SRAM

Force Shifters - 2012

These shifters just keep getting better and better. The latest redesign of SRAM Force Integrated Shifters represents the third iteration, and are markedly better than the second. The big change is the reduction in shift lever throw to start a shift. It has been reduced from 32-degrees to 15-degrees. The result is faster, easier shifting. And no small change is the reduction of nearly 30g of weight in the set. Still, what people will notice and talk about are the new brake lever blade and graphics. The blade is made from unidirectional carbon fiber. The graphics are splashy, consciously designed to evoke the graphics on Red DoubleTap levers, but be ever-so-slightly different, as in to suggest these are pretty fast, but not quite Red fast. To us, these graphics remind us of the checkered flag at the finish line.

Just like the previous iteration of Force, the second generation, these levers have lots of top-shelf features once only the province of SRAM Red DoubleTap: SRAM's Zero Loss shifting and the ability to trim the front derailleur, you can run both the brake and shifter cables along the front of your handlebar, and SRAM's reach adjustment feature, so you can customize the lever reach to the size of your hands. And like the earlier Force, these levers have a magnesium shifter paddle on each side.

At heart, DoubleTap boils down to 3 key parts in the shifter: A transport pawl, a holding pawl, and a spool. You've surely seen SRAM's Make the Leap ad campaign. That's not just a suggestion that you make a leap of faith from your Shimano or Campy-centric comfort zone and give SRAM a shot, but it's also a technical description of how DoubleTap technology works. In short, when you engage the small magnesium shift lever that sits behind the dedicated carbon fiber brake lever, the following occurs: The transport pawl literally leaps over the holding pawl, and with the help of the spool pulls (or releases) 3mm of cable per shift. Once you've completed the shifting motion, the holding pawl then holds the cable in place. You push the same lever whether you'd like to shift up or down. A small push of the lever releases cable (to put you down into your sprinting gears), and a bigger push pulls cable (to move you up into your climbing gears). It couldn't be more simple or elegant, and having ridden it we can assure you it couldn't possibly shift with any more sureness or precision. Prepare to be awed.

A few practical details worth mentioning: You can go up your cassette (into climbing gears) a maximum of 3 gears per shift. You can go down your cassette (into sprinting gears) only 1 gear per shift. One highlight of DoubleTap, though, is that it permits you to do what SRAM phrases as "Sprint Shifting". While gripping your handlebars in the drops, you can hold the right-side shift lever against the bar and downshift with a short, quick flick of your wrist. Unlike Shimano or Campy, you don't have to peel your fingers off the bar during a hairy field sprint to shift from your 12 to an 11. You can keep your hands securely on the bars for safety's sake while always making sure you're in a big enough gear.

One other small design feature is that when you shift, the lever doesn't move strictly right-to-left in the lateral plane. Rather, it sweeps 15 degrees inward (towards the head tube of your frame), to make the shifting motion mirror the natural inward curvature of your hand. It's a little thing that goes a long way in terms of ergonomic comfort and shifting precision. The lever is positioned close to your bar (an especially nice feature for smaller hands) in order to make shifting easier and to optimize this 15-degree sweep.

Force shifters have no external cables, so they look as beautiful as they feel, while maximizing aerodynamics. Given the unique design of DoubleTap shifting, please note that SRAM recommends that you use a complete SRAM drivetrain, including both derailleurs, cassette, chain, and crankset in order to optimize shift quality. Claimed weight of the 2012 SRAM Force Shifters is 302g without cables and housing.