I took advantage of sales at a few different retailers and finished gathering the parts to upgrade my road bike to a SRAM Rival 1 group.
The bike in question is the State 4130 Road, which I bought mainly for the steel frame. I think it was meant more as a cool retro-inspired town bike, but I like the ride and fit enough that I decided to make it a somewhat more "serious" bike. The original drivetrain was a quirky 1x8 with a downtube shifter. It was a quaint feature, but even though it was indexed it was still a bit testy. It has rim brakes, of which I'm still a fan, but the stock units were terrible.
So in come: Rival calipers (I put these on months ago), Rival 1 long cage derailleur (also bough a while ago on sale), Rival left brake lever, Rival 22 right lever/shifter, SRAM 11-speed chain, downtube cable stop, fresh bar tape. I also bought a narrow/wide chainring, which I may or may not use. I still like the aesthetics of the stock polished ring.
I spent some quality time in the garage this weekend putting it all together. It was fun to get more experience fitting components and tuning a bike. I'm far from a pro, but after following instructions and making and correcting a few minor mistakes, the bike feels and looks great. Looking forward to going for a ride this weekend.
44 tooth ring up front with an 11-36 cassette. Not quite dinner plate size like on my gravel bike, so I think it keeps a little more classic road bike look. Low end gear is equivalent to a standard compact crank with a 28t sprocket, so I have some easy/climbing gears. The derailleur handles up to a 10-42 cassette, so I could set it up pretty well for hilly terrain if I ever need/want to.
Downtube cable stop. This was the only iffy part of the job. The post for the shifter stuck out too far, so I had to cut it off with a hack saw. Fortunately, it was threaded all the way through so there was plenty of grip for the new screw. I actually like the shiny aluminum; It fits the look.
Overall, I think it was a minor cosmetic change, which makes me happy because I thought it looked great to start with! I'm already getting used to the SRAM Double Tap shifting. It's not the most intuitive for me, but the engagement is solid. And the brakes! Between the new levers, cables, and housing, this bike freaking STOPS now. Like instantly with little effort. Going to have to remember that so I don't send myself over the bars squeezing hard like I had to on the original levers.