Bike Fitters Perspective on the New SRAM Red (the ergonomics)

[@cup_and_cone]

Good info! Hard to believe none of the early reviewers could be bothered to stick a ruler on the hoods and verify their effective length.

[@petersouthernboy6327]

Exactly. 💯

[@alcalcagno]

I must have looked in the wrong places or searching for the wrong terms, but great to finally see a mention of the reach/length of grips/hoods! Being in the market for a new road bike and after many visits to bike shops I recently realised that on current disk brakes grips the reach seems about 20-25 mm longer than on rim brake grips (certainly Shimano 105). This far far outweighs the handful of mills in frame reach difference between frame sizes! I have searched tech specs on groupsets manufacturers websites, but to no avail. Anyone knows of a reliable source showing the length/reach of grips/hoods? I would find it very useful even considering that it's not that simple and that there are other factors impacting grip reach such as where the grips are positioned on the bars, toe in, flare etc.

[@ssd8339]

Thanks for accurate feedbacks about the hood length !

[@cycledelic44]

Always enjoy the aussie banter here, world class advice not too harsh either.

[@global_nomad.]

great to see/hear this after the initial wave of hype/youtube overload......extra pad clearance is probably the thing i've been wanting on my rival brakes compared to everything else being fine. .

[@gregkane8635]

Could you do something to show us how to put the foam in to the old force please I have this and get the numb paws. Ideally I’d change to new force shifters but it ain’t cheap

[@mkanikal]

+1 to this. Or can you point us to which of your other videos you pulled the clip from when Neil spoke about it in this one.

[@TerjeRiisnaes]

I’d love to see that as well.

[@iliamolumo4676]

same problem here - would be a blessing to see

[@Shadowboost]

5k for the groupset. That's literally the cumulative price of my 11 road bikes

[@ranitbose9609]

Why do you need 11 road bikes?

[@petersouthernboy6327]

@@ranitbose9609 LOL. Spot on.

[@JanGoh-jb5ge]

@@ranitbose9609 They may have had that many bikes over the years; it's not clear that they have all of them still.

[@Shadowboost]

@@ranitbose9609 Because they're fun. I have five in one location and 6 in another. No, I have them all still. They all are setup differently and have different uses and feels. I ride four of them every week, often two in a day. At 4000 miles this year and counting

[@ozgurinsan]

So they were selling $4000 top end groupset which was not ergonomic for 4 years.

[@we1rd92]

Yeah for how much they say the price is justified for all the R&D they surely could've paid someone to check for ergonomics no?

[@mrwhiteshorts]

exactly this

[@GummeeH3]

@@we1rd92 SRAM always seems to want to outdo Shimano and get to market first. Effectively using customers as beta testers. Yes, Shimano has made mistakes too, but IME being first isn't always better than getting it mostly right before rolling something out

[@rafaeldegiacomoaraujo8778]

Well done sram, you are almost as good as ultegra for 7k...

[@gregkane8635]

Is there a chance of showing how to amend the force d1 shifters?

[@TheCyclingCardio]

Perhaps talk about the chapter 2?

[@DM-jh5rs]

Would love to see some more info about how to alleviate nerve pressure on the rival/d2 hoods. I have two bikes with these shifters and I seem to deal with this issue a lot!

[@storchenegger1]

Great, different review! Great!

[@patrickrenschler]

do the "pros" you mention also apply to the new Sram Force? seems like the new sram force also has adjustable levers and the newer shape

[@JanGoh-jb5ge]

Oh man, is THAT why I've had hand numbness all this time? I've been trying all sorts of things, and switching to SRAM hydraulic from the mechanical groupset immediately caused problems. That was 4 or 5 years ago.

[@alcalcagno]

Oh my sorry to hear that! Marketing focussing the attention on lesser important stuff than what really counts!

[@wespress0]

now that’s as good a reason as any!

[@petersouthernboy6327]

When a Bike Fitter actually measures something that Peak Torque, an Engineer btw, can't be bothered to but complains about nonetheless

[@martinbogadomartinesi5135]

Peak Torque is just an "ackschually ☝🤓" bike content creator tbh.

[@mikemiller756]

Hard to believe an engineer would not even try adjusting the hoods before just ranting... Actually, no it's not. The phenomenon is called "arrogant".

[@derekhobbs1102]

Still more expensive than my most recent car.

[@jamesmckenzie3532]

If you are finding a decent auto for that price, keep the place a closely guarded secret. I'm right up the street from a low quality second hand place and they are running USD 10K or more.

[@87togabito]

Cars must be cheap there. Here, you need at least 100k for even the cheapest car. You could buy 50 reds for the price of a car.

[@leedorney]

​@@87togabitoyou live Dubai?

[@derekhobbs1102]

@@87togabito It's a second hand car.

[@bobfoster687]

On the bike in the background, why is the saddle slammed all the way forward?

[@_plaskett]

Obviously not my bike, but based on where the saddle is in relation to the bottom bracket, I’d guess because that’s where it’s supposed to be.

[@piglegluckson9156]

Saddle Slammed all the way forward let you generate more power by opening up more your hips angle

[@leedorney]

The lever shape is just the best and i don't have it, Shimano have a low entry lever similar..id still have Sram anyday 👌

[@leeaprescott]

Great review. We did some early testing on this group and the hand position is consistently 10mm ahead of shimano or Campag. not a problem as such as long as you are aware of it. The key is measuring from the hand web to a datum such as the stem centre rather than a variable such as the lever end. Would love to talk more about this if you have the time. Ill message privately.

[@_haimerej]

Neil literally showed the measurement of both Dura Ace and RED. There may be some difference, but it certainly isn't 10mm

[@marvinkamei7007]

the winners over the years was the one whom sits on the saddle, the rider!!!

[@318ishonk]

Okay, so it's massively expensive and shifts worse than Shimano DI2. You're really selling it, sir 😁

[@tobiasbouma4071]

Braking is better than shimano, isn't it? I think that's a big selling point tbh ..

[@99cya]

i got a sram red axs but i am very interested to replace the hood/levers with that new one. can i do that without replacing other parts as well? is it fully backwards compatible? also, where can i buy that already? i have a hard time finding any retailer (in switzerland) selling these parts.

[@jonoharper4729]

Yes, the new hoods are fully backwards compatible to the previous generation 💯%. I am doing the same upgrade, my local SRAM rep has confirmed, and many YT videos confirm the same. Backward compatibility is one huge SRAM advantage that is seldom mentioned. The separate individual parts of the group set will be in stores by August apparently, depending on your region.

[@99cya]

@@jonoharper4729 wow, that was helpful. thanks a lot mate!!

[@PeterPutz82]

So it's 'just as good' as Dura Ace with a throw away power meter / can't change chainrings. Once Shimano gets rid of wires, SRAM is in trouble.

[@dominicbritt]

Which means it's nearly as good as Ultegra 😁 which is a fraction of the price and shifts better.

[@chinaskibukowski7747]

Fuuuuuuck that price! I'll stick with mechanical thanks very much.

[@jamesmckenzie3532]

If you can find mechanical at the same level.

[@87togabito]

Nah. For those folks, they could be riding a single speed trash bin and they would tell you that it shifts gear as well as any modern day grpset.

[@WayneCouyon]

Campagnolo shift levers have had way better ergonomy than both Shimano and Sram. The new Red is just getting there, yet everybody is raving about it, for 5k. Joke.

[@jericomanoguid]

Wheeltop EDS TX an alternative SRAM RED

[@Ingrimmsch91]

But sram is always a pain with that dot fluid …

[@GummeeH3]

I have now successfully bled 4 sets of SRAM brakes in my 30+ years of being a mechanic. ALL of them were the new gen, but yet still use toxic, harmful to paint DOT fluid. Non toxic mineral oil and simple bleeding for me, thanks

[@savagepro9060]

WTF! Neil has gone to the disc brakes?

[@Shadowboost]

I miss the bulge on the front of the brake lever

[@Gufolicious]

why do you guys all pronounce it "schram" when it is clearly called sram?

[@richcole3931]

its actually pronounced al-salam

[@richardconejo5460]

@@richcole3931 Thought it was pronounced shazam !

[@mboretzki]

Nope, you're all doing it wrong. You have to read it backwards more like "marsh".

[@roadcyclingacademy]

Hahaha best thread for a while

[@alexanderasdf2742]

SRAM employees pronounce it "schram".

[@ShadowzKiller]

The funny thing is that the new groupset is still not as good as Shimano, lol. Buy 105 and buy a bike a or two for the price of this groupset.

[@GummeeH3]

As a mechanic, they if still have screw limit screws threading straight into plastic. Pass.

[@marvinkamei7007]

people are made for walking upright not hunched over on a bike! the turtle neck/back posture looks bad! and I ride a bike also,thanks!

[@andresgizmos1271]

The inflection point of the hoods is +6mm from previous gen, same as 12 speed dura ace, which isn’t ideal. Old rim brake shifters were much better in terms of reach

[@grumpytex1970]

'Almost as good as durace" - but not better.