Swapping out the older Rival for the new Sword

 

Soon I will be swapping out this older Sram Rival 1x groupset for the newer Microshift 1x groupset called Sword. One reason is it has a 48t cog on the rear but it also gets very good reviews for being a budget option. I am always looking for the most affordable and easiest to source options for folks building their own bamboo frames. My hope is the Microshift will be a good replacement and actually work better in the 40t and 48t cogs than say the older Rival.  

I will continue to post my updates here, throughout the year etc. 

Above is the Microshift Sword setup. I am running it with my original Sram Rival crank and chain ring. So far I find the shifting to be as good or better in some ways. The ease by which it goes into the 48t is notable. The ergonomics of the shifter and brake hoods is okay but there are some minor differences there that I don't really like. For now the groupset seems to work just fine and is very good for the price point etc. As some have also noted, the design of the Microshift is probably better than the Sram Rival as well. But how the shifter paddles and brake hoods feel on the Sram Rival is still better. 

Update: this summer I have put in a few longer gravel rides on the new Sword groupset and so far it seems to work just fine.