Groupset/ chainset confusion

J-89
J-89 Posts: 61
edited September 2007 in Road beginners
Hi, i have a specialized allez 07 and i am looking to upgrade and save some weight. it has a weighty groupset at the minute and seeing as i dont have a clue about this thought i would ask a question. if i upgrade the chainset to something lighter, does it have to be shimano? also would i have to upgrade the sora brake/gear levers as well or could i simply have for instance an ultegra chainset with sora levers? (as you can tell i dont have a clue) any advice would be great. cheers
J-89

Comments

  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,673
    as long at the SPD is that same (in general) you can use whatever you want.

    you can also mix and match most makes.

    what are you looking at inparticular?
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • J-89
    J-89 Posts: 61
    http://www.gbcycles.co.uk/eshop.asp?wci ... 0+CHAINSET

    or is this totally not going to work?:
    http://www.gbcycles.co.uk/eshop.asp?wci ... N+CHAINSET
    J-89
  • dudi
    dudi Posts: 36
    Bloody hell... that bianchi set has a hell of a discount on it!
    what's wrong with it? lol
  • gkerr4
    gkerr4 Posts: 3,408
    not sure what you have currently, but regardles what it is - that 105 chainset won't weigh a lot less - it's still a fairly hefty bit of kit and you will need to change bottom brackets too - to the Hollowtech2 external bearing cups - which are fairly cheap and very easy to fit .

    i'd say wait until you need to replace the BB or the chainrings on your current setup

    unless of course your main driver is to add to the looks of the bike - in which case go ahead - the current shimano cranksets look great!

    also bear in mind that the Tiagra unit is less than half that price from ribble, looks the same (bar the word 'tiagra' where that one has 105) uses the same hollowtech2 cups and probably isn't far off in terms of weight and or performance!
  • acorn_user
    acorn_user Posts: 1,137
    The Bianchi chainset is ISIS. Most high end buyers are probably looking to external bearings now.

    In principle, you could fit almost any chainset you wanted, even an mtb triple (although going from triple to double with Sora does require a ne left lever). There's no reason only to consider Shimano chainsets, although they are supposed to be good.

    Another option would be to replace the chainrings you have (which are probably steel) with lighter alloy ones such as Stronglight or TA. It would be a little pricey, unless you can get a deal, but you would probably end up with a better chainset at the end of the day.

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