Which Groupset?

Yeah agreed. Really when it comes down to it you want a groupset to be as invisible as possible, if you're not thinking about it then its doing its job. I find that anything below the 105 level just isnt worth it as i spent more time getting pissed off with things not performing to a basic standard, which obviously impacts on the amount of pleasure i get from riding. I dont want to blame my shortcommings on my bike!

*disclaimer, the lowest tier group i have is chorus! But thats a recent thing- had a mix of 7 speed shimano stuff on my merckx, but found that i would always ride my posh bike with record all the time (even in bad weather) instead because i hated the braking and the hoods on the merckx. Eventually doing this made one bike redundant and another expensive to maintain... Soo.....

There is a really good point in there somewhere about winter/rain bikes. They've got be decent enough for you to be happy to ride. We live in the UK so < half the time we're on wet roads. I just use 105 chains and cassettes on my road bike so I don't regret getting it wet and shitty. I don't want any parts (wheels particularly) that I feel are a liability as I tend to worry or waste time keeping them gleaming rather then enjoying getting them used.

This also keeps my bike out of the porn thread. ;-)