Their distinctive square profile adds visual weight to the front of the bike and offers plenty of space to rest your hands on. The hydraulic hoods are similar chunky as they house a hydraulic master cylinder. SRAM’s electronic derailleurs are quite substantial because of the need for separate batteries in a wireless system. Likewise, Force lacks any of the shiny metal parts of the flagship groupset. The two-tone crank shares design language with the more elaborate Red design, but it looks a good deal cheaper. Saying that, the finish is quite muted up close, with surface texturing that’s somewhat plasticky in appearance. The aesthetic is very slick and modern, which really suits some bikes (particularly bleeding edge aero bikes, which route the hydraulic hoses fully internally).
SRAM Force AXS eTap has no gear cables, so the overall look is incredibly clean. Matthew Loveridge / Immediate Media This section comes with the caveat that aesthetics are highly subjective, but there are some clear differences between the two groupsets that are worth discussing. SRAM moved to a ‘Flattop’ chain design with its AXS groupsets, thinning the side plates but adding material on the outer edges. The precise behaviour of both systems can be customised via the brands’ respective apps.Īlternatively, in ‘compensation’ mode (SRAM) or semi-synchronised mode (Shimano), you can shift the front yourself, but the rear derailleur shifts at the same time to reduce the size of the jump between gears. This happens at predetermined points that allow a smooth progression between gears. In this mode, which SRAM calls ‘sequential shifting’ and Shimano ‘synchronised shifting’ (or synchro), the decision about which upshifts and downshifts should include a front derailleur shift is taken by the system. As the system doesn’t have to decide if you meant to press buttons simultaneously the way it does with eTap, the front shifting is impressively quick, and remarkably smooth with it.īoth systems have the option to take care of front shifting for the rider, allowing you to simply shift up or down a gear. The buttons themselves have a pleasantly damped feel to them, arguably nicer than the plasticky click of eTap’s paddles. Shimano’s shifting buttons are right next to one another. That hasn’t really changed – they’re still very close together and not easily felt through thick gloves – but, like anything, you get used to it.
Shimano has long been criticised for its comparatively undifferentiated Di2 shift buttons. However, unlike the mechanical levers, the brake lever doesn’t move sideways to shift – braking and changing gear are completely separate. Shimano’s default Di2 shifting arrangement mimics mechanical shifting in that there are separate buttons on each lever for upshifts and downshifts.
It’s a system that’s very easy to explain to the uninitiated, even more so if you activate sequential shifting (explained below), as that means you don’t have to think about front shifting at all. eTap is visually similar, but the paddles are simple switches, with the default arrangement being: right paddle for rear derailleur upshifts left paddle for rear derailleur downshifts both paddles simultaneously for front derailleur shifts. SRAM’s mechanical groupsets use DoubleTap, a system that relies on two-stage paddles mounted behind the brake levers. A button on the inside of each shift paddle is used during setup, while an LED is used as a battery indicator.