# SRAM vs Shimano



## buck-egit (Aug 19, 2008)

Whats the Craic, 

I have rode my Boardman with Sram for 2k miles since June. I have rode my mates Merida with Tiagra maybe 5 times ( we swap sometimes)

I love the Rifle Bolt action of the Sram It's clunky but you defo know its changed. And I haven't had to adjust my gearing during the whole 2k miles on my bike. My mate is always having trouble with his gears, well maybe not always but I can think of at least 5 rides where his indexing has moved. 

What I am angling at is why is it so hard to get a bike with Sram on it?
Why do most manufactureres use Shimano

Is it cos Shimano is cheap as chips or does Sram just not bother getting into a fight with the likes of Shimano so they dont have to drop their prices. I have notice that in general if you are buying groupsets Sram are a wee bit more expensive.

I have also noticed A lot of the bike makers do offer Sram but it's RED on their Top of the line bikes.


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## cole_scirocco (Mar 5, 2012)

I think it is to do with quality for price. 

Shimano is very good for the price that they charge, but when I put my Chucker in for repairs they used Shimano parts instead of Sram that it came with. I asked why and they said if I used Sram it would be another £35 on top of what it was.


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## Rollinlow (Sep 25, 2013)

I always use sram rear mech shifters an chain an shimano front mech and cranks, I prefer the way sram shifts an the chains are stronger


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## Xploit (Nov 16, 2011)

Tiagra is the lower specification Shimano range TBF...


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## dillinja999 (Aug 26, 2013)

I cant seem to setup my sram rear mech, whatever I do when im in a couple of the middle gears it jumps 1 or 2 down the cog


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## snowy1 (Jan 3, 2014)

Campy for me, but I also have had Shimano. I think it could be that Scram Red is great, but I wouldn't take the lesser Scram models over the Shimano, or Campy alternatives.. Not sure why really, but I just prefer the road tradition of Campy and Shimano..


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## Rollinlow (Sep 25, 2013)

dillinja999 said:


> I cant seem to setup my sram rear mech, whatever I do when im in a couple of the middle gears it jumps 1 or 2 down the cog


Check your chain ain't to long mate or bent teeth on cassette or bent chain. It's us rurally because its to slack or still not setup just right


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## snowy1 (Jan 3, 2014)

sometimes it could also just be cable tension... are you setting it up completely, as in freeing the cable and winding in the tension adjuster, then re-setting?


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## dillinja999 (Aug 26, 2013)

ive moved the cable and tried every combination on the screw adjusters but cant get it spot on


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## Stumper (Apr 5, 2009)

dillinja999 said:


> I cant seem to setup my sram rear mech, whatever I do when im in a couple of the middle gears it jumps 1 or 2 down the cog


It might be that the rear mech hanger is bent. 
When I've had a bent hanger in the past the gears would index at one end of the cassette but not the other or it would work at the top and bottom but not in the middle.


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## snowy1 (Jan 3, 2014)

The above is a decent link to a quick video. Maybe worth just summarising what/how you're doing it? When you say "screw adjusters" you don't need to touch the hi, or low limit screws for jumping shifts.. The B-screw normally is right, or wrong, doesn't need much messing with once set.

Are they new cables? like i said just a quick "this is what I am doing" might help, as it's tricky via the laptop to tell. is it just on the down change, not the up change?


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## dillinja999 (Aug 26, 2013)

if im on the biggest gear and go down 2 gears it will jump down 1 more or even 2, if im going up from smallest and try to get same gear it does same thing. not new cables, no


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## 182_Blue (Oct 25, 2005)

dillinja999 said:


> if im on the biggest gear and go down 2 gears it will jump down 1 more or even 2, if im going up from smallest and try to get same gear it does same thing. not new cables, no


Are these new parts ?, did it ever work OK if not new parts ?


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## dillinja999 (Aug 26, 2013)

no not new parts, no never been 100 percent


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## snowy1 (Jan 3, 2014)

i know you're not convinced it is cable tension. so just to double check, small cog front and back, slacken/tighten gear cable slight amount, like quarter of a turn is a lot... anything diff at all?


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## carl robson (Nov 16, 2011)

Is the chain new if you are using a new chain on worn chain rings and sprockets slight adjustment will be required try changing the gear cable they stretch over time I would slacken cable off the mech pull slack through tighten up check gears for operation and adjust if necessary but adjust at the lever side


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## dillinja999 (Aug 26, 2013)

all parts are original apart from forks, thanks for info guys, will try a few things out tomorrow and report back


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## dillinja999 (Aug 26, 2013)

ive just sorted both front and back mechs, wasnt as hard as i thought  thanks for advice :thumb:


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## snowy1 (Jan 3, 2014)

:thumb: nice one !


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