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.....

I've just taken a call from the mechanic I dropped my bike off with to let me know my bushings in my rear mech are shot. It's shifting up fine but down it's very hard to shift. Are these bushings replaceable?

Normally I wouldn't ask but the rear mech has been on there just over 6 months.

What group is it?

Well I have only ridden Veloce, Sora, Tiagra and Rival.

But yes: if and when I buy a new bike, I will pay for a higher-end gruppo.

what group is it?

105.

They can fit tiagra for £30 or new 105 for £50.

Suppose it would be rude to buy the part myself on line (cheaper) and then take it back.

Yes it would be rude and they would likely to charge you a little more, but it worth asking them first.

At work, if someone brought a component from us for their new bicycle, they get it fitted for free.

If they brought it online, we tend to charge them for fitting them, even thought their bicycle come from our shop.

Buy the part and do it yourself

I was going to try and buy the part and fit it myself but I really have never got on with adjusting gears at all. Don't get me wrong I'd love to do it but I can't seem to ever get it right - and would probably end up taking to a shop myself anyway.

Say I buy a 105 rear mech from ribble It's going to cost me £30 from the LBS it's £50. Quite a jump in price.

buy it, and call them; * "I actually have a 105 spare, would that be fine?"*

Actually just looking - ribble next day delivery on 105 is £41 they've said they can get 105 for £50, so for an extra £9 I'd probably just let them do it.

Although they do have to order the part in.

Other alternative is to go with Tiagra, which reading on line is basically the same as the 5600 series 105 I've got anyway. I think Tiagra might be the best bet.

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. ;-)

Decided to go with the Tiagra rear mech over the 105. My 5600 is a couple of years old anyhow so the 2012 tiagra is literally the same.

So hopefully that's my money spent for a little while. Nice and smooth shifting bike.

Day off Friday I'll go pick it up and pootle off to the countryside somewhere.

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. ;-)

yeah, was a bit muddled. Monday ramble.

Winter bikes are a funny balancing act. They have to be good enough mechanically (and fit etc) wise for you to be able to take it out without a second thought... However, you don't want it to be too nice, otherwise it becomes expensive to maintain and detracts from that "whoosh" feeling your Sunday bike should give you :)

For me it became a real pain in the arse having two bikes running different systems - means I have to have two sets of wheels for my good bike and couldn't swap stuff around in an emergency (plus the faff of having different tools etc).
Fwiw I would have been happy with Veloce for the Merckx, but ended up getting a crazy deal on a 10spd Chorus group in mint condition.

<<< Never below Ultegra except for cassettes. Shimano is cheap, enjoy their good stuff.

I'm a liar.

Tiagra on my old Zebdi and some even cheaper Shimano crap on my hardtail. Logical though if they get smashed to bits regularly.

^^ You'll probably have much better quality chainrings on you're Chorus. The recent veloce rings are incredibly soft.

Apex is perfect for a winter bike I think- I have it on my (currently invalid) CX bike, and at one point considered swapping it for Ultegra Di2.

I didn't because a) it would have cost pots of cash and b) there is no way on earth I could reliable initiate a gear change wearing thick gloves with Di2- the buttons are simply too small/not tactile enough to feel through a couple of layers of insulation.

The SRAM paddle is nice and large, and as one paddle does everything it's a doddle.

I still need to find out if I've wrecked the right hand shifter, but I also suspect that fewer tears will be shed replacing an Apex shifter than a Di2 unit.

Apex=it's good enough.

SRAM shifters are expensive all the way down - the curse of trickle down doubletap tech

spenceey. If they have to order it in it will likely only take a day. Support your LBS and be content in the knowledge it will all be set up properly.

That's what I've gone for Sumo - they're great guys anyway and do a lot of stuff through the web.

spenceey

have you considered a maintenance course? setting up gears is quite simple once you understand the principles

I'd gladly pay a tenner to have someone else set up my gears. Its a royal PITA. I do seem to like to make my life difficult though. Part of me wants to epoxy my front mech in place, now that its perfect. The rear seems to be perfect now too. But it took some feckling.

Next project is to get a internal gear crankset to play nice with an internal gear hub. All while the chain is tensioned by a racheted drop-out adaptor.

I think I hate myself.

11spd seems to be a complete bugger to keep working well. One of the reasons i stuck with 10

spenceey

have you considered a maintenance course? setting up gears is quite simple once you understand the principles

I have believe me. I have this thing inside me that says I'll fix something myself - or at least have a go at it.

Also in my part of the country I can't imagine this they have these courses much.

I set up my gears when I first put them on the bike but believe that's part of the problem I've encountered now. This was after reading about it on line many times and thinking I knew what I was doing.

Hopefully It's just the rear mech that's gone and not the shifters - I'm not in the situation to afford new shifters now although ribble does have them for the good price of £150.

It wont be the shifters.. You've hardly had that bike any time at all

The frame yes. But the groupset I've had a while.

Although I still refuse to see how it would be worn out already.