2 questions ?

jober

i just about to pull the trigger on a new bike

after much searching and reading and the budget i have (1200 ish)
i think im gonna go for the planet x sl pro

the bike i am on kellys arc 2.9 only has shimano sora and thats all i have ever used

so my first question is which group set is better ?
shimano ultegra or sram rivel are the options . i have read up on both but have used neither

and secondly when buying on-line how much assembely do i have to do ? i dont own any bike tools yet

cheers
j

BailMeOut

jober wrote: »

and secondly when buying on-line how much assembely do i have to do ? i dont own any bike tools yet
j

usually very little to this. Most of the bike will be assembled and you will just attach the handle bars and just need some allen keys.

If getting a Plannet X I'd seriously consider buying from the Athlone location so you can pick up and get fitted at same time. I bought my bike from UK and had to still take somewhere for a proper fitting.

Lumen

Ultegra has generally been considered to be more reliable/robust than Rival, at least in terms of shifter internals.

Maybe it's improved more recently, I don't know.

Craig06

Isn't Ultegra's SRAM equivalent force??

ghogie91

Craig06 wrote: »

Isn't Ultegra's SRAM equivalent force??

I though this aswell because anywhere online its between these two?

Brian?

ghogie91 wrote: »

I though this aswell because anywhere online its between these two?

105=Rival
Ultegra= Force
Red= Dura Ace.

AFAIK.

OP go with Ultegra. Smashing groupset.

Lumen

Craig06 wrote: »

Isn't Ultegra's SRAM equivalent force??

I don't think it makes sense to compare like that.

When I bought Red back in 2010ish, Red was essentially Force with added stupidity (high maintenance/pointless ceramic BB, noisy cassette, ugly chainrings, floppy front mech). Maybe the differences are different now, but back then it certainly wasn't the case that Red was better.

Current Shimano groups are better differentiated by mechanical vs electronic, 10sp vs 11sp, and for the electronic groups things like which version of wiring loom is used (Ultegra Di2 was ahead for a while with the skinny wires but I think DA has now caught up).

That said, you can't really go wrong with picking the second most expensive groupset (Force, Ultegra, Chorus*).

(* ignoring SR)

jober

I was thinking ultegra initially,but when I seen they were selling the rival at the same price I was thrown off track

The ultegra is 11-28
The rival was 11- 32 which caught my attention as I struggle badly up steep hills

Craig06

Get a compact with an 11-28 and you'll be fine. 11-32 on a 10 speed would be quite gappy

jober

Craig06 wrote: »

Get a compact with an 11-28 and you'll be fine. 11-32 on a 10 speed would be quite gappy

I've a compact 11-25 at the min I've still to make it over sallys gap with out stopping ,hopefully the 28 will get me over eventually

Brian?

jober wrote: »

I was thinking ultegra initially,but when I seen they were selling the rival at the same price I was thrown off track

The ultegra is 11-28
The rival was 11- 32 which caught my attention as I struggle badly up steep hills

Don't get an 11-32. They're horrendously gappy. A compact, which I believe is what's on the bike, with an 11-28 will be grand.

quozl

Brian? wrote: »

Don't get an 11-32. They're horrendously gappy. A compact, which I believe is what's on the bike, with an 11-28 will be grand.

The difference between them in the SRAM range is that the 14 cog is replaced with the 32.

So it's 13,15 with a 32 stuck on the end rather than 13,14,15. That is quite annoying.


I wouldn't really want a 11-32 either. Giving up the 14 is too big a price to pay.
I've got a SRAM 12-32 and it's identical to a 11-28 apart from swapping the 11 at the top for a 32 at the bottom.

GoTilUBlow

Both groupsets are excellent - the ultegra will be smoother, the force will be lighter. It depends where your priorities lie.