three on various bikes. Shimano Ultegra on race bike, Sram Rival on CX bike and Campag Veloce on Training Bike.

Can’t comment on the 105 as I’ve never used it but if it’s as good as the Ultegra then you won’t go far wrong. Out of the Campag and Sram I would go Campag every time. The sram feels clunky amd mechanical in comparison. As soon as I get the opportunity to change the Sram to Shimano on my CX bike then I will, really don’t like it. IMO of course.

I’ve been running Shimano “Tiagra” since last September on a 200-mile-a-week commute in all weathers and after two rear mech cable breaks inside the shifting unit and poor shifting performance on the other, plus I can’t now get the rear mech to index properly, I’m getting a bit fed up with it!

I’m looking for a step-up in long-term reliability, not necessarily super-slick performance.

Singlespeed…..

I’ve got some Microshift Arsis on order. Don’t know how it will fare yet though….some good reviews on the web about it when you consider the cost compared to Shimano / SRAM

I’m a huge campag fan. But would not recomend there low to mid price stuff it just not seem to last very well anymore

Why not 105

Tiagra doesn’t feel much different to 105 for me, in the same way that Rival and Force feel the same.

There doesn’t seem to be a noticeable different like between SLX and XT, and X9 and X0.

I really like Sram’s double tap on the Rival and Force kit – you’ll need to try it out though, as some don’t get on with it.

Shimano is the only answer here. 105 is great, Ultegra is better. Far superior to the alternatives.

I’ve 105 on one bike and Rival on the other. I forget which is which but I know the Sram is lighter.

LBS recommends going for Campagnolo Veloce (with new rear wheel/cassette/chain) for reliability and longer life…

Probably go with that.