Groupsets?

gerarda

For the casual/leisure/charity ride cyclist is there any real difference in different groupsets? Would you notice a real difference if your bike was fitted with top of the line stuff and was changed with middle of the road? A pro rider would obviously notice but is there any real need for 'the rest of us' to have the best? What exactly are the difference's?

Thanks

rollingscone

With the lower end stuff you have lower numbers of gears and those awful shimano thumb shifters.

People will wax lyrical about the crispness of shifting and that is there but I'd day Tiagra would be fine for the kind of riding you describe but 105 will look and feel nicer and leave room for growth. Anything beyond that becomes harder to justify but people should buy what they will adore.


Also there is a lot to be said for the comfort and efficacy of the controls.

And the brakes. Nice brakes are nice.

quozl

With Tiagra being 10 speed now and also having integrated shifters, I think it's the lowest set to aim for now.

Sora and Tourney also have STI shifters now but they're 9 and 8 gears. The extra gear is nice to have and doesn't cost much more via Tiagra.

105 runs the gear cables under the bar-tape which is nice but that's the only difference versus Tiagra that I'd care at all about.

[edit]rollingscone makes a good point about the brakes. Tiagra brakes come as blocks and you can't replace the pads. I got some really cheap Clarkes holders from CRC and use them in my Tiagra brakes with Koolstop Salmon pads. I'd have still replaced 105 pads with the Koolstop but it'd have saved me buying the Clarkes holders. So there is that difference too.[/edit]

Chips Lovell

You'd notice a difference between the top and bottom end of the market alright. But moving up or down one or two rungs on the ladder, no, not really. I doubt even a pro would notice the difference between Chorus and Super Record for example.

darkvalley

My present bike has a 105 groupset on it and the previous one had sora. I have to be honest and admit I don't find any difference at all, if anything I think I found the sora a bit better, as in less fidgity, easier to get changes right. I never had an issue with the thumb shifter on the sora, but then I don't spend too much time down on the drops anyway.

That said I agree with rollingscone's point that you should buy what you like, even if you dont have any good reason for liking one over the other. Strangely despite what I said up above, given a choice between the two I'd probably take the 105!!

mcgratheoin

Is there a general consensus on the varying manufacturers or is there little real difference between say Shimano Ultegra, Campy Athena and SRAM Force. I noticed recently that Canyon were charging €200 more for an Ultegra over an Athena equipped bike - is that a fair reflection of quality?

Chips Lovell

It's hard to make direct comparisons, because people will value different features or characteristics. I'd say Ultegra just about shades in on the basis of bottom bracket design.

Raam

I notice a big difference between Ultegra 6700 and Campag Super Record if that helps.

Lumen

Vladimir Kurtains wrote: »

You'd notice a difference between the top and bottom end of the market alright. But moving up or down one or two rungs on the ladder, no, not really. I doubt even a pro would notice the difference between Chorus and Super Record for example.

That's true for Compog, but in the SRAM world things are not so clear, or weren't when I was following things a couple of years ago (2010-11ish).

It was the case that:

SRAM Rival: shifter internals made of cheese, avoid
SRAM Force: perfect
SRAM Red: flexy chainrings & front mech, high maintenance BB, avoid

The pros were mixing the best bits of Force and Red.

Whilst them might have sorted all of that out, several years on from Schleck-gate, professionally installed and maintained SRAM groupsets are still chucking chains in the pro peloton.

happytramp

mcgratheoin wrote: »

Is there a general consensus on the varying manufacturers or is there little real difference between say Shimano Ultegra, Campy Athena and SRAM Force. I noticed recently that Canyon were charging €200 more for an Ultegra over an Athena equipped bike - is that a fair reflection of quality?

Ultegra and Athena would be comparable but SRAM Force might lie somewhere between Shimano Ultegra and Dura Ace or Campagnolo Athena and Chorus. I'm open to correction though.

New Ultegra might be more expensive because it's just gone 11speed whereas Athena's been 11speed for a while and they've probably found a way to get costs down.

Ryath

Lumen wrote: »

That's true for Compog, but in the SRAM world things are not so clear, or weren't when I was following things a couple of years ago (2010-11ish).

It was the case that:

SRAM Rival: shifter internals made of cheese, avoid
SRAM Force: perfect
SRAM Red: flexy chainrings & front mech, high maintenance BB, avoid

The pros were mixing the best bits of Force and Red.

Whilst them might have sorted all of that out, several years on from Schleck-gate, professionally installed and maintained SRAM groupsets are still chucking chains in the pro peloton.

Sram have supposedly sorted the Rival shifters meant to be just a bad batch from 2010-2011. I broke the left one last summer and have a newer version now. I'll have Force 22 to compare it to in the next few weeks.

I got 105 though for the new winter bike as I hoping it is more durable and parts are cheaper anyway. I'm finding it ok it doesn't shift as well as rival I think some of this is down to the compact cranks and the internal cabling though.

mcgratheoin

happytramp wrote: »

New Ultegra might be more expensive because it's just gone 11speed whereas Athena's been 11speed for a while and they've probably found a way to get costs down.

Good point, hadn't thought of that - it may just also be a volume discount that Canyon get from Campy or don't get from Shimano - bike 24 has Athena and Ultegra at about the same price.

ragazzo

happytramp wrote: »

Ultegra and Athena would be comparable but SRAM Force might lie somewhere between Shimano Ultegra and Dura Ace or Campagnolo Athena and Chorus. I'm open to correction though.

New Ultegra might be more expensive because it's just gone 11speed whereas Athena's been 11speed for a while and they've probably found a way to get costs down.

Ultegra 11s is going for less than €700 compared to a 10s Ultegra groupset for almost €830 in cyclesuperstore. Both retail at €1110 but are on a discounted price at the moment.

Campag Super Record is king. I like Dura-ace too and found the quality very good. Both are expensive though.

Lower end groupsets are cheaper and probably disposable especially when used on a winter bike. Keeping them clean and shiny is also more difficult but that is only an issue if you respect and clean your bike.
All groupsets probably have a limited life so buy what you can afford. No point in having to replace crashed super record levers if it means missing a mortgage payment. Expensive enough to replace the cheaper ones.
Take care of your bike and equipment and it won't let you down too badly.

furiousox

Shimano 105 5700 groupset is E358 (with free delivery) at the moment on merlincycles which seems exceptionally good value.

http://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-105-5700-groupset-black-49193.html

jober

I went from old thumb type sora shifter to ultegra recently and the difference is definitely noticeable ,the ultegra shifts much smoother and quicker,the sora always clanked and clinked into gear

IM only a leisure cyclist but I am glad I changed

Unknown Soldier

gerarda wrote: »

For the casual/leisure/charity ride cyclist is there any real difference in different groupsets? Would you notice a real difference if your bike was fitted with top of the line stuff and was changed with middle of the road? A pro rider would obviously notice but is there any real need for 'the rest of us' to have the best? What exactly are the difference's?

Thanks

As a general commuter, I went from Shimano Altus Rapidfire on a Eurotrek Boss to Di2 and noticed a slight improvement.