Which Groupset?

I'd add that 12 speed is great, I didn't think I'd notice much in the way of difference between 11 speed and 12 speed, but the range of gears is noticeably better.

the range of gears is noticeably better.

You're the +1 bastard that means I have to keep upgrading all the time! Grrr

I stuck with 11s GRX because there's no 12s GRX. If I was building another road bike I'd have bought all 12s stuff.

Oh interesting! Both on the hoses being included when buying from Merlin, and on 12 speed being noticeably better than 11.

I've been pretty reluctant to move to 12 speed, just because I have 3 bikes on Shimano 11 speed, and I wax my chains. As such it's been nice to be able to just use the same chains between all 3 of those. Moving to 12 speed would mean having different chains for just 1 bike, but I guess you can't stop progress for too long, eh? Once I've built up the new nice bike, I'll likely be selling at least one of the current stable, so perhaps in 5-10 years all of them will be over to 12 speed.

I only went 12s on the MTBs because 11s wasn't really a thing for them at the time. I've stuck with Ultegra and GRX 11s for the gravel and road bikes and will do until the usual thing happens when the parts become less available and more expensive and then it just makes sense to move to the newer stuff. Given there's no 12s GRX though I reckon we've a couple of years of 11s still and that's about how long it takes me to destroy a bike/groupset so I should be golden :)

GRX610 and GRX 820 are 12 speed!

Di2?

You're new. I haven't done mechanical gears for ~10 years (not counting the MTBs which are getting AXS soon)

Ah, I missed that bit. Apologies :)

you can use the 12s chains on 11s w/o issue i think. but i am in the same boat. the 11s chains also test a bit faster and i just feel bad buying things i don't "need"

Ah that's good advice. A quick Google confirms it. Alright well I'm gonna maybe buy a spare 12s chain and then just run the old 11s chains to death on the older bikes. Gradually move over to 12s.

Growtac friction brifters - https://growtac.com/en/2023/03/20/equal2­023-taipei/#outline__6

What happened with these? Can't find anything from this year about them.

Confirmed with Fawkes that a groupset from them does include brake hoses, olives, and barbs. It also includes up to 160mm brake rotors (you have to order and then call them to ask them to change the rear to 160). The only thing it doesn't include is a bottom bracket, but I have a suitable one in the parts box, and Merlin currently have the one I need for £15.

£1280 for full Ultegra Di2 just without the bottom bracket feels like a steal to me!

https://fawkes-cycles.co.uk/shimano-ultegra-12-speed-disc-brake-di2-groupset-52-36t-p32674

Trying to maintain parts compatibility with existing 11s bike is probably not worth the faff of having to cobble together an 11s disk groupset for a new bike build, right?

I’ve got GRX on my gravel bike and 6800 on my rim brake roady. Aiming to build a disk brake road bike but maybe it’s time to go 12 speed on something new…

Who's going to guinea pig this?
https://wheeltop.com/products/eds-bicycle-derailleur

vloggers

See my posts from the last couple of weeks trying to make a similar decision. Depends on how much you want the latest thing and believe the hype of the latest thing being better.

My own personal experience of Shimano road disc brakes is that the calliper tech isn't yet good enough, and lots of people say they've fixed it on this latest generation of 12 speed groupsets. I can't speak from my own experience, though, as I'm still building up this bike.

Non removable batteries in derailleurs to get around SRAM patents. Will they be removable when they wear out?
Interesting group. Incorporates a lot that Shimano/SRAM/Camp should have done already.

I can’t stop laughing about what’s written on the website. A golden nugget:

Is the fuel line filled with oil?

Yes, the fuel line has been pre-filled with mineral oil before delivery to customers.

Are Merlin the last man standing selling cheap groupsets in the UK?

I want 105 hydraulic but need post mount brakes so any cheaper options than a full group and selling the brakes?

Have been eyeing this a lot but it is spendy.

Targeted ads are working though I will accept. Why do groups never have 165 cranks available.

Fawkes were cheap a couple of weeks ago for my groupsets a couple of weeks ago, but the groupset didn't include a bottom bracket. That was fine for me as I had the one I needed in my parts box anyway. It wasn't a fantastic customer experience, though. Despite listing as in stock, it wasn't, and Madison let them down in getting them the parts when they said they would. Long story short it took 2 weeks longer than I expected to arrive, and they weren't great about communication.

Assuming you want 12 speed, I can't find anything cheaper than Merlin, and it's such a big discount on RRP that I do think you'll be best off buying the set and then selling off the brakes.

I'm going to notice a bit of a difference going from 10 speed 2012 vintage SRAM Apex with mechanical Shimano disc brakes 😆

Would anyone have a spare left hand SRAM lever that I can buy from them? I’d like to use the shift paddle and associated internal gubbins in my paddle-less lever to operate a dropper

Question as I have never done this before.

For example if I bought a Sram short cage rear derailleur and replaced the cage with a medium cage, I would get the capacity of a medium rear derailleur right?

or do the bodies differ in size slightly?

Merlin also with free overnight delivery so its arriving in about an hour. How do they make any money?

Yeah, I genuinely dunno. I believe any retailers in the UK are getting it from the same source - Madison. I would assume all are getting it for the same price. I guess it must just be some are looking to make profit through high volume and small margins, whereas others are lower volume so need higher margins?

Or maybe Madison bulk discount is good, so Merlin are qualifying for that and passing at least some of the savings to the end customer?