I've used Shimano and now campy, was lloking at Rival for next project, wot the opinion, does it match the hype?

I am not the best guy to answer your question, because my last bike had RX100 with downtube shifters, but I will give it a shot anyway.

So far the bike shifts well, the brakes work great and the component group is quite light. The front shifter takes a bit of getting used to. The trim on the front derailaur is more pronounced than shimano, plus it trims the small ring, not the large, so when shiting to the big ring, it takes a pretty long throw. I have tweaked the f'der. a bit and the more I ride it, the more I like it.

I only have about 100 miles in, so I will have to post more as time goes on.

Ive had dura ace 9 speed, sram rival, and am now moving to chorus. I liked the dura ace, hood shape felt a little odd but worked great. Sram on the other hand was the complete opposite. Loved the hood shape, which is why im going campy. But everything else was just crap IMO. Brakes are horrible in comparison. Shifters are ok long throw on the front like everyone complains about, rear is finicky at first but i got it ok after a little while. But i cant get there to be no rub in the two biggest cogs when in the small ring which i can do with shimano and campy. I do like the idea behind the double tap and i think in a few years it will be a great grouppo but right now it feels unfinished. Again IMO. Now just waiting to see how i like chorus.

But i cant get there to be no rub in the two biggest cogs when in the small ring which i can do with shimano and campy.

I don't have that problem.

my 2 cents,

I have riddenand raced shimano campy and now SRAM. All 3 work and work well. For shifting I prefer Sram and Shimano over campy. I like the hood shape of Sram over shimano. I had no trouble setting up my Froece gruppo esp the rear deraillur works like a charm with little or no fuss if installed correctly. Of all 3 Sram has the best brakes. The long throw on the front seems to bother some people, but not me really and I don't find it that long esp if you set the cable tenstion well.

I have had no problems now setting at 1600 miles the brake are super strong , rear shifting is spot on and have hardly had to tweak it from day one the front works great dops dow and back up easly. I would like to have more gear on top and still keep a 34 small.

I've got bout 100 miles on Rival in first 2 days. Love it. I built bike from frame up Friday and not the first bit of trouble in setting it up. I'm sold on the group and looking forward to moving up to RED in the next few months.
I'm running compact 50/34 with 11-23 cassette. Will replace the 34 with a 36 in the next week.
104680
:D

Go for it. It may well be the best bang for the buck group out there.

Shimi, Campy, SKRAM.....all.....yep ........they all shift....amazing, I know...they all do it.

Well tuned, properly set up, maintained etc.

Double-Tap, STI, Ergopower all move the chainy chain chain across the cogs with aplomb. IMHO

If I could build my perfect gruppo it would be as effortless as DA, as tactile as Record, and emulate SRAM for unrivaled simplicity.

But since I can't, I tend to find things in each gruppo that work well for me. Poison is poison. choose your poison.....and enjoy