# Rear 09 Rival shifter broke today...



## Wookiebiker

About 3 miles into my ride today my rear shift lever (the shift paddle) broke off...Nice :mad2: 

Anybody else here had this problem? How did SRAM deal with the warranty? I've only had the shifters since March so they are well within the warranty period.

Looking at Velonews it would appear this has been a bit of an issue with the rear shifter on Rival and Force shifters.

After I contact SRAM tomorrow, I'll post a reply as to what they advise me to do. Since the bike was bought over the internet (Velo Vie...my team is sponsored by them) I can't just take it back to the shop where I bought it...so I'm guessing I'm going to have to deal with SRAM directly.


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## ssing20

*mine broke too*

Yeah, mine broke too. I have 2009 Sram Rival. I read the letters to Lennard Zinn in Velonews as well. The original letter is from 8/25/09 with follow-up responses (and a pic) on 9/9/09.

Here's my story:
I called Sram. They said I have to go thru my LBS to do a warranty claim. So that's what I did. Luckily, my LBS (Bikecology, Torrance, CA) was nice enough to take care of it for me even though I didn't buy it from them. I just installed my replacement and all is good, though I only have 45 miles on it. I couldn't quite see inside to check whether or not the part that broke is beefier/redesigned. I'm assuming it is.

Here's a pic. It looks like it broke in the same spot as the pic on Velonews.


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## Wookiebiker

ssing20 said:


> Yeah, mine broke too. I have 2009 Sram Rival. I read the letters to Lennard Zinn in Velonews as well. The original letter is from 8/25/09 with follow-up responses (and a pic) on 9/9/09.
> 
> Here's my story:
> I called Sram. They said I have to go thru my LBS to do a warranty claim. So that's what I did. Luckily, my LBS (Bikecology, Torrance, CA) was nice enough to take care of it for me even though I didn't buy it from them. I just installed my replacement and all is good, though I only have 45 miles on it. I couldn't quite see inside to check whether or not the part that broke is beefier/redesigned. I'm assuming it is.
> 
> Here's a pic. It looks like it broke in the same spot as the pic on Velonews.


That picture looks just like mine  Though I had a lot more miles on mine (almost 7000 miles).

I have multiple shops around...but none that I purchased the bike from or use on a regular basis. It could be interesting getting it warrantied I guess.


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## K&K_Dad

That's ironic. I actually had my left shifter mess up... for some reason the adjustment cam wouldn't touch the plate and it would stand out at 90 deg forward. SRAM was way cool about it, no questions asked. My 'LBS' on the other hand didn't want to have anything to do with me since I didn't buy it from him. Once SRAM convinced him to help out it was all good in the world.


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## Wookiebiker

Just posting an update:

I took my shifter to a local LBS...who I didn't purchase my current bike from, but have purchased bikes from in the past...and asked them if they could take care of the warranty claim since SRAM doesn't deal directly with customers.

Aside from paying for shipping to SRAM they didn't have any problem taking care of it for me.

So a week goes by and no shifter back yet, I get a call from the LBS and it turns out the Rival shifters were on Back Order...no big deal as I've been riding my TT bike and I'm prepping my single speed for the winter.

Then Monday, I get a call from the LBS and they let me know the shifter was in. It's a brand new (not a repaired) shifter and they even included new cables (including a brake cable).

So all is good in the world now with my main road bike back up and running...just in time for the rain to come in a week or so 

But, SRAM did take care of the shifter no questions asked...so I can't complain at all about the basic warranty service.


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## frdfandc

SRAM is pretty good with their warranty stuff. If its in stock, its sent out ASAP. Of the few SRAM products I've delt with in the past, their turn around time is 2 weeks for fork repairs, but if repairs are being done at the shop by me, parts arrive within 3 days after ordering.

Shimano OTOH, takes longer. More Red Tape IMHO. But they haven't let me down yet. Only have ran into excessive BO ETA's. 

Good to hear that SRAM is still taking care of their customers. And kuddo's to your LBS for getting you out of a pinch. 

Seems to me you need to buy more stuff from them now. lol


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## -dustin

SRAM have never charged me shipping for a warranty part like a shifter. Interesting that you had to pay.

I had to warranty 2 shifters for this reason last week. Kind of surprised, as I've never seen/ heard of it. Before sending in the bad shifter, I decided to take it apart and rebuild it.


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## Wookiebiker

-dustin said:


> SRAM have never charged me shipping for a warranty part like a shifter. Interesting that you had to pay.
> 
> I had to warranty 2 shifters for this reason last week. Kind of surprised, as I've never seen/ heard of it. Before sending in the bad shifter, I decided to take it apart and rebuild it.


Well, it wasn't for SRAM sending the shifter to me....it was for the LBS to send the shifter to SRAM.


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## -dustin

Yeah...they send a SASE along with whatever they're replacing. Regardless, it's fixed.


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## speeddemon

My Rival 2009 rear shift lever stopped working in the final of a local race today. A metal part inside the shifter has broken clean off, exactly like in the picture above. The shifter is about a year old. I have another race tomorrow. I'll see what my LBS can do. Not so happy with SRAM right now.


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## Argentius

*I'm amused*

that people are shocked when race bike parts break...

The doubletap system definitely had a fair amount of warranty claims in its initial teething period years. 

Never heard a report of SRAM failing to honor a warranty claim without question.

Ever race on a team with Shimano components? I'm sure you've seen some blown shifters, too...


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## alias33

I just broke mine today in the same spot, less then a year old bike and only ridden 5 months. And I take better care of my bike then anyone I know.


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## -dustin

i bet it gets warrantied quickly.


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## paul l

I joined the broken RH Rival lever club last night about 22 miles into a 30 mile ride, you could pull the cable and change down but when letting go, the RD returned to the 12T on the cassette so I had two gears only 12 x 34 and 12 x 50. At least it taught me I can push bigger gears on roads I usually wouldn't!

12 months and about 12 days old lever in my case so I am glad SRAM has a 2 year warranty rather than having to try and convince them to play nice a handful of days past the expiry date. As said in an earlier post, parts break and I have certainly had a LH Dura Ace shifter go before as well.

Reason for posting is that the RH shifting was very sweet for about 9 months but for the past 3 months I kept thinking it had become louder and more agricultural. The brain plays funny tricks on us and I could not be sure if this was correct or if my other road bike sporting DA shifting was spoiling me. Now that the Rival RH has broken I believe my instincts were right so if you find your shifting gets tougher it could be a sign of imminent breakage. FWIW my L and H screws on the RD have not been touched, just occasional turning of the barrel adjuster to keep the cable tension sweet.


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## ssing20

Welcome to the Club! I've had my replacement shifter for a year now (~2K miles) and no issues. I've heard a tip that might help (unproven, but makes sense):

Open up the inside limit screw as much as possible without allowing the RD to hit the spokes. The tension of the cable should prevent this anyway. So, if you accidentally try to downshift when you're already in the largest cog, you won't put as much stress on the lever innards. This "phantom" shift will feel just like a real shift (loud click, but RD doesn't go anywhere). I read this tip in Cycling Plus, March 2010 issue. Here's their actual quote:

"Sram includes an extra index point, past the first gear position (largest cog), which allows the paddle to be pushed beyond the release click w/o dropping out of gear. Set the low stop screw (marked L) slightly slacker than would normally be the case, to allow the mech (RD) to travel a touch beyond the cog w/o hitting the spokes or dropping off."


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## IAmSpecialized

Well, you guys having this problem with the right Rival shifter are not alone. I've just had the exact same problem with my 2010 Force rear shifter. I've had it for one year now. I've put about 7,000 miles on it and tonight it just snapped.

I'll be dropping by my LBS to warranty the shifter. The thing that sucks is I don't have a second bike and I can't bring myself to go through all the hassle of switching over everything to my old 105 group for a week...though I might have to. Not sure I can go to long off the bike. I'll go crazy!


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## JoeOxfordCT

Well I guess I joined the club today too.....Actually my left brifter broke in the Spring with only about 3 months of riding on it. SRAM sent a new one right out and I was back riding within 1 week.

I rode on Thursday and my right brifter felt stiff....thought it might be a sluggish cable from the bike being stored in my unheated garage. Last night I brought my CAAD9 inside to keep it warm for this morning's chilly ride. This morning about 20 miles in the shifter starting acting weird and then stopped shifting to larger cogs in the back. I could still downshift though. So the 3 of us on the ride cut over to our LBS and had them look at it. They said bad shifter and SRAM would warranty it. We tried riding back to the commuter lot but 10 minutes in the shifter paddle completely snapped off ! I had to ride back to the LBS in my 36x11 and then the guys rode home and came back and picked me up.

Well yay for SRAM I guess for warrantying their parts but a big boo for shitty product design. I googled "SRAM Rival shifter problems" and found this thread.....apparently this is an ongoing issue with them as mine components are 2010. 

This was my first non-Shimano bike and overall I have been very happy with my SRAM Rival group & SRAM Force BB30 crank on my CAAD9 but I hope I'm not replacing brifters once a year going foward.....? Had this happened on one of the several 100 mile century rides I do during the Summer I would have been very upset to say the least. SRAM, listen up, fix this issue or folks will be going back to Shimano.....


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## IAmSpecialized

JoeOxfordCT said:


> ... SRAM, listen up, fix this issue for folks will be going back to Shimano.....



Folks will be going somewhere else for shifting, yes. But for me it will most certainly not be Shimano.


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## JoeOxfordCT

I am a little nervous now as I have continued to read more & more on the net since I made my posting about 15 minutes ago....some folks are on their 3rd shifter from SRAM....on the same side !!! The only solution I've read so far is to upgrade to Red shifters but that's a big nut to swallow.... 



IAmSpecialized said:


> Folks will be going somewhere else for shifting, yes. But for me it will most certainly not be Shimano.


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## IAmSpecialized

I have a 2011 set for the bike I race in criteriums. SRAM replaced a 2009 right Rival shifter with this 2011 full set. We checked them out really well just to see if there is any difference. I swear the attachment point that is usually prone to failure is super beefed up in my 2011 Rival set. I could be wrong, but the guys at the shop thought it looked a lot beefier too. Maybe I'm imagining it though?

Either way, I really think SRAM is working on or has already taken care of the problem for 2011+ shifters. They recognize the failures people have had. It's a known problem according to SRAM. They will not leave it that way. It's just a matter of when a new design is implemented, and it looks to me like that occurs with 2011 Rival. Not sure about 2011 Force though.


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## TucsonMTB

Here's hoping they have ramped up production of replacements a bit. My rear shifter broke about two months ago. It took SRAM about a month to send a replacement. Did I mention that I do *not* have a usable spare road bike.  

The break on my 2009 lever matched the first picture in this thread. The replacement lever has the newer 2011 graphics, which probably means a more durable product . . . but, the big SRAM lettering on the face of the rear lever looks a little odd paired with the smaller Rival lettering of the 2009 style front shifter.

Seeing the mismatch made me even more glad that I purchased a pair of Red levers as replacements at the two week point. Losing more than a month of great Arizona fall riding weather would have been a bummer. As a bonus, although I am not happy about spending the money, the Red rear lever shifts better than my original ever did, even when the bike was new!

If I can afford it, my next bike will probably not have a SRAM group. No big deal to SRAM I am certain.


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## Clueless Morgan

JoeOxfordCT said:


> .....apparently this is an ongoing issue with them as mine components are 2010.
> 
> This was my first non-Shimano bike and overall I have been very happy with my SRAM Rival group & SRAM Force BB30 crank on my CAAD9....


I haven't had a problem yet, but now you have me worried. That's what I have, a 2010 CAAD9-4, except I'm sure I don't have as many miles, less than 500 since April. 

By contrast, my wife's CAAD9-5F has a recall on the FSA crank that hasn't failed yet. Has SRAM ever done a recall before? Any chance this could become a recall?


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## TucsonMTB

Clueless Morgan said:


> I haven't had a problem yet, but now you have me worried. That's what I have, a 2010 CAAD9-4, except I'm sure I don't have as many miles, less than 500 since April.
> 
> By contrast, my wife's CAAD9-5F has a recall on the FSA crank that hasn't failed yet. Has SRAM ever done a recall before? Any chance this could become a recall?


So far as I know, this is by no means a recall. A large enough number of rear shifters seem to have failed to make them a little scarce for a while, but there are probably many 2009 Rival shifters that will never fail.

In any event, you will get some warning before it fails. In the case of mine, shifting often had a little catching sensation, especially on the lower 5 cogs. Eventually, the catching sensation became more frequent and finally the lever fell off. Mine never seemed particularly smooth from the beginning, so it could have been a manufacturing defect and may have been limited to a particular manufactuing period, parts supplier, or who knows what.

If your shifter is working smoothly, you probably have no reason to be concerned. If it seems to hang up occassionally when you move the lever (for either an up or down shift, by the way) you might want to talk to your dealer about a warranty replacement before it breaks . . . if that's even possible with SRAM.

When it breaks, your dealer will need to request a warranty replacement and then send in your old lever when the new lever arrives. I believe SRAM covers the return shipping, so your dealer should be cooperative and you should not experience any costs.

If you are unlucky, as I was, and the supply of warranty replacements is lagging demand, there will be a delay. Duh!


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## JoeOxfordCT

My LBS called SRAM today about my broker right shifter. They advised that they are currently out of stock until the end of the month but will send an Apex shifter for now and will send a complete set of 2011 Force shifters (both sides !) in January !!!! 

Props to SRAM for making good !!


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## TucsonMTB

JoeOxfordCT said:


> My LBS called SRAM today about my broker right shifter. They advised that they are currently out of stock until the end of the month but will send an Apex shifter for now and will send a complete set of 2011 Force shifters (both sides !) in January !!!!
> 
> Props to SRAM for making good !!


Good for you! Clearly, your bicycle shop is more persuasive than mine. :thumbsup:


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## speeddemon

My second right Rival shifter broke today. This one lasted about a season. That's it, no more Rival for me.


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## TucsonMTB

I can't tell from your picture whether your replacement was a 2009 series or has the newer graphics for 2010, like my replacement.

Admittedly, I was a little annoyed that the replacement does not match the original left shifter. Perhaps I should not be.


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## onemoresnoopy

Well, my first ever RIVAL set ... like others, the rear shifter broke today. Waiting on reply from LBS about HOW to get it sent off for warranty replacement. Like the "Doubel Tap," but hate hearing it is to fragile. :-\


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## tconrady

I got the return authorization on my 2010 Force rear shifter Thursday (had to go out of town and am just getting to removing it off the bike tonight). Thinking about it all weekend and riding my one of spare bikes with 7 year old Ultegra 6500 that's been wrecked several times and still shifts flawlessly, I think when I get the warranty replacement I'm going to ebay the Force groupset. As much as I like to rag on Shimano, my bikes with Ultegra 6500 and 6600 have been solid for years (7 and 5 years respectively). 8 months and 1200 miles is pathetic for a part to break...and it makes me really question SRAM's QC/product design since this is happening to several others across product lines. I don't want to worry about this crap again in another 8 months.

I guess now I need to decide if I'm gonna ditch the whole groupset or just the shifters and derailleurs.


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## TucsonMTB

It might be just as cheap to just buy some Red levers. That's what I did last year when my Rival rear broke and it took more than a month to get a replacement. I must admit that the Red rear shifts so much better than the Rival. I figure if Red is strong enough for "the pros" it probably won't break for me. :thumbsup:


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## shackleton

Does this problem exist with force or red?I was ready to buy a pair of rival shifters tonight...i'm paranoid now.Maybe it would be better spending the xtra $$$ for either force or red.


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## TucsonMTB

The original problem first surfaced in the 2009 Rival rear shifter. The newer Rival versions are supposed to be stronger, but I can't confirm that.

I have not read of any failures with Red shifters, which is why I bought a pair of Red levers while waiting a month for a replacement Rival lever.

Hang in there a bit and someone else may update this thread, but Red seems to be trouble free. I guess you do get what you pay for sometimes. :thumbsup:


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## paul l

It can be dangerous to make judgements on SRAM based on one broken shifter. They appear to have had a component issue and then fixed it and these things take time to uncover. Having had to replace a broken 9-speed Dura Ace shifter in the past (many other tales of this too) one could have exactly the same reaction to Shimano and the bike forums have plenty of dissatisfaction with any brand if you look for it.

Failures apart, I think with the shifting systems we choose it comes down to the usual issue of do we like it, does it draw attention to itself and bother us after a while or does it blend into the background. Is it important enough to take a dislike to or change.


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## onemoresnoopy

Just picked up my Cannondale SuperSix with BRAND NEW Rival 2011 Shifters. They were the Warranty Replacement from SRAM, who also paid for new cables. Kudos to SRAM for not only honoring the warranty but replacing a broken shifter (hey it happens) with the latest upgraded model! AND yes, sending a complete matching $400 set of the "latest and greatest."
Thanks SRAM.


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## cru_jones

*Another one bites the dust...*

Here's mine. 2010 Rival. Installed new July 2010. 4385 miles. Not very happy considering I'm in the middle of race reason.

Does anyone know, unquestionably, if the internals of Force or Red are "better"? I love the shifting, and the whole bike is SRAM, so not exactly desiring to move to Shimano.

Thinking I may move to Red shifters, get this warrantied and then ebay them.


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## billeuph

*2010 Force broken*

My 2010 SRAM Force rear shifter broke on Sunday. Exactly the same failure as the pictures posted here for the Rival. The bike has only 3000 miles on it. I've contacted the dealer and waiting to hear back.

From my experience, Force isn't any more reliable than Rival. I went to SRAM after years of problems with Shimano, and I like the shifting and ergonomics. If this happens again, I'll give Campy a try.

Bill Anderson
Red Bank, NJ


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## cru_jones

I dropped my *2010* rear shifter off at my LBS last Tuesday. Yesterday, these showed up. They could have easily just shipped a single 2011 and told me to run two different levers, but I ended up with a brand new front shifter as well. 

In the world of taking 6-8 weeks to look at something, and the buyer paying shipping and usually getting something refurbished, SRAM is on the ball when it comes to warranty work. I am truly impressed. :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## Diesel~

cru_jones said:


> I dropped my *2010* rear shifter off at my LBS last Tuesday. Yesterday, these showed up. They could have easily just shipped a single 2011 and told me to run two different levers, but I ended up with a brand new front shifter as well.
> 
> In the world of taking 6-8 weeks to look at something, and the buyer paying shipping and usually getting something refurbished, SRAM is on the ball when it comes to warranty work. I am truly impressed. :thumbsup::thumbsup:


Sweet! That's great that they took care of you.

-D


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## asad137

cru_jones said:


> I dropped my *2010* rear shifter off at my LBS last Tuesday. Yesterday, these showed up. They could have easily just shipped a single 2011 and told me to run two different levers, but I ended up with a brand new front shifter as well.


Nice to see SRAM is doing the right thing. Is 2011 Rival any different than 2010? Looks the same as my 2009.

Asad


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## cru_jones

Never had 2009 Rival, but if feels and shifts the same as my 2010. Obviously the graphics are different, so glad I got a pair if they weren't going to replace it with a 2010...


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## tconrady

cru_jones said:


> I dropped my *2010* rear shifter off at my LBS last Tuesday. Yesterday, these showed up. They could have easily just shipped a single 2011 and told me to run two different levers, but I ended up with a brand new front shifter as well.
> 
> In the world of taking 6-8 weeks to look at something, and the buyer paying shipping and usually getting something refurbished, SRAM is on the ball when it comes to warranty work. I am truly impressed. :thumbsup::thumbsup:


That's awesome they took care of you!!! I hope my wait pays off with a matching set.

I'm still waiting. I've been out of town the last 4 weekends and kinda lost track of time so I went back through my stuff. I initiated the return process on 5/9, got the rma on 5/12, SRAM received my broken shifter on 5/24, I was updated on 6/2 from the retailer that they were waiting on SRAM to ship out the replacement, and it's 6/11 now with no shifter. I'm not mad, but somewhat disappointed. 

I have to admit that each passing day is getting me one step closer to stripping down my frame, selling the remaing SRAM parts on ebay, and hanging another manufacturer's bits on it though.


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## TucsonMTB

I will be watching with interest. Late last year, when my local bike shop handled the warranty return on mine, all I received was a rear shifter. It does not match the existing front shifter. Yeah, I was disappointed.


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## samh

*sram lever breakage*

is this design or manufacturing defect? IOW, will all levers eventually break?


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## omgsram

My right Rival shifters from 09 isn't even shifting. I can't explain it... It'll click once but there's no tension on the cable. Opened up the housing and found that the reel in which the cable is attached has rotated too far and now is unable to return to the original position. I'll take pictures of it when I get home from work... this is a bummer.:cryin:


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## Wookiebiker

Well...I'm going on my second right Rival rear shifter. My current one (the replacement) is still working but part of the internals broke on a group ride this weekend.

What it's doing now is if I go to the largest rear cog it no longer has the extra click that keeps it in the largest cog. It breaks loose and drops down two gears. I could tell the moment it broke on a climb when I was looking for one more gear...I pushed to shift up and it hit the limit, then "Bam" it went way past what it's supposed to. I can put it in the smallest cog, so I can still ride and hill climb, but if i push it in again it goes way past the "Built in stop" and drops two gears (sometimes three).

The rest of the shifts work OK, but I can tell they are quickly getting worse. I figure I have another week or so before it blows up.

I went ahead and ordered a rear "Red" shifter to replace the Rival since it's internals are mostly metal instead of plastic and there doesn't seem to be nearly the issues with the Red shifters compared to the Rivals.

With that said...my front shifter is still working great after 2 full years and about 14000 miles.


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## -dustin

Positive it's not a cable tension issue?


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## asad137

Wookiebiker said:


> What it's doing now is if I go to the largest rear cog it no longer has the extra click that keeps it in the largest cog. It breaks loose and drops down two gears. I could tell the moment it broke on a climb when I was looking for one more gear...I pushed to shift up and it hit the limit, then "Bam" it went way past what it's supposed to. I can put it in the smallest cog, so I can still ride and hill climb, but if i push it in again it goes way past the "Built in stop" and drops two gears (sometimes three).


That's very similar to what happened to my right Rival shifter. Was definitely not a cable tension issue.

Asad


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## Wookiebiker

asad137 said:


> That's very similar to what happened to my right Rival shifter. Was definitely not a cable tension issue.
> 
> Asad


Nope...not a cable tension issue...it died during today's ride. It will shift down, but no longer shifts up, which would lead me to believe that it has stripped out the gear mechanism to push the derailleur back up the cogset.

Hopefully my Red shifter will be in soon since I'll be stuck on my TT bike until it gets in.


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## Wookiebiker

Wookiebiker said:


> Nope...not a cable tension issue...it died during today's ride. It will shift down, but no longer shifts up, which would lead me to believe that it has stripped out the gear mechanism to push the derailleur back up the cogset.
> 
> Hopefully my Red shifter will be in soon since I'll be stuck on my TT bike until it gets in.


Just a quick update...

A few rides later, the shift lever broke off just as the first one did...so that's my second Rival shifter that has died in the last year by the same means.

With that said, my Red shifter came in about a week after my Rival one broke (so I spent a few days on my TT bike, which was a lot of fun in the hills)...and it feels much better than my Rival shifter ever did. 

I'll probably send my Rival shifter back and see if i can get a warranty repair/replacement on it for a back up in the future...however, with the positive shifting I'm getting with the Red shifter I'll probably order a front Red front shifter when I get the money to round out the package and get a better overall feel from my shifting.


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## musicmaster

If I'm buying my parts 2nd hand (new pull from a bike), I'd assume I'm not going to have any warranty with them, or if it breaks, can I drop it off at a LBS without receipt?


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## TucsonMTB

Depends on your bike shop. If they like you, they will help.


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## gregl1956

*My 2010 Force Rear shifter broke today*

My 2010 Force rear shifter broke today. Luckily it happened at mile 58 of a 60 mile ride. It too looks like the first picture in the thread. My LBS (where I did not purchase the bike) indicates they will take it up with the SRAM rep.


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## AndrwSwitch

Since this thread got dredged up via another, I had my right Rival shifter quit on me a couple weeks ago. Exactly the same failure mode as the OP.

I'm waiting until I have new bar tape and cables in hand to switch brake levers and take some "bike porn" shots, but it's a "save-me-money" bike I bought from a friend and the shifters are probably more than two years old, so when my shop told me they probably couldn't do anything on warranty, I didn't try to fight about it (out of warranty period and I'm not the purchaser? Yeah...) and did this.


cell pic DT shifters by Andrew183, on Flickr

$35 indexed downtube shifters. I didn't want to pay for more integrated shifters and I wanted to keep multiple speeds. So far, I'm pretty happy with the setup.

Note also that the rear wheel has 50% more spokes than the front. Sometimes I think there are no mechanical engineers left in the bike industry.


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## paul l

I read a while ago here in the UK that SRAM had a bad batch of shifters a couple of years ago. If true then replacements should not suffer unless the replacement happened to be old. I have no idea what SRAM have to say, my replacement is fine after a year of use by the way.


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## TucsonMTB

paul l said:


> I read a while ago here in the UK that SRAM had a bad batch of shifters a couple of years ago. If true then replacements should not suffer unless the replacement happened to be old. I have no idea what SRAM have to say, my replacement is fine after a year of use by the way.


Here in the US, SRAM pretty much relies on the bicycle dealer to work with the customer. You have no other recourse. If the shop who provided the original equipment wants to help, they may be able to arrange a replacement at no cost. Otherwise . . . there may be some bargain replacements on eBay.


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## paule11

My rear shifter failed today changed up and it felt like it slipped changed down ok and then gradually got worse . Ended up could only change down took inspection plate of when I got home had a bit of a look and shifter broke off.


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## TucsonMTB

paule11 said:


> My rear shifter failed today changed up and it felt like it slipped changed down ok and then gradually got worse . Ended up could only change down took inspection plate of when I got home had a bit of a look and shifter broke off.


That looks familiar. 

The graphics on your broken shifter are the same as those on my broken shifter, that was replaced about a year and a half ago. So, that would make yours part of that same, faulty series of shifters. The replacement my local shop obtained from SRAM has different graphics. "SRAM" appears in large letters on the lever (where yours says Rival) and the word Rival appears on the front of the shifter/brake body.


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## paule11

I brought the bike last year , the arrow on the first picture in the middle of the circle of numbers says 09. When I first read this thread last year I was hoping it would be an 2010 batch I am surprised they have not done a recall on these shifters.


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## TucsonMTB

paule11 said:


> I brought the bike last year , the arrow on the first picture in the middle of the circle of numbers says 09. When I first read this thread last year I was hoping it would be an 2010 batch I am surprised they have not done a recall on these shifters.


I wonder if that number is to identify the mold cavity, rather than the model year. Most plastic parts are made in mufti-cavity molds a marking with the specific cavity ID allows QC to identify which cavity needs attention when a problem develops. 

There may have been no way SRAM could be certain which lever sets were defective. If so, it is probably cheaper to just replace them if and when they break. Hopefully, they will have a little flexibility on their two year warranty period for these levers to preserve good customer relations. 

On a positive note, for several months around the time mine broke people were reporting that SRAM was shipping both left and right hand levers as warranty repair replacement parts, even though only one lever had failed, probably to provide matching graphics.

Apparently, that process depends in part on how sharp your local shop is too, because I only received one, thus have a miss-matched set of levers. Your expectations might be worth discussing with your bike shop when you ask for a warranty replacement, if matching levers matters to you.

Best of luck!


----------



## burgrat

Has there been a recall on these shifters? It seems to be too common a problem. I have 09 Rival on my Ritchey Breakaway (travel bike) and I am worried that I will have an issue while I'm on a trip. I haven't had any issues, but I am certainly not confident based on the history of this product.
Also, guys that have had them break, are you sticking with Rival or are you changing to Apex, Red, or other?


----------



## AndrwSwitch

SunRace FTW!

To be fair, I didn't like the DoubleTap system when it was working correctly.

If it wasn't my save-me-money bike, I'd probably have put on some Shimano 105 shifters to go with the Shimano rear derailleur I had on my shelf.


----------



## TucsonMTB

burgrat said:


> Has there been a recall on these shifters? It seems to be too common a problem. I have 09 Rival on my Ritchey Breakaway (travel bike) and I am worried that I will have an issue while I'm on a trip. I haven't had any issues, but I am certainly not confident based on the history of this product.
> Also, guys that have had them break, are you sticking with Rival or are you changing to Apex, Red, or other?


If my experience is any guide, you will have plenty of warning before it breaks. The shifter that failed started requiring more effort than usual a couple of months before it failed. I was too much of a SRAM newbie to understand what was happening and tried lubricating everything rather than looking for a failing part. :blush2:

The RED shifter that replaced it works so much better than the Rival ever did (since new) that it's possible (likely?) that a good running set of Rival shifters will be just fine forever (my guess). :thumbsup:


----------



## AndrwSwitch

Mine just quit. I tried to shift to an easier gear and it wouldn't do it. There was no intermittent period.


----------



## TucsonMTB

AndrwSwitch said:


> Mine just quit. I tried to shift to an easier gear and it wouldn't do it. There was no intermittent period.


Interesting! Did you have any occasions when the lever seemed to resist movement, especially while shifting up? Mine did that fairly infrequently for a couple of months before failing.


----------



## AndrwSwitch

Not that I noticed, but I bought the bike from a friend in December.


----------



## TucsonMTB

AndrwSwitch said:


> Not that I noticed, but I bought the bike from a friend in December.


Hopefully your friend will help get the local bike shop to implement a warranty replacement? Otherwise, unless you have a great relationship with a shop, it may be hard to get one.

Anyone who has gone directly to SRAM, please speak up, especially if you have some contact information for a responsive individual to share.

Otherwise, you are probably stuck with approaching a bike shop. Yeah, I would love to be wrong! :idea:


----------



## AndrwSwitch

I've solved it to my satisfaction. See post #53. But, I'll hang onto the shifters so I can give them back to my friend. Maybe he can have a spare set.


----------



## pedalhead27

I too just had a failed rear shifter this past weekend. I was just starting up a large hill and wanted to up shift in a bigger gear in the back and the shifter just busted off.

I was 65km from home, so I road home in my 19 tooth rear cog using my big and small ring in the front to help. I was able to reach down and grab the cable for the rear derailer to help on some of the bigger hills, but it is tricky to hold a specific tension on the cable while riding up hill. My bike is a 2010 Cannondale Synapse 4 with around 4500km on it. I bought it very gently used from a guy last year so no warranty with my LBS, so I sucked it up and bought a set of 2011 Red controls for $525. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but from the amount of issues I have found here getting another set of Rivals would be the wrong way to go.

I will give SRAM one more change with the Red controls. They shift much nicer than the Rivals ever did.


----------



## paule11

Bit rough 2 years old sram should replace it


----------



## santacruzdave

You can add me to the list of broken right shift levers. Broken just like the OP. LBS said SRAM will warranty replace both left and right so I have a matching set. Wondering if the replacements will be more of the same.


----------



## TucsonMTB

santacruzdave said:


> You can add me to the list of broken right shift levers. Broken just like the OP. LBS said SRAM will warranty replace both left and right so I have a matching set. Wondering if the replacements will be more of the same.


I don't think so. There have been no reports of failures on this forum from anyone with a warranty replacement component.

I believe you will find the new parts just plain work better too. :thumbsup:


----------



## paule11

Got mine back today looks like they repaired mine hopefully its not going to break in another 11 months. 

I was hoping to get some newer versions of the shifter , it must be different in Australia.

Was painful getting the old derailler cable back through it took an hour I should have realised while I was at the shop to buy a new cable instead of stuffing around at 6:00 at night.

Have circled some damage to the pawl I will have to keep an eye on that.

Hopefully the paddle is a stonger version


----------



## santacruzdave

*Rival replacement shifters*

LBS (Bicycle Trip, Santa Cruz, CA) contacted SRAM, replacement set of shifters arrived 4 days later. Now installed and working like new (well they are new after all). Happy SRAM customer. Nice work LBS sticking up for me. Did I mention happy, 150 miles so far, everything working fine.


----------



## fab4

My right 2009 Rival shifter broke today. The same break as everybody else in this forum. Since my shifter is passed the 2 year warranty period what are my options? Go to my LBS and see if SRAM can help me out? Buy a new shifter or go with a different system like Shimano or campy?


----------



## TucsonMTB

Yeah. I would start by having the bike shop talk to SRAM. These failures are enough to give them a black eye. So, SRAM may be doing more than the warranty requires to reduce the damage to their reputation.

American car companies often offer extended coverage when they have a similar problem. It is an accepted business practice and should work to your advantage . . . So, talk to your shop as soon as possible and ask them to forward your inquiry to SRAM, rather than interpreting the warranty terms themselves.

Best of luck and let us know how it goes.

I should mention that I bought Red shifters myself because the initial delay while SRAM got replacements ready would have kept me off my bike too long. If I were better financed, I would have been tempted to just replace everything with Shimano, but that would cost too much for my shallow pockets. If your finances are different, the new Shimano Ultegra DI2 looks like a winner to me. Maybe someday . . .


----------



## paule11

Had some reasonable distance rides this weekend with the rebuilt shifter smoother and quiter than before


----------



## Clueless Morgan

After watching this thread for some time, today it was my turn for my right Rival brifter to break. Mine is on a 2010 Cannondale CAAD 9-4 bought in spring of 2010. I would say from my Cyclemeter history that I've ridden about 1600 miles. I felt that extra resistance during the ride before it went. Good thing for me it happened a mile and a half before returning to home.

About to take it to LBS where I bought it, and I can tell them about this thread. Bummer, now what do I ride.


----------



## TucsonMTB

Clueless Morgan said:


> After watching this thread for some time, today it was my turn for my right Rival brifter to break . . . *Bummer, now what do I ride.*


Now, nearly a year after the initial rush of failures, SRAM probably has parts ready to ship immediately, so you shouldn't wait long, if your shop gets right on it.

The replacement parts have been reported as working better than the originals from the day one, so odds are you will be happy with the new parts.

Still, presuming that someday there may be a new bike in my future, the electronic shifting available from Shimano is looking really good to me. The success of DI2 on the very Italian Pinarello bicycles in The Tour may have influenced my thinking. But, the nearly $400 I shelled out to replace my broken Rival shifter with Red while waiting more than a month for SRAM to ship one mismatched shifter still annoys me. Yeah, it was my choice, so I should just get over it. 

You will probably have much better luck and remain perfectly happy with SRAM. I hope so! :thumbsup:


----------



## fab4

I went to the my local Trek bike store (Kearny Mesa) here in San Diego where I bought my bike to ask them what are my options for my broken Rival right shifter. The mechanic there told me that since I didn't buy the Trek extended warranty they can not help help me out but they are willing to sell me a new shifter. They are totally not helpfull and oviously do not know the problem SRAM was having with the Rival shifter. Took it to Performance Bicycle (Midway) in Point Loma and the mechanics there (Jason & TJ) were very helpful and contacted SRAM right away about my problem. SRAM totally backed up there product and sent a new replacement Rival shifter in 3 days. Kudos to SRAM & Performance Bicycles (Midway) in Point Loma. Trek San Diego (Kearny Mesa) you suck!!!


----------



## TucsonMTB

fab4 said:


> . . . SRAM totally backed up there product and sent a new replacement Rival shifter in 3 days. Kudos to SRAM & Performance Bicycles (Midway) in Point Loma. Trek San Diego (Kearny Mesa) you suck!!!


When Trek opened their most recent Trek Store nearby, they pulled the brand back from my even closer local bike shop. I stopped in the Trek store once when I needed some Stan's sealant and was not at all impressed with the staff or their selection of the stuff many of us tend to buy in person . . . they were out of Stan's sealant. Nice as the bikes may be, Trek is now off my list of bikes to consider when my Scott Addict needs to be replaced or at least augmented.

Glad that you found a more customer centered store! Thanks for sharing your success! :thumbsup:


----------



## Clueless Morgan

Just a follow up:
The good news: My local bike shop called SRAM and got _both_ brifters replaced for free, (this way they'll match), so high marks for both SRAM and my shop, Action Sports. I may have to pay for new bar tape. The original bar tape was white and the bike is black. Hmm.

Now the bad news: I've been recovering from a knee injury since January, and gradually worked back to close to last summer's riding ability. I had to ride based on high cadence/low effort and avoiding low cadence/high strength. When the shifter broke, I was left to climb a small steep hill to get home. I tried standing and using my body weight on the pedals which seemed to work and it didn't hurt, but 12 hours later, that knee is totally injured again. I told the shop that taking a week + to replace the shifters was fine because I can't ride now anyway.


----------



## TucsonMTB

Clueless Morgan said:


> I told the shop that taking a week + to replace the shifters was fine because I can't ride now anyway.


Bummer about the knee! 

I'm guessing there is no need to remind you that aspirin will help the inflamed tissues recover. :idea:

Hang in there!


----------



## steel515

*Rival shifter broke*



TucsonMTB said:


> Bummer about the knee!
> 
> I'm guessing there is no need to remind you that aspirin will help the inflamed tissues recover. :idea:
> 
> Hang in there!


Do older Force/ Red shifters also break?


----------



## TucsonMTB

steel515 said:


> Do older Force/ Red shifters also break?


Hard to say. From the broken shifters reported here, the problem seems to be limited to 2009 Rival shifters.

The first reports of breakage seem to have been early in August 2009 and have continued since. My 2009 Addict R4 had about 4000 miles on it when mine broke in October 2009. I have not noticed any reports of Force or Red shifter failures. But, I miss things . . .


----------



## Clueless Morgan

TucsonMTB said:


> Bummer about the knee!
> 
> I'm guessing there is no need to remind you that aspirin will help the inflamed tissues recover. :idea:
> 
> Hang in there!


My doctor keeps pushing me to use Naproxen or ibuprofen instead without even mentioning aspirin, come to think of it. 

I got my bike back in good order with new white-ish bar tape. Seems to work great. There's a sticker on it explaining the brake adjustment. I can't seem to make sense of it looking back and forth at the diagram and the actual shifter. The brakes do seem to bite too early for my taste, so I think I'd like to adjust it.


----------



## Clueless Morgan

TucsonMTB said:


> Hard to say. From the broken shifters reported here, the problem seems to be limited to 2009 Rival shifters.
> 
> The first reports of breakage seem to have been early in August 2009 and have continued since. My 2009 Addict R4 had about 4000 miles on it when mine broke in October 2009. I have not noticed any reports of Force or Red shifter failures. But, I miss things . . .


Mine was early 2010. Not as many miles; 1600 or so, but two years old now at this point.


----------



## vagabondcyclist

Clueless Morgan said:


> I got my bike back in good order with new white-ish bar tape. Seems to work great. There's a sticker on it explaining the brake adjustment. I can't seem to make sense of it looking back and forth at the diagram and the actual shifter. The brakes do seem to bite too early for my taste, so I think I'd like to adjust it.


The adjustment on the lever is most likely to adjust the lever and shifter in towards the bar and thus has nothing to do with how quickly the brakes "bite." Look on YouTube for some videos on how to adjust the levers in and out towards the bar. If you have small hands you might like the lever closer tot the bar.


----------



## burgrat

SRAM really should have had a recall on the Rival levers. This seems to be a common problem.


----------



## TucsonMTB

burgrat said:


> SRAM really should have had a recall on the Rival levers. This seems to be common problem.


Well they have, sort of. When a customer complains (via his bike shop) they replace the lever, apparently without regard to the warranty time period.

It's possible that only a small portion of their production was affected by the faulty internal part or parts and they don't have a reliable way of identifying the lot numbers.

They probably do less damage to their reputation this way because fewer people are inconvenienced.


----------



## royta

TucsonMTB said:


> Well they have, sort of. When a customer complains (via his bike shop) they replace the lever, apparently without regard to the warranty time period.
> 
> It's possible that only a small portion of their production was affected by the faulty internal part or parts and they don't have a reliable way of identifying the lot numbers.
> 
> They probably do less damage to their reputation this way because fewer people are inconvenienced.


 
Personally, I'd be much happier if SRAM would replace the Rival shifters on my '09 Kestrel before they actually break. I'll be real mad if the shifter decides to let go in the middle of a long race like LOTOJA.


----------



## TucsonMTB

royta said:


> Personally, I'd be much happier if SRAM would replace the Rival shifters on my '09 Kestrel before they actually break. I'll be real mad if the shifter decides to let go in the middle of a long race like LOTOJA.


So would I. But, I suspect they have no way of identifying the defective batch. Sad, but probably one of the results of being a company that manufactures in so many locations and countries. 

Here's hoping they have taken this event as a wake up call and have instituted better tracking. There is some kind of a number (serial number perhaps?) stamped on the inner surface of my brake levers. If it is a serial number, you would think they could use it to track issues like this and send out information about the serial number range so that we could determine if we have a problem, before it breaks.

Yeah, I am probably dreaming. Lately it seems as if American businesses are just looking for ways to "save money". It may turn out to be false economy if customers get irritated and vote with their dollars on future purchases.


----------



## royta

At approximately what mileage is the Rival rear shifter breaking? I have around 3500 miles on my '09 Kestrel Evoke SL since I bought it new in August 2010. I live in very hilly terrain (mountainous actually) and shift a lot. I have an important race coming up (LOTOJA) and I'd be pretty upset if my shifter were to fail mid race. I'm considering buying some Force shifters.

ETA - I guess I repeated some stuff from a post or so ago. Sorry about that. I also cross posted this to another thread in the Components section.


----------



## paule11

Probably about 2000km for mine


----------



## royta

I removed the hood and shifter cover to get a good look at the internal gears. The teeth are not chewed up as I've seen in pictures, so I'm not worried about them. However, there's no telling the shift lever is ok.


----------



## TucsonMTB

royta said:


> I removed the hood and shifter cover to get a good look at the internal gears. The teeth are not chewed up as I've seen in pictures, so I'm not worried about them. However, there's no telling the shift lever is ok.


I can't tell you the mileage on mine and as you pointed out, more climbs mean more shifting, so mileage may not be meaningful.

But, I can tell you that I started noticing some resistance to movement of the lever weeks before it finally broke off. Often it would sort of "catch" while I was pressing lightly to up-shift. It was not subtle either. Usually, it was necessary to stop pressing and then press again to cause a shift with a reasonable level of effort.  Rotating the lever back toward the handlebars also helped. I was new enough to SRAM to think it might have been a technique issue. The RED shifters that I bought to replace the Rival shifters (and other people experiencing lever failure) quickly convinced me otherwise. :thumbsup:

I believe that if your shifters are currently working smoothly . . . they may *never* fail. After all, the number of reports of failure seem to be small compared to the total number of shifters in service.

Good luck in your race! Let us know how it goes, please. We will be rooting for you.


----------



## royta

TucsonMTB said:


> I believe that if your shifters are currently working smoothly . . . they may *never* fail. After all, the number of reports of failure seem to be small compared to the total number of shifters in service.
> 
> Good luck in your race! Let us know how it goes, please. We will be rooting for you.


Sounds encouraging. Thank you. I'll replace my shifters if I can get a smoking deal on some Force brand new takeoffs on eBay.

Thanks for the race support. I did it last year and had a bout with some diarrhea. Apparently a HUGE bowl of spaghetti at 4:30PM and then another at 8:30PM the day before a big race is a bad idea. According to my GPS data, I lost 16 minutes from two bathroom stops. Not this year...not this year. Haha.


----------



## TucsonMTB

Sounds familiar.

In my callow youth, I remember reading that the European professionals were fond of rice pudding as a source of carbohydrates before a race. Unfortunately, rice caused me considerable gastric distress and flatulence. Who knew?!

The guys behind me in the Cat 3 race learned . . . and so did I.


----------



## nivagh

I'm glad I found this forum - my rear shifter died on me about halfway to work this morning, forcing a re-think on route to keep it a bit flatter, as the gears progressively changed into the smallest cog with all the tension gone from the cable 

I'm running SRAM Rival and my shifter is from a 2010 Boardman Pro CX - total mileage about 3,000 kilometers, mainly on-road but including CX. My lever is identical in design to the images already posted, and one of the silver lugs on the lever has sheared off. Whether I did this pushing the lever (downshifts have been very hard for a couple of days) or when a couple of vehicles ran over the lever after it fell into the road (!), I don't know.

I'm pursuing a warranty claim through the shop where I purchased the bike; it's a little under two years old. Unfortunately, Boardman bikes are distributed in the UK exclusively by Halfords who have an unenviably poor reputation for their bike maintenance skills, or indeed knowledge of bicycles. I'll be pushing for matching levers, since it's the type of thing that is apt to annoy me, but I'm not holding my breath, since I have no existing relationship with the shop, other than the fact that they took my money two years ago..!

I'll let you know how I get on.


----------



## cxwrench

nivagh said:


> I'm glad I found this forum - my rear shifter died on me about halfway to work this morning, forcing a re-think on route to keep it a bit flatter, as the gears progressively changed into the smallest cog with all the tension gone from the cable
> 
> I'm running SRAM Rival and my shifter is from a 2010 Boardman Pro CX - total mileage about 3,000 kilometers, mainly on-road but including CX. My lever is identical in design to the images already posted, and one of the silver lugs on the lever has sheared off. Whether I did this pushing the lever (downshifts have been very hard for a couple of days) or *when a couple of vehicles ran over the lever after it fell into the road* (!), I don't know.
> 
> I'm pursuing a warranty claim through the shop where I purchased the bike; it's a little under two years old. Unfortunately, Boardman bikes are distributed in the UK exclusively by Halfords who have an unenviably poor reputation for their bike maintenance skills, or indeed knowledge of bicycles. I'll be pushing for matching levers, since it's the type of thing that is apt to annoy me, but I'm not holding my breath, since I have no existing relationship with the shop, other than the fact that they took my money two years ago..!
> 
> I'll let you know how I get on.


you're ok w/ trying to get these warranted after admitting this? nice.


----------



## nivagh

cxwrench said:


> you're ok w/ trying to get these warranted after admitting this? nice.


Yes. Gear levers don't regularly fall out of the hoods under normal use, and it's a recognised flaw.


----------



## TucsonMTB

nivagh said:


> I'm running SRAM Rival and my shifter is from a 2010 Boardman Pro CX - total mileage about 3,000 kilometers, mainly on-road but including CX. My lever is identical in design to the images already posted, and one of the silver lugs on the lever has sheared off. Whether I did this pushing the lever (downshifts have been very hard for a couple of days) or when a couple of vehicles ran over the lever after it fell into the road (!), I don't know.


Sounds familiar. Mine was intermittently hard to shift in either direction for several weeks before the lever separated from the shifter body. . . and fell apart entering my driveway, which kept the fallen lever from getting additional damage from passing traffic.



nivagh said:


> I'm pursuing a warranty claim through the shop where I purchased the bike; it's a little under two years old. Unfortunately, Boardman bikes are distributed in the UK exclusively by Halfords who have an unenviably poor reputation for their bike maintenance skills, or indeed knowledge of bicycles. I'll be pushing for matching levers, since it's the type of thing that is apt to annoy me, but I'm not holding my breath, since I have no existing relationship with the shop, other than the fact that they took my money two years ago..!
> 
> I'll let you know how I get on.


Hoping for a good report here. SRAM is providing the warranty. The shop is only providing the contact point for shipping the defective shifter back to SRAM. So, if you have a better relationship with a nearby shop who carries SRAM, you might want to talk to them as well.

At least one other forum member got the cold shoulder from the Trek store where he bought his Madrone because he had not purchased the shop's extended bicycle warranty. He had a good experience going back to his regular shop, who cheerfully arranged the warranty replacement. I think you can find his message in this thread.

SRAM does seem to understand these days. Mine was an early failure which apparently caught them off guard and in short supply of replacements. So, I waited more than a month for only one lever. Oh well. 

In any event, best of luck. We will keep our fingers crossed for luck! :thumbsup:


----------



## nivagh

Good news - the Halfords branch local to my workplace is replacing the right hand shifter under the SRAM warranty  The same branch also replaced the BB seven months ago when it spat out all the bearings unexpectedly; their mechanic races, so I am happy they accepted it there rather than having to go back to the branch where I bought the bike originally.


----------



## nivagh

Well, I got my bike back on Friday, with new levers, free of charge under warranty 
Replacement took some time as the rear brake cable is routed through the top tube and the ferrules at either end of that cable run had rusted in place, meaning they couldn't pass a cable inner through the frame as a guide. several days of soaking in WD-40 and they got them out. When I'm working on my TT I tie some cotton to the end of the cables before I pull them through for this very reason.
So anyway, first ride this morning and I remember now why I loved the gear system when I first had it - quiet, positive, precise shifting again. Happy shopper :-D

Having seen the damaged lever in the shop, the teeth on the cogs inside the shifter have sheared like the photo earlier in this thread, so definitely the same issue.


----------



## TucsonMTB

Super! I love happy endings. :thumbsup:


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## paule11

Great result hope my rebuilt shifter never breaks again would have kliked new ones


----------



## fontarin

My right shifter broke today. Out on a ride, tried to shift, and it went. Had it about 2.5 years now, so will have to see if SRAM will do anything about it.


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## paule11

Not good at all I have Tiagra on a bike that I have had for about 6 or 7 years and never had any problems had a few crashes on that as well.


----------



## ghostpixel

I'm considering a Rival groupset, so I've got a couple of questions pertinent to this thread.

1) Any updates on whether the replacement shifters are failing? 

2) What year (if at all) did the Rival shifters stop breaking? From this thread it appears that 2009 shifters were certainly not good. Any other years?

Thanks in advance!


----------



## samh

does Force break too?


----------



## TucsonMTB

ghostpixel said:


> I'm considering a Rival groupset, so I've got a couple of questions pertinent to this thread.
> 
> 1) Any updates on whether the replacement shifters are failing?
> 
> 2) What year (if at all) did the Rival shifters stop breaking? From this thread it appears that 2009 shifters were certainly not good. Any other years?
> 
> Thanks in advance!





samh said:


> does Force break too?


Anything is possible, so I won't be surprised if someone pops up a failure report for Rival shifters after the 2009 model year and for the Force line. But . . . I haven't seen any such report yet.

Because SRAM only sent my local bike shop ONE (1) replacement lever and the graphics are different from the old one . . . I have not installed the replacement. Nice guys as they are, either my local shop missed a chance to ask for a full set or SRAM was really low in inventory when I got mine. I'm guessing it was low inventory because it took six (6) weeks to get a replacement. Not having a serviceable replacement road bike, after a couple of weeks of only riding my mountain bike, I just bought a set of RED levers and moved on.

Although I felt a little guilty about spending the money, I had it, and the RED levers work so much better than the Rival did when it was new, so I'm happy. :thumbsup:

Bottom line . . . I believe both Rival and Force are now durable after all the bad parts that somehow got into the 2009 Rival shifters. But, if you can wrangle it . . . go for RED. There really is a difference, in my experience. As always, your mileage may vary.


----------



## IAmSpecialized

samh said:


> does Force break too?



My personal n=1 ecxperience with 2010 Force has been 3 times as bad as Rival for breaking.


----------



## PlatyPius

IAmSpecialized said:


> My personal n=1 ecxperience with 2010 Force has been 3 times as bad as Rival for breaking.


Only when installed on a Specialized...


----------



## ghostpixel

Thanks for the responses. I've decided to just go with Ultegra... from researching there seems to be a few more known issues with Rival than Ultegra.


----------



## burgrat

Do you guys know if there are any issues with the Apex shifters (2012)? I acquired a new set of Apex shifters and I'm considering switching them out with my Rival (2009) shifters that have the reputation of failing. Granted they haven't failed yet, but the bike is a Ritchey Breakaway and if I'm traveling on vacation and the Rival fails (like so many have!), it would be really, really bad.
What do you guys think?


----------



## TucsonMTB

Haven't seen anything suggesting there are issues with the 2012 Apex shifters. Besides, they are too new to break. It usually took quite a while for the troublesome Rival shifters to fail.

If you have time to switch them out, get everything dialed in, and take enough rides to be sure they are good to go before your trip, it couldn't hurt. But, if time is tight and your existing set is still smooth, installing new cables before you go (unless your existing cables are relatively new) should be enough to ensure a trouble free trip.

Best of luck and please come back and tell us how much fun you had when at the end of your trip.


----------



## burgrat

Is there any difference between the 2009 Rival shifters and 2013 Rival shifters? Did they change anything to prevent failure of the shifters?


----------



## TucsonMTB

burgrat said:


> Is there any difference between the 2009 Rival shifters and 2013 Rival shifters? Did they change anything to prevent failure of the shifters?


Left out the manufacturing defect that caused the initial failures? :idea:


----------



## PlatyPius

burgrat said:


> Is there any difference between the 2009 Rival shifters and 2013 Rival shifters? Did they change anything to prevent failure of the shifters?


Yeah. The whole breaking thing was caused by some bad quality metal they received from a supplier. It was "fixed" long ago.


----------



## burgrat

PlatyPius said:


> Yeah. The whole breaking thing was caused by some bad quality metal they received from a supplier. It was "fixed" long ago.


Thanks. It's good to know they took care of this issue.


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## Dream Plus

How long ago? My Force Rear lever broke off today (same as others). I found this thread searching for images of "Broken SRAM shifter paddles"


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## paule11

Dream Plus said:


> How long ago? My Force Rear lever broke off today (same as others). I found this thread searching for images of "Broken SRAM shifter paddles"



My bike is an 2011 Norco CRR 1 has Rival mine was repaired not upgraded but I am in Australia


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## TucsonMTB

Dream Plus said:


> How long ago? My Force Rear lever broke off today (same as others). I found this thread searching for images of "Broken SRAM shifter paddles"


Sounds like it is time to have a conversation with your bike shop. SRAM prefers to work through bike shops. Any shop with which you have a rapport should be fine. Removing the lever is pretty easy. That way, the shop incurs no expense other than a little time to call SRAM . . . but, see what makes them most comfortable. My shop probably would have been happy to do the work, but I tried to avoid down time by installing a complete new Red lever and have never looked back. Yeah, Red is that much nicer in operation <== personal opinion, of course. 

Best of luck! :thumbsup:


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## ph0enix

Ah, I guess I'm not alone. My rear shifter paddle just broke off today after a little over 7,000 miles of use (bought the bike in Nov. 2010):
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/components-wrenching/i-tried-tapping-but-she-said-no-304629.html


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## ph0enix

Now that I got the rear shifter replaced, it's starting to feel like the front one is about to go. The new one moves a lot smoother in comparison. The LBS was under the impression that SRAM would warranty both shifters since they come as a set but they didn't.


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## TucsonMTB

ph0enix said:


> Now that I got the rear shifter replaced, it's starting to feel like the front one is about to go. The new one moves a lot smoother in comparison. The LBS was under the impression that SRAM would warranty both shifters since they come as a set but they didn't.


The front might feel less than smooth because of a worn cable. These thin cables don't seem to last very long for me or on my wife's bike, which has Shimano components.

My broken rear was replaced a long time ago. My local shop also only managed to get me the single replacement lever. The original front is still working fine. I was a little bummed because the logos don't match. But, I can't see them while riding. So, I got over it . . . mostly. 

My local shop is usually very accommodating, but I probably won't be buying any more SRAM components as a result.


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## ph0enix

TucsonMTB said:


> The front might feel less than smooth because of a worn cable. These thin cables don't seem to last very long for me or on my wife's bike, which has Shimano components.
> 
> My broken rear was replaced a long time ago. My local shop also only managed to get me the single replacement lever. The original front is still working fine. I was a little bummed because the logos don't match. But, I can't see them while riding. So, I got over it . . . mostly.
> 
> My local shop is usually very accommodating, but I probably won't be buying any more SRAM components as a result.


I didn't notice the logos being different. I'll take another look. The thing is that until the crank arm, and then the shifter broke on my bike, I didn't have any issues with SRAM (for about 7,000 miles) and I love the ergonomics so I'll probably buy SRAM again and just deal with the issues every so many thousand miles. When I had a Shimano 105 (5600) bike, the rear shifter cable would snap every 1,500 to 2,000 miles due to an unfortunate sharp bend inside the shifter (design flaw, as I was told). I just got used to it.


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## ph0enix

The logos are the same on both of my shifters.


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## TucsonMTB

ph0enix said:


> The logos are the same on both of my shifters.


Good for you! I'll bet that replacing the cable carefully will restore smooth operation.

Best of luck!


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## ph0enix

TucsonMTB said:


> Good for you! I'll bet that replacing the cable carefully will restore smooth operation.
> 
> Best of luck!


Thank you! I hope that's it.


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## divest

Just to add to the body count: 

my 1.5 year old (around 7000 miles) apex right shifter died in the same way today. 

luckily I was only a few blocks from home when it happened. The bad part is that I bought the set off ebay so warranty is out of the question, I'll just have to find a spare right.

*update*

As an experiment I bought a Red shifter off craigslist today that had a broken brake pivot and I decided to put the internals in my shifter. It works, but takes a bit of luck and backwards engineering to get it all to fit together in order to get the rod in that holds all of it together. 

works perfectly and was a cheap and fun solution to my problem


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## TucsonMTB

Well, their stated policy is that you need to work through a dealer. Contact | SRAM

However, it does NOT have to be the dealer who actually sold you the component. All you need is a dealer who has your interests at heart.

It doesn't cost the dealer anything to exercise the warranty. They just make the call, receive the warranty part, and return the defective item. As I understand it, SRAM pays the return shipping costs by providing a pre-paid shipping label to the dealer.

I could be wrong. But, it's worth having a conversation with any dealer with whom you have a rapport or who might be interested in winning your future business by helping.

Best of luck and please let us know how it goes.


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## erikhortsch

add me to the list. rear rival shifter died exactly the same way last week


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## o0adam0o

My 2011 SRAM Apex right shifter (10-Speed) broke on my way to work. The shifting lever just broke off from the inside...it even fell out. Hopefully all goes smoothly with the warranty.


I was about to start a new thread but glad I found this with lots of helpful info and experiences.


Question: 

I am taking the bike to the LBS where I bought it from back in 2011. What out of pocket expenses should I expect? (shipping/installation)


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## TucsonMTB

o0adam0o said:


> Question:
> 
> I am taking the bike to the LBS where I bought it from back in 2011. What out of pocket expenses should I expect? (shipping/installation)


I guess it depends on the shop. My local bicycle shop did not charge me anything at all. As I understand it, SRAM handled the shipping costs.

At a minimum, changing out the lever requires disturbing and potentially replacing the tape wrapping the handlebar. It also takes a few minutes to insert, connect, and adjust the new inner cables for the brake and derailleur, presuming that they don't replace the outer housings.

It might be worth asking them to do a tune-up and see if they can include the lever replacement labor in the cost of the tune-up? Just a thought . . .


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## PlatyPius

TucsonMTB said:


> I guess it depends on the shop. My local bicycle shop did not charge me anything at all. As I understand it, SRAM handled the shipping costs.
> 
> At a minimum, changing out the lever requires disturbing and potentially replacing the tape wrapping the handlebar. It also takes a few minutes to insert, connect, and adjust the new inner cables for the brake and derailleur, presuming that they don't replace the outer housings.
> 
> It might be worth asking them to do a tune-up and see if they can include the lever replacement labor in the cost of the tune-up? Just a thought . . .


If the tape is in good shape, I leave the old clamp on and just switch the shifter. I don't charge for it, of course.


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