SRAM Shifters - Advice Please

[lejogger]

On the commute home on Friday I suffered the misfortune of snapping the gear shifter off my right hand SRAM Apex lever of the commuter/tourer/winter bike. The repair cost isn't that much of a cheaper option - I don't think I'd get a great deal of change from £50 - probably more as it's likely to be a LBS job. The cheapest I can find a single Apex shifter unit is £119.

Now considering I'd never loved them anyway, in that they are a lot clunkier than even the Rival I have on my other bike, I've thought about ditching them and replacing with either the Rival from the best bike (and getting something fancier for the best bike), or a new set.

So the question is... what would be the best value/most sensible upgrade/solution?
I have scoured every cycling website that exists (or so it seems) and have found:
Rival - £199
Force - £275
Red (2011 model) - £269

Thoughts? Especially concerning any noticeable differences between the range.

Cheers folks

 

[lejogger]

[QUOTE 2471871, member: 30090"]Is the bike a flat bar? If so have you thought a pair of X9 thumbies? If it is a u bar then id go with the rival of your other bike and upgrade your good bike to sram force.[/quote]
Sorry no, they're both drop bars.
Is the force a lot better than the rival?

 

[lejogger]

[QUOTE 2471876, member: 30090"]It's like comparing ultegra to tiagra/105. Is the lever not under warranty?[/quote]
I've always thought Rival was certainly more more towards the 105 level than tiagra, if not a little better again?

I believe (or i read) that there was a time when the difference between rival and force was so small that the price difference made it pointless upgrading... Which is why having red and force at the same price is a conundrum albeit an older model. Especially as I don't recall there being too many changes to force and rival models over the past couple of years?

 

[lejogger]

[QUOTE 2471876, member: 30090"]It's like comparing ultegra to tiagra/105. Is the lever not under warranty?[/quote]

Oh, and I wouldn't have thought so about the warranty as they're two years old now.

 

[lejogger]

Here's a wacky thought too.... can you mix different levers on the same bike? I.e. Rival left shifter, Red right etc.

 

[cyberknight]

Ebay for a second hand set ?
A while ago i bent my apexshift lever at 90 degrees and managed to sell it for what a second hand pair of levers that are apex too.
I must admit that i find apex a bit less intuitive than shimano but that could be because the commuter has 2300 and when i switch at the weekend i am either trying to press the non existent thumb button or not pressing the lever far enough so i sometimes get the wrong gear .
Always like the look of campag if i could afford a grouspet swap .

 

[accountantpete]

You can get second hand Sram Rival left hand shifters for £25 -£45 quite easily as so many right hand shifters are breaking.

 

[lejogger]

You can get second hand Sram Rival left hand shifters for £25 -£45 quite easily as so many right hand shifters are breaking.

It's the right I need!!

Is this a common problem then?

But to be truthful I think I fancy a move away from Apex. The jump in quality to Rival (from my one experience) is large.