Knowing that Kansas Bob is the only guy at the office brave enough to eschew the fashion police and ride a triple, we offered him the first shot at living with the new SRAM Apex group. After all, he said he had a new carbon frame that was just waiting for some parts to build up. Perfect timing. As it turns out (in typical Kansas Bob fashion), he doesn’t have the slightest idea of what kind of frame he has. He says a large heavily-taped box, without any label showed up on his doorstep one day and, lucky for him, the frame inside (sans any logos) was exactly his size. And so the Apex test mule was ready to go! Within a few weeks, Bob was already putting the Apex drivetrain through the paces with a trip to Ouray, Colorado. Here’s the ride report he sent in from a KOA campground somewhere in the wilds of Colorado...
THE PARTS
At $799, the Apex group fills a new spot in the SRAM lineup at a price point just under SRAM’s Rival Group, but it has a greater purpose in life than just filling a price point.
SRAM designed Apex as a triple killer by creating the first 10-speed 11- 32 road rear cassette, and mating it with their new double, compact 34-50 Apex aluminum crankset. When using the large 32-tooth cog in the rear cluster with the small 34-tooth chainring in front, the resulting gear ratio results in a low gear slightly lower than that found on a typical road triple. This is big news for seasoned triple riders because of the ease of shifting only two rings in front and a reduction in weight. But SRAM didn’t forget their legions of fans riding the higher-end Red, Force and Rival groups, so they designed the new 207- gram Apex mid-length-cage rear derailleur, and the 301-gram 11-32 rear cassette to be compatible with those other groups.
The basis of Apex performance is yet another acronymic technology: WiFLi (Wider, Faster, Lighter), which refers to the drivetrain’s wider gear range, faster shifting by virtue of two chainrings (versus the traditional triple) and upwards of a 274 gram weight savings over a triple. Facilitating the shifts are SRAM’s proven Double Tap shifters and their 1:1 ratio Exact Actuation cable pull technology.
Although it seems to defeat the purpose of Apex’s wide-ratio philosophy, you can also get Apex cogs in three tighter (11-23, 11-26, 11-28) gear spreads.
THE REST OF THE BUILD
I further outfitted the bike with FSA’s good looking carbon SL-K seatpost, forged aluminum stem and a set of their carbon SL-K compact bend handlebars. When it came to hoop selection, I chose their uniquely designed RD-420 wheels, which are engineered with a round cross section to aid in torsional strength. FSA also used aero spokes and tucked the spoke nipples inside the rims to lower the wind resistance of the 28-millimeter profile rims. The pair weighs in at 1640 grams.
Kenda’s long-wearing Kriterium L3R tires with Iron Cloak technology got the nod for this project because of their reputation for durability and low rolling resistance. These two Kevlar-beaded tires weighed in at about 240 grams each.
Seats are an individual preference item that no two cyclists seem to be able to agree on. My choice for my new bike was a Vanox-railed Selle Italia SLR model that I found in one of my parts bins and which looked like it already had a few miles on it. I couldn’t remember when I used the Selle Italia saddle last, but when I noticed that I had etched “205 grams” on the saddle’s bottom side, I ran with it. Once a weight weenie, always a weight weenie!
Besides the full complement of FSA hard parts, Kansas Bob chose their aluminum RD-420 wheels which proved radially stiff thanks in part to the high flange hub. The Kenda tires are not just smooth rolling, but proved to be flat resistant as well.
THE RIDE
SRAM’s new Apex rear derailleur and wide-ratio cassette totally do away with the messy shifting that a triple crank requires. No more worries about the chain slipping off of the small ring to the inside, which is common on hard-to adjust triple derailleurs. When cresting a hill, the shift from the front 34-tooth chainwheel to the 50-tooth chainwheel is simply effortless. Cresting the same hill using a triple requires the rider to perform a noisy double shift over the middle chainwheel to reach the big cog. Shimano’s past insistence of using a 42 tooth middle ring with their Ultegra groups had me riding nearly every hill in the little ring.
I’ve been spoiled by the power of SRAM’s more costly Red and Force brakes, so to compare the Apex brakes to them is a tall order. While the Apex brakes do perform the task of slowing bike and rider down from speed with good modulation, they require a little more effort to gain maximum braking power than Red and Force.
FSA’s SL-K compact handlebar was my bar of choice as I like their shallower drop and find them very comfortable when using the flats up top. As the years have passed and my flexibility has decreased, short drop bars and flipping FSA’s 6-degree stem upright, mountain bike style, has become my comfort salvation. The FSA wheelset accelerated well due to their radial stiffness. When descending, they exhibited good lateral support in the sweepers.
I’ve put quite a few miles on the Kenda Kriterium tires and haven’t so much as had a cut in the tires. The Kriteriums also roll well and grip in the corners in the dry conditions that I’ve used them in. The 700x25 is larger than the 20s and 23s that are found on most racing bicycles, but ride more comfortably at just a slight 20-30 gram increase in weight. I had to resort to using tire levers to mount them, because they fit the rims snugly.
This was my first experience with the new CatEye BC-100 cages, and I came away impressed with the secure way in which they hold a water bottle. At a weight of only 29 grams each, CatEye managed to create a closed cage design which keeps the bottles in place on the roughest of roads.
Although SRAM's mid-length derailleur handles the 11-32 gear spread capably, you can also choose between 11-23, 11-26, and 11-28 cassette combos. The Apex derailleur is also compatible with SRAM's higher-end Rival, Force and Red shifters.
THE VERDICT
The weight of the completed Apex-built bike came in very close to the weight of my home-brewed climbing bike, but is much more cohesive. Shifting, as I’ve said is intuitive and seamless. Gone is the noisy shifting of my old triple. The SRAM Apex bike weighed in at 18 pounds, 2 ounces, while my old climbing bike weighs slightly less at 17 pounds, 14 ounces. Neither of these two bikes could be considered lightweight by today’s race bike standards, but are lighter than any bike I ever owned prior to the last three years. An 18-pound bike was about the lightest available in the last century.
I love the new Apex 11-32 cassette. The shifting is smooth and seamless. When approaching a rolling hill, all I have to do is downshift until I find the gear in back that I need to finish the climb.
I’m pleased that SRAM realized some of their customers using their Red, Force or Rival groups may want to use the new lower gearing, and designed Apex to be compatible with them. I’ll definitely be ordering an Apex rear derailleur and 11-32 rear cogset for my SRAM Red-equipped bike. Maybe it’s just me, but I foresee a glut of used triple cranks on eBay in the near future!
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