Groupsets - shop for bits or lump together as one?

doug5_10

Just currently finishing off my steed in 105 5700 (replacing donkey's old Tiagra 4400) having got the whole shebang (including 5700c pedals) for just over £300 from a mixture of shopping about and getting low mileage bits off ebay. With 5800 set being £299 on Ribble excluding pedals (I didn't really feel the need to turn it up to 11) have I wasted my time or done about the best I could on a budget?

As the groupset price goes up, does it become easier to get a bargain shopping individually or tend not to matter?

northpole

There is no right answer - it's all about timing and luck in my experience. Tomorrow someone could list a dura ace groupset for a bargain price in the classifieds here or on fleabay. Same thing could happen with one of the on line retailers such as Merlin, Ribble, etc. As time goes on, the unpredictability of it is all you can be sure of!

My suggestion would be that you have picked up your kit for a very reasonable price. Fit it to your bike and forget about how you could have a better deal if only... on that basis none of us would ever buy anything. Spring is upon us and the road awaits!

Peter

stevie63

The advantage of buying bits as you go is that you don't have to spend out all in one go, as well as that you can get exactly what you want, for example in the groupset bundles they often come with a braze on FD when you might need a Band On. You can pick the gear ratios that you want. And if you don't need certain things(eg new chainset) then you can save a bit that way. So there are advantages and disadvantages to both ways of doing it.

trailflow

The advantage of buying bits as you go is that you don't have to spend out all in one go, as well as that you can get exactly what you want, for example in the groupset bundles they often come with a braze on FD when you might need a Band On.

You could always use a braze on FD with a band on adapter. Doing that will give you more options if you change the frame at any point. Instead of being stuck with a band on type.

MisterMuncher

As folk say, depends what you want. For the most part, though, if your bike takes long drop brakes, or BB30, most "standard" group deals will leave you stuffed.

As an aside, Ribble frequently have discount codes that specifically exclude groupsets and bikes, yet work fine when you add each part individually to your basket. Worth checking.

Calpol

I can only add my limited experience.
If you have a whole bike to build then 5800 at £300 looks terrific value. I am not a shimano user but this is almost a no brainer if it's the specification you need/want.

I managed to piece together some upgrade parts over a few weeks using a mixture of new, Ebay and forum classifieds. For that I got
Campagnolo Chorus 11 shifters for £95
Campagnolo Chorus Chainset for £120
Athena mechs new from Ribble c£110

Good value on the surface of it but here is the rub. The LH shifter needed servicing £35 at Velotech, one of the hoods was slightly torn, the 34T chainring was bent and required replacing £30 and the chainset came missing the crank bolt and NDS bearing £35. Add to that the fact that with new shifters you get cables, hoods etc then you have to be careful. Bargains can be had but you can also end up saving little over new and forfeiting warranty.

keef66

You can get lucky buying used kit; I got an entire Tiagra 9s groupset off a fellow forumite, stuck it on the winter bike and it's been faultless. Was able to use the original cables, brake blocks, chain etc, so it really was a bargain.

Since the 11s 5800 frequently retails for <£300 I'm looking forward to seeing what the new 4700 Tiagra stuff ends up selling for

dyrlac

I recently picked up a full 105 (5800) groupset for less than £300. Fantastic value, and the shop (Evans :shock: ) swapped the bundled braze-on FD for a band-on for naught. (If I ever want to move it over, well, the 5800 FD is only £17 if bought separately).

Good point on the brakes though. If you need something other than short drops, you're better off with separates (just).

Tjgoodhew

Im currently piecing together an ultegra 6700 group. So far have managed to get front and rear brakes, FD and RD all new for under £200.

I have BB30 so leaving the existing crankset and dont need a cassette or chain so all i need now is shifters.

So for what i need will end up with pretty much full ultegra for around £350

Yankee1

I pieced together a 6800 groupset over the winter for about £400, so saved about 10-20% compared to Merlin OEM or Ribble. I was trying to spread the cost over time, so it worked well for me. You have to spend a lot of time on the classifieds in order to get there first when someone sells their unneeded crank for £90 or cassette for £30, both new. I checked both here and Singletrackworld several times a day for bargains, so unless you're willing/able to do that you won't save much. As others pointed out, buying in bits also ensures you get exactly what you want.

turbotommy

Just to confirm what others have said.

I found it both cheaper and more specific to my requirements to pick up parts seperately. I found that the stores that offered dura ace group set bundles didn't reduce them further in their sales, but you could pick up individual parts using discount codes etc at better value. The bike I'm building is also BB30, so it suited me to get the applicable crankset rather than getting the dura ace one and running a converter.

Maybe the only other time you'll see big savings is when a groupset is superseded by a newer model