Hey! I had a minor crash the other day. Luckily I was unhurt, but unfortunately my “brifter” (new word for me) took the entirety of the hit.

Over the past year I’ve been learning about bike maintenance, and now have a decent understanding in some areas but not shifters/brake levers and associated cabling. So… the silver linings is that now I get to fill that gap!

I’ve tried to research how to resolve my current brifter-less situation. I have a Kona Rove DL 2021, 1x11 gearing and SRAM Rival 1 group set. I have the following questions:

  1. Where can I find a replacement SRAM Rival 1 brifter!? I’m in Finland, and can only seem to find the SRAM Rival 22 or SRAM Apex 1. I don’t believe the SRAM Rival 22 is the same product, but all my searching directs me to it and it seems to look identical.
  2. If I cannot find a replacement SRAM Rival 1 brifter, what are compatible (/best) alternatives (<200€)?

Then, once I have a replacement brifter, is my understanding of the easiest replacement process accurate?

  1. Disconnect both the derailleur cable and brake cable
  2. Unwrap handlebar tape
  3. Remove derailleur cable and brake cable via broken brifter
  4. Remove broken brifter

Reverse process with new brifter and cables. And does anyone have any “gotchas” or tips for me to bear in mind?

Thanks for any advice!

  • @MeepMorp@lemmy.world
    1•2 months ago

    This is general advice because I’m not too familiar with the SRAM product line.

    Any SRAM brifter should work so long as the cable pull is the same (I believe SRAM uses the same pull for everything) and it has the same number of gears. The SRAM rival 22 should be the closest/identical match because it’s 11 gears in back as well. It’s 22 for two gears in front and eleven in back for a total of 22

    As for the replacement process, you’ve got it pretty much spot on. You’ll likely want new cables and possibly bar tape, but that isn’t a strict requirement.