should 2nd bike group set match 1st?

ianbar
ianbar Posts: 1,354
edited December 2012 in Road buying advice
i am hopfully ordering a biek very shortly, currently caad8 tiagra 2012 and i was hoping whatever bike i get to have an upgrade on the set too. so i have been looking at 105 in the main. how many of you have kept your groupsets in the same make ie shimano etc the reason i wanted this was for ease of swapping parts and wheels etc i am not very good with the handy work involved in running a bike so i would like to keep things simple. hope i have made sense i have just got up! any thoughts? thank you
enigma esprit
cannondale caad8 tiagra 2012

Comments

  • smidsy
    smidsy Posts: 5,273
    I have recently built a second bike and kept it Shimano despite it being an italian frame.

    Main reason for me was I have all the tools and Campag needs different stuff. Also I do not get on with the Campag hood shape.

    There is no reason why you can not have different but be prepared to build up 2 set of tools, knowledge of how they work, having to swap freehubs and cassettes on wheels etc etc.

    If you went SRAM you could use the same freehub and tools but you would have to get used to the double tap operation of the STi.
    Yellow is the new Black.
  • nochekmate
    nochekmate Posts: 3,460
    Common sense should dictate here. Shimano on 1st bike so if you are happy with that stick to Shimano on t'other. Does not have to be same level of groupset of course.
  • ianbar
    ianbar Posts: 1,354
    ahh forgot about tools yeah i have a few tools and would rather not buy new ones. i am quite happy with shimano so think that will still be the case with my next bike i think.
    enigma esprit
    cannondale caad8 tiagra 2012
  • ben16v
    ben16v Posts: 296
    same here - 1st bike was shimano, so for ease of changing parts, wheels the next bikes were shimanotoo (read that as putting the carbon 50mm from the TT onto the road bike for bling days out in the summer- oh wait...summer??) but yeah practicality makes it a lot easier
    i need more bikes
  • luv2ride
    luv2ride Posts: 2,367
    Main bike was SRAM, so went for gruppo down (apex) on the winter bike I just built up. If I go for another bike I'll go SRAM again, as I tried 105 and didn't get on with it. Go with what you know, and something where you can reuse tools...
    Titus Silk Road Ti rigid 29er - Scott Solace 10 disc - Kinesis Crosslight Pro6 disc - Scott CR1 SL - Pinnacle Arkose X 650b - Pinnacle Arkose singlespeed - Specialized Singlecross...& an Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray 4 string...
  • Shimano and SRAM are very interchangeable and a lot of the tools are the same for both groupsets :|

    I have a full SRAM set on one bike and a mix of 105 and Tiagra on another. FWIW I can't tell any difference between Tiagra and 105, and for that reason wouldn't pay more for a bike with 105.
  • Most tools aren't that expensive, and TBF, you don't have to buy them that often.
    Same groupset perhaps does make sense, but that's boring. I have Sora, Xenon and Veloce on my current bikes.