Coming from the darkside

MountainMonster

Hey guys, I came across a nice road frame, albeit old, but perfect price so will be picking it up next week. I've been mountain biking for quite some time, and am very clued in on the specs for the parts on that side. Road parts, however, I am genuinely clueless, as well as with what brands are good. I do know campagnolo are highly respected, and if I've understood, one of the more expensive brands.

How do the groupsets work in the road world? Im looking at all the parts I will need to get the bike on the road, but seeing random numbers and names is a bit off putting. What groupsets should I be looking at for a good value set at decent weights?

Also, what are decent weights for roads for cranks and wheels and such?

Many thanks helping the newbie ha

willowthewhite

2300 = Alivio
tiagra = deore
105 = lx/slx
ultegra = xt
dura ace = xtr

I couldn't tell you the order of the others as I'm a Shimano man so didn't research the others but would imagine the prices would be comparable

MountainMonster

Awesome; many thanks man!

Looks like I should be buying 105s then. If anyone could chime me in on the SRAM and campg stuff, would be much appreciated

neeb

Campagnolo are confusing because they keep shuffling their groupset names around and introducing new ones above / in-between existing ones...

These days, probably..

Dura ace = Record
Ultegra = Athena

But Campag also do Chorus, which is some ways is equivalent to Ultegra in being their second tier, top-level amateur orientated kit, but is quite a bit more expensive than Ultegra. Campag also do Super Record, which is sort of uber-high-level (many pro teams don't even bother with it and just use Record). Shimano also do the electronic Di2 of course, but that's sort of in its own category.

Centaur = 105 (probably..)
Tiagra = Veloce (maybe..)

SRAM are more simple.

Dura ace = Red
Force = Ultegra
Rival = 105

Now, let the disagreements begin...

ilm_zero7

neeb wrote:

Now, let the disagreements begin...

no disagreements, just..why bother with anything other than Campagnolo!!!

giant_man

Felt so Good wrote:

neeb wrote:

Now, let the disagreements begin...

no disagreements, just..why bother with anything other than Campagnolo!!!

+1 - absolutely!!

MountainMonster

I see the brand loyalty for roadies is also as strong as us as mtbers. SRAM or shimano gets lots of debates going for us haha.

bompington

MountainMonster wrote:

I see the brand loyalty for roadies is also as strong as us as mtbers. SRAM or shimano gets lots of debates going for us haha.

No, it's much worse. Just slap an Italian name on any old piece of junk and some roadies will develop passionate and undying loyalty to it.

Ber Nard

The shifters for all three of the big brands look similar but operate and feel different.

Might be a good idea to go to a bike shop to find out which you like and choose a groupset based around that.

When I was a MTBer, any bike that came with Gripshift would be swapped over to Rapidfire right away. Can't do that too easy on a road bike.

Rob

neeb

Might be a good idea to go to a bike shop to find out which you like and choose a groupset based around that.

+1

All the brands' groupsets work pretty well, and the shifting method, as well as just the feeling of the hoods, is probably the most important consideration. Different people prefer different systems, just as different saddles suit different people.

Shimano - small lever behind the brake lever to shift up, move the brake lever itself sideways to shift down.

Campag - small lever behind the brake lever shifts DOWN, small button on the inside of the hood shifts up.

SRAM - small lever behind the brake lever shifts both up and down. You push it one notch to shift up, two notches (all the way over) to shift down.