I have lost count of the number of conversations, debates, heated arguments, etc. that I have engaged in over the last several years on which brand of drive train is superior to another. This debate will go on seemingly long after I take my last pedal stroke and most likely never really be placated by a right or wrong answer. It is completely in the hands of the user what he or she prefers to ride. I have ridden Shimano Dura Ace for many years now, and for the most part it is bullet proof. Nothing gives me more confidence riding than when my bike is humming along, shifting swiftly, smoothly, and quietly. It is in these moments of riding bliss that everything seems right in the world.  Recently, while shopping for a new rode bike, I was convinced by a bike industry veteran to go with a new Sram gruppo.  I did not even question this decision. As a retail buyer, I am constantly trying new products so I did not even think twice about adopting a new style of drive train. After getting used to the slightly different shifting patterns, everything seemed to sync. Not long after, I was starting a Saturday group ride when the front Derailleur decided to launch the chain off the big ring and it promptly wrapped around my carbon crank arm nearly catapulting me onto the road. No big deal, quite often new drive trains miss shift due to cable stretch, etc. No worries, I threw the chain back on and pedaled to the local bike shop for a quick adjustment. Two months later, a new big ring, new chain, and about 80 bucks in service fees, the chain just continued to Fly off to the outside at will while shifting small ring to big ring. This is around the time I began to wish I had gone Shimano.  Finally, an amazing master mechanic at Sport Chalet gave me the answer that seemed to evade every bike shop in a 40 mile square radius, the front derailleur was junk and it needed to be replaced. Sram was awesome. They sent a new Red front derailleur and stamped return envelope for the bad part. Just before I was about to have the new part installed, I happened to be on the phone with a friend from Shimano. After telling him the story above, he basically told me I should have consulted him before moving away from the best bike components in the world. Of course, he works for Shimano, what else would he say. He followed by giving me a simple request, If he were to send me a new Dura Ace front derailleur that I would install onto my bike, the following scenario would take place. The new Shimano derailleur would speak Japanese to my Sram parts and say "What's Uppppp!!!!" I took him up on the offer and went for my first ride up one of my favorite local mountain roads (Angeles Crest Hwy to Clear Creek). As I wound my way up the mountain with the sun dancing between the clouds, I could have sworn I heard something faintly coming from my bike...It sounded like my front derailleur said "What's Uppp!!!!! My shifting is seamless again and all is right in the world once again...Cheers.

By Larry: Poet Surfer posted on 2009-03-09 22:42:32 Hey Paul; I'm sorry to hear that you had that experience with SRAM Red (I am assuming). I came from the bike industry and I find that Dura Ace is very difficult to beat, but I raced on SRAM and I wouldn't have it any other way. The last road bike I designed had Dura Ace 10spd on it, and I will say I have never been impressed with product as much as I was with that gruppo. I guess I believe in market anarchy, so I tend to root for the little guys, in both spirit and dollars. Ride on...Larry

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