Have you ridden Red?

I got a chance to ride the new SRAM Red this past weekend. It only took a few seconds to get used to the “double-tap” shifting. It really was that easy. It was equipped on an $8,500 Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL2. Incredible ride right from the get-go. Of course no evaluation would be complete without the requisite “laterally stiff yet vertically compliant.” It was interesting to note that the ride was very similar to my Dura-Ace equipped PedalForce RS. The Roval wheels use a Reynolds Carbon Clincher rim and a more conventional hub/spoke arrangement than the usually seen Roval wheels. I have read that the Reynolds rims are as good or even better than Zipp’s and they are the best all carbon clincher rims around.

It would sure be nice to ride that with a good set of tubulars. It’s too bad the bike has an $8,500 price tag. $8,500 goes a long way to pay mortgage payments, utilities, food and other necessities.

Even though the ride was just a few minutes. It is clear to me that SRAM wants to play with the big boys (Shimano and Campagnolo). It would take a 20 mile test ride to really get the feel for both the bike and component selection. Simple test rides around parking lots do nothing at all to help you decide what a bike is really like (more on my thoughts about test rides in a future post).