Dear SRAM

The dude who designed this part?

Yeah.  He should be fired.

In my experience, everything else you make – chains, cassettes, etc – is great.  And your customer service is great, too!  However, I’ve had to use it four times, each time to replace a shifter*.  I’ve ridden Shimano on my road bikes since 2003, and cross bikes from 2004 – 2007 – and only had one broken shifter (a 9-speed 105 that I bought used off of a teammate – died after a year).

This is the second time the exact same thing has happened – the first time, the shifter was less than a month old, and I was riding to work.  This time, I was riding home from work, and as I started shifting into an easier gear, the lever turned into a wet noodle, and I shouted out “OH MAAAAAAAANNN”, and began to enjoy my ride home in my 12.  Not a colossal headache, but annoying.

So, please find the dude who designed the part that’s failed on me twice, and suggest that he start picking people up if they get stranded due to his poor design.  And have the drive train guys take over shifter design – they seem to know what they’re doing.

*shifter death total:
First generation Rival – plastic thing that holds the end of the cable broke.  Warrantied.
Rival – Crashed, broke body of shifter (that one’s on me).  Warrantied.
Rival – Shift lever broke off in my hand.  Warrantied.
Rival – Shift lever broke off in my hand.