I was recently forced to upgrade my bike. I decided it was time for a change.

Up to that point I was riding a Cervelo Carbon Soloist, with Dura-Ace (2006)

But since the Cervelo S5 was released I’ve been ogling it like a naughty schoolboy with a hidden stash of porn magazines.

I decided to challenge myself a bit, having always been a bit of a tinkerer, and decided to build the bike myself. After some research, the jury was decided that SRAM Red was the easiest of the 3 top-end group sets to work on yourself, so I set out to find myself a bargain.

I got the 2011 set for quite cheap, just after the 2012 set was launched.

Took me the first 2 rides to get used to the double-tap system, but would now get annoyed with having a second lever to change down. The system is intuitive and just works. What a pleasure.

One thing I’ve noticed, and this is probably because my Dura-Ace set required the opposite, is that when you decide to shift, you need to do it with intent, otherwise you get the chain to stay exactly where it is.

The set is a bit noisy at the extreme gears, but this may be me not getting the setting right. I also saw that a lot of the improvements on the 2012 set was around noise, so I’m not to fussed to try and get it perfect.

There was just one thing that annoyed me while building. There was no published guide I could find for the optimal chain length for my gearing selection, with all the guides telling you to measure your old chain. And the master link they provide is a use once design, which doesn’t promote experimentation. And the documentation provided does not state this clearly, so I found myself having to run to the shop for a new master link after making the chain too long with the first try.