Shimano or Sram

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Pale Rider

Legendary Member
I've been looking at mountain bikes around £750 and one or two have Sram gears.

Is there any good reason to avoid them in this application?

For a podgy middle aged bloke like me wobbling along trails I doubt it matters which company makes the groupset.

But is maintenance straightforward?

All the shops seem to stock Shimano or Shimano compatible bits, so I don't want to buy something that won't take a 'standard' chain, cable or cassette.
 

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
Sram are Shimano compatible are they not?
 

MikeW-71

Veteran
Location
Carlisle
No reason that I can think of, cassettes are compatible with Shimano, chains too and a cable is a cable. I think the only reason you don't see SRAM fitted as standard more is that it's more expensive.
 
OP
OP
Pale Rider

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
Thanks all.

I expect the handlebar trigger might be different, but you rarely need to change one of those.

Dunno about the mechs, but there are limits, so I will cross that compatibility bridge if I ever get to it.
 

alecstilleyedye

nothing in moderation
Moderator
sram shifters are fugley…
 

Hacienda71

Mancunian in self imposed exile in leafy Cheshire
I can't say I have considered the aesthetics of trigger fire shifters as they are pretty much hidden under the handlebar and behind the brake levers.
 

Moodyman

Legendary Member
Apart from compatability, Shimano are more readily available for replacements.

I find ShimAno stuff just works quietly and efficiently - even the low end stuff.

NEver tried SRAM.
 

Rob3rt

Man or Moose!
Location
Manchester
SRAM and Shimano cassettes, chains, brake blocks, cables etc are all cross compatible to the best of my knowledge, I run SRAM chains on my Shimano kit and I use a mix of SRAM and Shimano cassettes. However SRAM road groupsets have a different pull ratio to Shimano, i.e. use a Shimano shifter with SRAM mech and it won't index quite right, similarly the opposite way round, I didn't know this until I smashed a 105 rear mech and tried to borrow the SRAM Red mech from my other bike to keep training while waiting for a new one to arrive and it wouldn't index right, swapped it for an ultegra mech and it was perfect. Whether the MTB kit is the same I don't know, but worth checking?
 
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