SRAM RED levers with RIVAL calipers

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RhythMick

Über Member
Location
Barnsley
My bike is a CAADX frame and fork with SRAM RED mechanical shifters/front & rear derailleur. The brakeset is Shimano cx. Long story, but essentially I wanted clearance for wider tyres. Moving on.

I tried road calipers recently (Shimano 105s) and was impressed. I don't ride wide tyres (I ride 25mm which some would say is wide of course) any more and was thinking of swapping to calipers. Do I need to stick to the SRAM groupset and specifically to the Red? Will Rival work happily with the red levers or are the pull ratios different? How do I find out for myself?
 

Hacienda71

Mancunian in self imposed exile in leafy Cheshire
I don't see any reason why you couldn't mix and match. I have used non Sram calipers with Sram levers and you do see mixed groupsets so Rival with Red should be fine. The only caveat is that they are standard Red levers just set up to pull the mechanical discs.
 

Kestevan

Last of the Summer Winos
Location
Holmfirth.
All the SRAM stuff is inter-changeable (except the V brake stuff) you can use any of the SRAM brake calipers and also std Shimano compatible calipers too.
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
On brakes suppliers mix and match all the time , normally as a cost saving measure they will fit third party calipers ( eg tektro ) , as long as your shifters and rear mech are the same supplier sram to sram etc your good to go .
 

Citius

Guest
I might have missed something here, but are you sure your frame will take caliper fittings? Caadx is usually specced with either disk or canti brakes. Calipers will also need cable stops on the fram in a different position to what may be there already. In any case, Force calipers are short reach and will probably not work with 28/32 tyres, if that is what you are using - so I don't really understand the 'you'll deffo have no issues' type comments, because there's all kinds of reasons why it probably won't work.

Like I say though, I may have missed something.
 
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RhythMick

Über Member
Location
Barnsley
You may be right about the mounts. Damn. What do caliper mounts look like?
 

Citius

Guest
You will need a caliper-compatible fork (ie with a hole through the top of the fork legs, near the crown) - as well as a caliper-compatible seatstay bridge, again with a similar mounting hole.

The levers are obviously compatible with the calipers. But that knowledge is no use at all if the calipers won't fit on your frame.
 
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RhythMick

Über Member
Location
Barnsley
Thanks. The fork has that hole in fact my mudguards are mounted to it as well as my front dynamo light.

I'm not sure about the seatstay bridge. Off to check.
 
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RhythMick

Über Member
Location
Barnsley
No don't think the seatstay is compatible. I'll cancel the prematurely placed order and think again, thanks.

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