Which Groupset?

Totally different levers. Id go campag. I love shape and shifting. But its heavily down to taste.

Aesthetically I see Campagnolo being above all as well. I've been looking into Chorus and Athena as well.
Too many options and too busy in my life to devote enough time to decide right now.

I saw a stripped 6800 or Dura Ace 9000 prototype somewhere online which looked sick.
Might do that if I end up with 6800

The shape of the hood is the most important part of the groupset, there's no point in buying it if you don't like the shape/feel.

edit: yeah I know, the shape is important.
don't necessarily agree that it is the most important part of the groupset

don't necessarily agree that it is the most important part of the groupset

Really? On the one occasion when edscoble and I are in accord, you want to disagree?

It's a matter of perception.

On one hand, you could possibly come up with a well thought of list of reasons, based on 1000's of miles in the saddle, to justify that statement but on the other hand, the way that I see it, I managed to pin point a subtle issue of common understanding, mutual belief and love if you will, between the two of you.

Love is a great thing & you're welcome

I've had Sram, Campag and Shimano - the only lever that I've not got on with are the old Sora ones with the pathetic thumbshift - even then I still put in a crap load of miles on them without my hands falling off.

I've slowly come to the conclusion that I could probably just get on with anything and that it doesn't really matter for the majority of people. You only need to worry about lever shape if you have unusually large or small hands.

Most of the time here - people's preference for one lever/group or another (for whatever reason they give) is solely down to post-rationalising a purchase. This seems especially prevalent in Campag users as there are fewer practical reasons to stick with it, even though it's quite nice.

tl;dr - buy whatever you want. It doesn't make as much difference as everyone thinks it does.

Most of the time here - people's preference for one lever/group or another (for whatever reason they give) is solely down to post-rationalising a purchase. This seems especially prevalent in Campag users as there are fewer practical reasons to stick with it, even though it's quite nice..

I ressemble that comment.

As a non-strangler Campagnolo have the best levers for me. I also like the solid feel of the shift, the separate thumb shifter, and yes it looks nice too.

All of this is a matter of taste. But t all works, it all breaks, and it'll all be obsolete in a couple years. So why not select based on taste?

So what's your preference dan?

I have SRAM Red 10 speed on the Sunday bike and SRAM Rival on the Rourke.

I ended up with SRAM over Shimano because Dov sold me his Red group for stupid money and then when I built the Rourke I figured it made sense for both bikes to run the same system (for lots of reasons).

When I first got it I wasn't convinced that the shifting up the block was as nice on SRAM as it is on Campag, but shifts down are.. but then you do a couple of thousand k's on it and you don't think about it anymore. Same goes for lever shapes and everything else as far as I'm concerned - just get on with it, it all works.

When it comes to bikes, unless you are rich, obsessive or just building them as vanity projects - what you end up with is always a combination of:
What you can afford
What you can get a deal on
What is around to buy easily.

Having had Campag, I wanted a move away because of limited hub choice, relative difficulty to get spares in remote places and the expense of replacement parts. You get a much larger choice with Shimano/SRAM for everything and 10 speed is only going to get cheaper and cheaper - so I'm happy.

When I first got it I wasn't convinced that the shifting up the block was as nice on SRAM as it is on Campag, but shifts down are.. but then you do a couple of thousand k's on it and you don't think about it anymore.

Very much this for me. I had a bit of vanity in mind when I took a punt on SRAM Force for my Ron Cooper, cos I thought it looked nicer than anything else (especially Shimano cranks), but was initially unsure about the shifts up the block, compared to Shimano DA in my case, feeling rather heavy. But you get used to it, and a few rides later "heavy" becomes "reassuringly clicky".

I would say it's less reasuringly clicky than campag, which seems more precise.. but really it doesn't matter. I also find that Sram is much more robust than Shimano and Campag - in that it generally needs less fiddling with due to cable stretch and has by far the most solid shifting in bad weather/over rough ground etc.

As I keep saying though - it's all much of a muchness. The most important things for me are: initial price, reliability and running costs.

Wait. 45 pages, and the answer is anything highish end from the main 3, is going to work nice, and any that any difference in actuation or ergonomics will become less relavent over time.

I feel cheated.

Ah, I've not had any experience with Campag (besides a pair of skewers) since downtube shifting days. I was put off by the funny looking thumb paddle things. And they don't make brakes as pretty as what they did twenty-odd years ago either. :-)

I like how Campag works, but prefer shimano to live with.

Campag levers with shimano everything, weighing the same as sram plz.

I only have shimano but I don't like how the levers can move sideways when you brake

record for £400 ... bargain

Where do cranksets by individual makers like Rotor fit into all this groupset nonsense?

in the ***'do not buy this' ***category.

I had Rotors, they were a PITA. Never again.
People just buy them because they look pro - the truth is that they make you look like a helmet and are no stiffer than the better Sram/Shimano/Campag options.

It's just bike jewellery, basically. Same goes for 'lightweight' callipers.

in the ***'do not buy this' ***category.

I had Rotors, they were a PITA. Never again.
People just buy them because they look pro - the truth is that they make you look like a helmet and are no stiffer than the better Sram/Shimano/Campag options.

That's slightly disconcerting because I just stumped up for the Rotor Flow crankset with 53/39 Aero Q rings...

: /

I'm sure they will look really pro.

I'm also sure about 200 people are about to post saying:
***"my Rotors are amazing and 4,000,000 times stiffer than Ultegra, I've ridden them through porridge and they are still NASA standards of smooth... and they came with a unicorn.. etc etc" ***