SRAM Rival 22: More Gears, Options and Hydraulic Discs

The sweet spot for road groups is Shimano 105 and SRAM Rival. Consumers win with trickle-down technology from top-tier grouppos at a price point that keeps more money in their wallets. Bikes in the $1500-$3000 price range will likely use these workhorse road groups to maximize the overall value of the package.

With that in mind, SRAM re-tooled their 2015 Rival 22 group to include critical trickle-down technology to maximize performance, durability and longevity. As the name suggests, it now features an 11-speed cassette and also includes three flavors of braking: standard caliper, hydraulic calipers and hydraulic discs.

What’s critical here is that the entire re-tooling of the SRAM HydroR disc brakes forms the foundation of the guts inside the Rival 22 shifters. While oftentimes, the innards of braking systems varies across trim levels, SRAM has gone with an identical master cylinder and shifting mechanisms within the elevated hoods you see here.

That means that you are getting the same braking and shifting performance and ergonomics from Red 22, down to Rival 22 — the only differences are in the materials used. Rival uses all alloy materials, Force uses a mix of alloy and carbon and Red uses carbon and titanium for the most extreme weight reduction. Again, Rival 22 is built for the rider who hangs the bike up dirty and two weeks later goes for a ride without thinking about tuning, cleaning, etc. SRAM has built the all-new Rival 22 kit with that user in mind.