Installing new groupset

gibbon9

I was just wondering if anyone has had any experiences of installing a new groupset, and whether or not they think it is easy enough to do. I am thinking of getting a new Shimano 105 groupset to replace an ageing version and want to know if I could do the job myself, or will I have to spend the money at a LBS.

Thanks

smidsy

You need specific tools for the Bottom Bracket and Chainset, all other bits are simple allen key/screwdriver stuff.

The only real tricky (as in not entirely intuitive) bit is setting up the front/rear mech travel and indexing the gears but there are plenty of online videos to help.

Very 'doable' at home.

pinarellokid

go for it plenty of help on here and on youtube

philvantwo

Buy the best tools you can afford though, a torque wrench is very handy too!

StillGoing

If you have just a slight grasp of how to work tools it's a simple enough job to do. Get the right tools which may be an expense at first, but as the years go by they'll come in more useful and pay for themselves and save you the expense of going to the LBS. Probably the only difficult areas are indexing the gears, but take your time and it will come.

davidof

For the 105 chainset you want the park tool for the cups

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOtXpF0afCM

and torque wrench is a nice to have but you can get away without it if you are sensible. Watch the thread directions.

Rear gear indexing is easy. Trimming the front 105 mech is harder as the tolerances on 10sp are very tight.

nathancom

not sure on the Shimano shifters, but Campag shifters need a t-25 screwdriver to loosen the metal band.

Fitting a groupset is not a hard job at all and it is well worth knowing how to adjust gears as you will need to retune once your cables bed in.

philvantwo

If you don't use a torque wrench then it's far too easy to overtighten the crank bolts, especially when checking them periodically for tightness.

buckmulligan

nathancom wrote:

not sure on the Shimano shifters, but Campag shifters need a t-25 screwdriver to loosen the metal band.

Fitting a groupset is not a hard job at all and it is well worth knowing how to adjust gears as you will need to retune once your cables bed in.

The Shimano shifters have a hex key bolt for the bar clamps, but for some reason the chain ring bolts are Torx heads (T30 I believe). Obviously the OPs will come assembled, but it's annoying if you want to take the chain rings off to clean them, as I am wont to do in this weather. Why do they need a Torx head, it's not a high torque fixing?!

ToeKnee

I recently stripped the Tiagra off my commute bike and fitted it to an old frame for a road bike for my son. I then fitted new Ultegra to mine. Win/Win and loving my commute even more - gear changes are sweet.

I found the job quite enlightening and relatively easy. I took 2 days for the strip down and rebuild of one bike. That's probably slow but I was happy with that. I made sure I had all the tools I needed before I started. The instructions provided with the components were straightforward and I did not need to fall back on YouTube for help - something I did for replacing the headset on my MTB.

I've learnt a lot and can no longer see any reason to take my bike to LBS (sorry LBS).