[Closed] Is Rival a significant upgrade to Apex. Spend the saving on hoops??

Apex isn’t brilliantly durable. I have only had 2x10 speed Rival and that was great for many years of road biking and commuting. Not sure about current Rival.

My experience of apex is that it’s cheap tat. It all failed pretty quickly.

I have a Sonder Santiago that came with Rival in early 2021. Never had SRAM road stuff before (always Shimano) but bike has seen some solid miles (on / offroad, plus laden commuting) and it's been faultless. I don't think I've even adjusted the brakes or gears in that time and I'm a serial kit wrecker. Would buy it again without hesitation - and I was a previous SRAM hater.

Ran rival 2*10 on my px roadbike for years and it's been hugely reliable. Decided to replace the mech after 10k Kms only because it was losing its spring (tbh I probably could have just replaced the part). There was no rival for sale at the time so fitted an apex mech and not felt any difference.

I'd save the cash for nice wheels

I had Rival on my old bike and my pal has Apex. Rival is worth the extra all day long. Saying that, My current Shimano GRX is miles better than either.

Rival is significantly more durable... To the onlooker, it doesn't present much of an upgrade over Apex as it isn't much lighter or flashier. But in terms of cost/performance ratio, it's definitely the sweetspot in SRAM's range. In fact, I've had 3 bikes with Force now, and would have been just as happy with Rival and a few quid in my pocket. But Apex really does wear out sooooooo much faster... Think of it like this...

Apex = NX
Rival = GX

My current Shimano GRX is miles better than either.

This is interesting is it it a preference thing or quality?

Got 2x11 Rival hydraulic on my road bike for the last 5 years and it's been fine. Only non wear replacement required was a rear mech but that was damaged in an operator error incident

This is interesting is it it a preference thing or quality?

Both really as I've always preferred Shimano to Sram but the GRX kit just feels more solid and well built with far superior ergonomics (for me).

Did 2k on my 1x Apex gravel bike without a hitch, now done nearly 2k on my new 1x Force gravel bike.

Not tried Rival, but Force is so much nicer than Apex.

I gave up using Apex rear mechs for CX racing. They'd destroy themselves far too easily in mud even with a decent two bike/washer set-up.

No issues with Rival.

The comparison between SRAM and Shimano Road groupsets goes like this
Red=Durace
Force=Ultegra
Rival=105
Apex=Shimano QA rejects

I've got Rival on my CAAD-X.

Had the shifter jam once* (solved by brute force, air gun and GT85) and a rear mech get imperceptibly bent enough to prevent shiting to one end. The latter is definitely a SRAM weakness overall, i've killed too many of their mechs like that.

Other than that it's great, and I do a lot of shitty offroad miles on that bike.

In order or preference, I'd rather Shimano 105 or its GRX equivalent. But I'd not rule a bike out over having Rival. I just wish SRAM would use whatever magic Shimano do to allow their mechs to shrug off sticks and stones.

*I've done the same with Dura Ace, so it's not a SRAM issue.

+1 for Apex being crap.

Rival was good for me, but that was 10 years ago.

I have 6k miles on rival 1x and it’s been pretty faultless. Good cables are a must.

For the past 6 months I’ve not touched it and it shifts as cleanly and pleasantly (if very differently) as Di2 on my road bike.

The brakes are “utilitarian” though. They work faultlessly as per the drivetrain, but the lever action feels cheap. Given they get used so little on a road/gravel bike I don’t mind that much.

Can’t comment on the comparison with Apex, but given the longevity of Rival I suspect it’s additional cost is worth the upgrade.

It's still an open question whether the wheel upgrade @mrmrhill would otherwise do is better or worse than the apex --> rival upgrade. I doubt it. But it might be...

Pay for the Rival bike and upgrade the wheels later as funds allow IMO.

Pay for the Rival bike and upgrade the wheels later as funds allow IMO.

That would be my preference too.

Assuming the wheels are of sufficient quality to last a while then a bike with at least one part you want makes more sense. Then you just get some wheels built in the future.

Whereas the other alternative is to buy wheels and a groupset.

OTOH, groupsets wear out anyway and bifters get smashed in crashes.

So it comes down to how good/bad are the wheels on the higher spec bike?

19k km and 4 years with Rival 2x11 on my gravel bike, and lots of filthy riding in that. Been really reliable. 2 cable changes, and the mech is starting to get a little play, but shifts accurately so haven't put the new one on yet.

1 brake bleed.

Only issue is the lever adjust goes off after a couple of rides and I need to readjust it.

I guess to try and add some balance ...... I built up a Camino with Apex (11 speed) coming up to two years ago - mechanical shifters, rear mech and chainset.

I use the bike for a mixture of road and **cough** gravel **cough**. I've never had an issue with it.

Sure it is a bit agricultural in appearance and weight but for the, then, price I think its pretty good. Wear has been minimal and I cannot think that in that time I've had to even touch the cable.

Mine is mated to an XT cassette and Shimano chain.

I have a Rival mech on my desk that is "nicer" but I'm not rushing to fit it.

As a side ..... I have a GRX mech (812?) and that is a much nicer mech and would say a higher quality than its XT counterpart that it is based on but for the cost of a rear mech I bought an Apex rear mech, chainset and new chain ......