*NEW GEN* SRAM Force Groupset March 2023

[TobinHatesYou]

Seems like they threw some new stickers and paint on old parts and called it a day. The FD seems like the Rival equivelant, the chainrings seem like Red equivelant, the shifters seem like Rival bodies with Force levers. Am I worng? Is this what work from home got us? Is there any actual engineering with this group? For the record I have 3 bikes with mix of Red, Rival and Force. I have a ton of money invested with Sram and like the product but I fail to understand this release.

It’s more-or-less what you’ve described, and frankly I’m mostly okay with it. The MSRP has not changed and it was already a good product.

[Ypuh]

Seems like they threw some new stickers and paint on old parts and called it a day. The FD seems like the Rival equivelant, the chainrings seem like Red equivelant, the shifters seem like Rival bodies with Force levers. Am I worng? Is this what work from home got us? Is there any actual engineering with this group? For the record I have 3 bikes with mix of Red, Rival and Force. I have a ton of money invested with Sram and like the product but I fail to understand this release.

That about sums it up. I just picked up a D1 group on final sale. The shifters might be a nice upgrade, but not worth the current €400-500 discount. The Red chainrings are always an option, but I prefer the Quarq spider over other PM configurations.

[paulbike]

Sorry if this has been discussed...

Can I pair Force D2 shifters with Red derailleurs? All my searches seem to suggest that I can.

[TobinHatesYou]

Sorry if this has been discussed...

Can I pair Force D2 shifters with Red derailleurs? All my searches seem to suggest that I can.

Yes.

[frogtape777]

Hi Guys,

Does the new 2023 Force front mech have a different plate than the previous? Google images it looks identical. Some review seem to suggest its more accurate via software, stopping the "overthrow" when changing up & down, and also cage shape changed.

I'm having chain drops off the top and bottom, setup with the sram tool, held the tail in place so both front and back marks line up 100% with chainring, height is perfect with the horizontal mark, H & L screw set using a feeler gauge literally a hairwidth. I've now added a chain catcher to save the BB from more scratching and jammed chains!

So willing to add a 2023 FD if it addresses this problem which plagues the Sram AXS forums, and the local bike shops I speak to.

I've had Shimano for 20 years prior to Sram, and never once had a chain drop

[DaveS]

If you can't set up the FD correctly, a FD change won't help. Over 3 years on axs. No chain drops.

[wheelsONfire]

Hi Guys,

Does the new 2023 Force front mech have a different plate than the previous? Google images it looks identical. Some review seem to suggest its more accurate via software, stopping the "overthrow" when changing up & down, and also cage shape changed.

I'm having chain drops off the top and bottom, setup with the sram tool, held the tail in place so both front and back marks line up 100% with chainring, height is perfect with the horizontal mark, H & L screw set using a feeler gauge literally a hairwidth. I've now added a chain catcher to save the BB from more scratching and jammed chains!

So willing to add a 2023 FD if it addresses this problem which plagues the Sram AXS forums, and the local bike shops I speak to.

I've had Shimano for 20 years prior to Sram, and never once had a chain drop

If you can't get it to work, maybe you would do better going back to Shimano. I doubt the revised FD will be a magic bullet.
It doesn't matter if i and others here have a superb shifting AXS. Frankly i can't get my chain to drop even when i provoke it.
But that doesn't help you. To be honest, in your case i would say go for Shimano.

[LedZeppelin007]

If you can't set up the FD correctly, a FD change won't help. Over 3 years on axs. No chain drops.

In my experience with Force on 4 (5?) different bikes is that early Force front mechs just wouldn’t work with certain frames no matter how much you did with it. On other frames it was flawless. They did seem to get better over time for some reason over the course of the product cycle. Also, the red setup tool is indispensable in terms of quickly getting the derailleur set up properly. Between that and using the right wedge between derailleur and frame, you should get it at least where drops are rare if not eliminated.

Also, IMHO the OG Force AXS chainrings were poop. I’m guessing the new Force is likely much better.


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[LedZeppelin007]

Also, every Fondo I do has people struggling with drops with Force front mechs.

If you can’t get it to stop dropping with set up tool and the proper wedge (you do have a wedge, right?) and with the high and low limits set properly, then I’d probably buy a Rival front mech and upgrade to the new Force chainset. That’s just me.

Unpopular opinion, but a properly set up AXS drivetrain shifts really, really well, on the whole just as good as Shimano. Not as well in the front (under load), but maybe better in the back. One of the beauties of SRAM is being able to run 46/33t, 10-36t. Loved and still miss that combo. Wouldn’t have to change out of the big ring unless going up a 7+% grade. Also, really loved the clutch over the roads I have to ride on.


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[jlok]

If you can't set up the FD correctly, a FD change won't help. Over 3 years on axs. No chain drops.

In my experience with Force on 4 (5?) different bikes is that early Force front mechs just wouldn’t work with certain frames no matter how much you did with it. On other frames it was flawless. They did seem to get better over time for some reason over the course of the product cycle. Also, the red setup tool is indispensable in terms of quickly getting the derailleur set up properly. Between that and using the right wedge between derailleur and frame, you should get it at least where drops are rare if not eliminated.

Also, IMHO the OG Force AXS chainrings were poop. I’m guessing the new Force is likely much better.


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I agree. Not that I say the Force rings are bad, but the Red/new Force one-piece chainrings are simply shift smoother and less / no chain drop with the exact same FD setting. The original Force rings should not have seen the light at the beginning when the "new" Force is re-using the Red rings... what a waste by marketing / product differentiation.

[DaveS]

I should add that I've never use sram cranks, only Campy and Shimano grx. No wedge or chain catcher either. Three different frame brands/models too. Never had a setup problem. No shifting under load though. I used Campy for 25 years - light load shifting is a must.

[eucalyptus]

Maybe new RED AXS incoming ?

"old" red axs is heavily disocunted on R2 bike, like crazy good prices

[req110]

Regardless who and how he set up the FD, regardless if you consider yourself a pro-like-mechanic and others are all losers to you, it's just a matter of Sram "quality" and you being lucky with your particular front mech and maybe a frameset combination too.

I touched multiple AXS front mechs, some of them were shifting ok, some of them were shifting good for a certain period of time, but in the best case scenario it was not as sharp as with any Shimano FD.

I built few bikes on Shimano recently, and FD was shifting properly even without finetuning, just straight out of the box.

While Sram is suffering following problems i've deal with in past year:

1) xx1 axs rear mech, new item, shifting incorrectly out of the box, I replaced that with other rear mech, which was ok
2) 3 out of 5 XPLR cassettes were wobbling, especially when you are on gear 38, it's rubbing to 44 teeth.
3) sram red axs rainbow cassettes ticking noise, more noisy than old silver one

[DaveS]

I just bought a 10-44 cassette that had a bad wobble on the 44. Easy to return to Amazon. Other than that, I've had zero problems with the AXS parts on my three bikes.

[magnusss]

As road season is coming to and end, will we see a new direct mount drive train on Jumbo Vismas (and maybe Trek’s) cyclocross bikes when the CX-season starts? The new Santa Cruz Stigmata is already using UDH so I’m guessing there is a big chance Cervelos CX-bikes also will get it in the next generation.