If you’re choosing between Shimano 105 R7000 and SRAM Rival 22 groupsets, here’s everything you need to know in order to make the right decision.
Both Shimano 105 R7000 and SRAM Rival 22 are 11-speed groupsets, with 11 sprockets on the rear wheel and a double chainset
While Shimano 105 was updated just a couple of years ago, SRAM Rival 22 is largely unchanged since 2014 as SRAM has concentrated on developing 12-speed eTap wireless electronic shifting
Shimano 105 is the world's most popular groupset, and you'll find it as original equipment on hundreds of models of bike; SRAM Rival is less common, but is popular with small manufacturer
The main difference between the two is the shifting interface: Shimano has two levers for separate up- and down-shifting, SRAM has just one for both
Starting right at the beginning, a groupset is a component manufacturer’s collection of mechanical parts, usually covering the derailleurs, shifters, brakes, chainset, bottom bracket, cassette and chain. Brands group these parts into various different levels. 105 and Rival 22 are the third tier road groupsets from their respective manufacturers.
Shimano 105 is much more commonly fitted as original equipment on complete bikes than SRAM Rival 22. It rules the roost on bikes priced from about £1,000. You might easily find yourself having to decide between a bike fitted with 105 and one in a Rival 22 build, though, or you could be looking to upgrade from Shimano Tiagra or SRAM Apex and want to check out the options open to you. Either way, the aim of this article is to explain the differences so you can make an informed choice.
A complete Shimano 105 R7000 groupset, available in both silver and black finishes, costs about £600 at RRP while a SRAM Rival 22 groupset is priced from £524.
SRAM Rival is also available as a 1x system with a single chainring matched up to a wide-range cassette. We’re not covering that here because it has no direct rival from Shimano. Just bear in mind that SRAM Rival 22 and SRAM Rival 1 are not the same thing.
We’ll go through each component in turn.
Shifters
105 RRP: £194.99 | Typical price: £133.99
Rival 22 RRP: £221 | Typical price: £153.38
In use, the biggest difference you’ll notice between 105 and Rival 22 – and between any other Shimano and SRAM groupsets, come to that – is in the way the shifters work.
With Shimano’s design (above), you change to a larger sprocket by sweeping the brake lever inward, and you change to a smaller sprocket by pushing a lever that sits behind the brake lever. Shifting the chain between chainrings follows the same principle. It’s a very light action thanks to polymer coated cables.
SRAM uses what it calls a DoubleTap mechanism. A shift paddle located behind the brake lever handles both upshifts and downshifts. You tap it to move to a smaller sprocket, and you push it further to shift the other direction. Shifting at the front operates in a similar way.
We wouldn’t say that one system is inherently better than the other, but they are different. We’d suggest you try out both systems before making a buying decision, perhaps at a local bike shop, to see which you prefer. This will also tell you whether you find the hoods of one brand more comfortable than those of the other. You’re likely to spend a lot of your riding time with your hands resting on them.
105 provides 10mm of reach adjustment for smaller hands while Rival 22 offers individual reach adjustment of both the brake lever and the shift paddle.
Rival shifters are lighter than their 105 equivalents. A pair of 105 R7000 brake/shift levers weighs 500g. Rival 22 shifters are about 150g lighter.
If you go for a hydraulic brake system, the shifters will be a different shape because they have to incorporate a master cylinder. The levers of the SRAM Rival 22 Hydro system (above, £284 per wheel) are chunky, though not as large as SRAM’s original hydraulic levers, and some people just don’t like the look of the tall front end. On the other hand, the high hood can be easy to grab, especially if you're riding with your forearms parallel to the road.
We liked the old Shimano 105 5800 hydraulic disc brakes (RRP £500; typical price £179.99); the new R7000 version is a substantial improvement on them. They're so easy to feather and control, even when braking from the hoods, that they'll instantly put a smile on your face. Go down to the drops and settle in for a technical descent and they're even better. It's so easy to scrub off a bit of speed that it becomes second nature; going back to a bike with average brakes is a bit of a shock. RRP is £470; typical price: ~£350.
Chainset
105 RRP: £129 | Typical price: £99-£119.99
Rival 22 RRP: £220 | Typical price: £127.12 - £134.00
Both the Shimano 105 and the SRAM Rival 22 chainsets are made from aluminium with hollow arms to save weight (go up to SRAM Force and the cranks are carbon fibre; Shimano sticks with aluminium right up the range).
Shimano (above) now uses a four arm rather than a five arm spider to secure the chainrings, with uneven spacing between those arms. The idea is to provide the strength where it’s most needed while dropping the weight of the fifth arm. SRAM uses a five bolt system.
The Shimano 105 chainset has a reputation for being super-stiff. When we reviewed it we said, “Regardless of how much power you put through the cranks, there’s no detectable flex there whatsoever.”
Shimano lead the field here but we’ve been impressed by the SRAM Rival 22 chainset too. Our man Dave Atkinson reported, “I had no issues with derailleur rub under power which suggests [the chainset] is nice and stiff.”
You can get the 105 chainset in a standard 53/39-tooth option, semi-compact 52/36, and compact 50/34. There’s no cyclocross-specific option, though.
SRAM’s Rival 22 chainset (above) is available in 52/36, 50/34 and 46/36-tooth options. With both Shimano and SRAM, you can swap to other chainring sizes quite easily.
Shimano offers 105 cranks in 165, 170, 172.5 and 175mm lengths – which will cover the vast majority of people –while SRAM provides all of those plus 167.5mm and 177.5mm options.
The Rival 22 chainset is available in both 24mm and 30mm axle options whereas Shimano offers 24mm only. Whichever you choose, you obviously need to get the correct bottom bracket for your bike (105 £21.99, Rival 22 £29).
The 105 chainset we reviewed here on road.cc hit the scales at 737g while you’re looking at over 100g more for Rival.
Front derailleur
105 RRP: £32 | Typical price: £24.95
Rival 22 RRP: £41 | Typical price: ~£27
SRAM boasts that you don’t need to adjust the position of your front derailleur (below) to avoid your chain rubbing on the side plates, no matter which sprocket you’re using. This results from what it calls ‘Yaw’ technology that has trickled down from its higher end groupsets.
Essentially, the front derailleur cage rotates slightly when you shift from the small chainring to the large one, so its angle relative to the chain remains the same.
When he reviewed SRAM Rival 22, Dave Atkinson said, “It's a bit of a fiddle to set up, but once you have it dialled in it works perfectly, and I didn't have any derailleur rub at the front even when I was crossing the chain on purpose.”
With 105 you’ll sometimes find that you need to trim the position of the front derailleur as you move the chain across the cassette.
When we reviewed 105 here on road.cc, we found that the new cam design of the front derailleur combined with the other tweaks to the group made for a slightly improved shift. Dave Atkinson wrote: " It's not a seismic change, but the front shifts are a bit lighter and more predictable than with the previous version."
There’s not much to choose between them in terms of weight, the 105 front derailleur weighs 95g and the Rival 22 one a claimed 89g with a chainspotter included (to stop the chain coming off the inside of the inner chainring; you don’t get one of these with 105).
Rear derailleur
105 RRP: £47.99 | Typical price: £34.00
Rival 22 RRP: £46/£57 | Typical price: £40/£49.99
We’ve been massively impressed by the Shimano 105 R7000 rear derailleur (below).
“Shifting is everything you'd expect: precise and repeatable across the whole cassette. We've used both the SS derailleur on an 11-28 cassette and the GS derailleur on an 11-34, and there's no meaningful difference in performance between the two: shifts are crisp and light,” we said in our review.
We’ve not had any issues with SRAM Rival 22 shifting either.
With both SRAM and Shimano, you need to choose the correct sized rear derailleur for the gears you are running. Shimano’s 105 R7000 GS rear derailleur will handle up to a 34-tooth maximum sprocket, while the mid-cage version of SRAM’s Rival rear derailleur (above) allows you to use a maximum sprocket size of 32-teeth.
A short cage Shimano 105 rear derailleur weighs 225g while the SRAM Rival 22 equivalent is 45g lighter.
Brakes
105 RRP: £83.98 pr | Typical price: £58.00 pr
Rival 22 RRP: £74 pr | Typical price: £57.99 pr
Shimano’s 105 twin pivot brake callipers (below) are exceptionally good, offering loads of power and plenty of control.
They have a very solid feel and modulation is excellent. In our review Big Dave wrote: "I've been using the brakes on my race bike, which has Swiss Side Hadron 485 wheels that have an alloy brake track, and the brake performance is about as good as you're going to find for a rim brake. The 105 callipers are not noticeably inferior to the Ultegra brakes in anything other than weight, and even then we're only talking about 20g here and there."
If you have a frame with direct mount points, you can use the BR-7010 versions (£44.99) built to the same SLR-EV design but with two frame mounting points rather than the traditional single.
There’s no direct mount option in the Rival 22 lineup but the dual pivot callipers come with very good SwissStop pads. Both 105 and Rival 22 are compatible with tyres up to 28mm.
The Shimano 105 brake callipers weigh 379g the pair while SRAM claims 300g for its Rival 22 brakes.
Both the Shimano 105 (above) and the SRAM Rival 22 groupsets include hydraulic disc brakes (see under 'Shifters', above) that are more powerful than mechanical rim brakes, and less affected by wet conditions. Obviously, you need the correct frame and fork to take these.
In terms of overall performance, they’re very similar.
“Shimano's units feel a bit more powerful overall but the SRAM brakes (above) are a bit more progressive through their range of power, so it's swings and roundabouts,” said Dave Atkinson.
“If I had to choose one or the other, the SRAM brakes would probably edge it. They're a bit more keen to squeak when they get wet, but in my experience there's less rotor rub after heating the discs up on a long descent.”
We’ve found that bleeding the SRAM brakes is a bit more of an involved process than it is with Shimano.
SRAM also offers hydraulic rim brakes (above, £254 per wheel with brake/shift levers, though you can now pick them up for around £200) that will fit to a standard (non-disc) bike, although we can’t say we’ve seen these fitted as original equipment on any bikes.
Cassette
105 RRP £42.99 | Typical price: £43
Rival 22 RRP £62 | Typical price: £45-£50
Both 105 and Rival 22 are 11-speed systems, and each offers cassettes in various tooth ranges.
One SRAM cassette covers 11-36 teeth, although you’d have to use that as part of a 1x system with a specially designed rear derailleur. For the R7000 version of 105, Shimano has introduced an 11-34 cassette to provide an even wider gear range, and we've found that the GS rear derailleur will even work with the 11-40 cassette Shimano makes for its mountain bike systems.
You’re looking at weights from around 260g for both brands, depending on the size option you choose.
Chain
105 RRP £29.99 | Typical price: ~£19.00
Rival 22 RRP £19 | Typical price: £16.00
We’ve found the chains of both systems to be smooth and reliable, although the SRAM chain is easier to set up thanks to the inclusion of a PowerLock connecting link that doesn’t require the use of any tools. With Shimano (below), you have to use a connecting pin and a chain tool, or buy a connecting link separately.
A SRAM Rival 22 chain weighs a claimed 259g for 114 links while our Shimano 105 chain weighed 265g for 116 links, so they’re about the same.
Overall
Properly setup, both Shimano 105 and SRAM Rival 22 offer similar levels of performance to the top-level components from their respective manufacturers, it’s just that they’re a little heavier.
Each system has its strengths. We highly rate Shimano’s braking, for example, and we really like the Yaw technology that SRAM uses in its front derailleur.
By far the biggest difference that you’re likely to notice between 105 and Rival 22 is in the shifting, not in their level of performance but in the way that they’re designed to operate. You’ll probably adjust quickly to either shift system – most people do – but just make sure you’ve had a test ride before you lay down your cash.
We'd be interested to hear about the experiences of readers who have used both systems.
Explore the complete archive of reviews of groupsets on road.cc