Which Groupset?

All modern groupsets work well enough - the only reasons for being picky are:

1) You have weird hands

2) You are a tart.

Dude just go to a big bike shop and try out all the road bike with SRAM, Campag and Shimano.

Name a bike shop with all 3 tiers of all 3 groupsets on test bikes.

DOES. NOT. EXIST.

^ this

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bianchi/impulso-veloce-compact-2014-road-bike-ec059355

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/caad8-105-2014-road-bike-ec054397

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/super-6-evo-sram-red-2014-road-bike-ec054391

Holy Shit Amey! You're a fucking idiot!

I actually did it (I work round the corner from a big Evans shop); Veloce on a bianchi; Ultegra 6800 on a Cannondale Supersix and Sram red on that Evo ^^

Evans will let you order and test ANYTHING in any size. Apart from all the criticism that they (and other chain shops) get this is actually a good thing. I think its also because they themselves dont know the difference most of the time.

Name a bike shop with all 3 tiers of all 3 groupsets on test bikes.

DOES. NOT. EXIST.

Evans Cycles always have a bikes with all 3 tiers of groupsets, especially the Wimbledon one where I used to work.

Name a bike shop with all 3 tiers of all 3 groupsets on test bikes.

ahem

thanks for this
yes definitely need to try Sram. actually the current darker decals of sram force are alright.
i might just do that and waste evans' time, they will pay for being evans .

BasJansen

Shifting seems te be a bit more 'continuous' than with Red, but it's definitely not a turnoff.

do you mean sloppy ? !

I actually did it (I work round the corner from a big Evans shop); Veloce on a bianchi; Ultegra 6800 on a Cannondale Supersix and Sram red on that Evo ^^

Evans will let you order and test ANYTHING in any size. Apart from all the criticism that they (and other chain shops) get this is actually a good thing. I think its also because they themselves dont know the difference most of the time.

When I was keen to try on two different sizes of some shoes, they were happy to order them both for me. If I paid for both pairs in full up front. I don't have the kind of cash necessary to try several high end road bikes if that's how they do it :-/

Think they're just pulling your legs, last I remember you can order up to 2 different bicycles as long you put down a £50 deposit each (£100), both refundable.

Evans sell bikes with unglued tubs

I've seen bikes on the shop floor with unglued tubs, however I was under the impression that they'd glue them before the bikes went out of the shop?

That, or use a clincher wheelset from a different bike, since those bike tend to be very expensive, they're willing to go through the effort of changing the wheel and brakepads to make that sales.

Or perhaps they'll forget and the customer crashed within 5 metres of leaving the shop (it happened).

do you mean sloppy ? !

Nah not sloppy.
It's just when you shift with Sram, at least with the group I had, you have only two options: shifting and not shifting. And if you shift it's more like a moment accompanied by a loud 'TACK' sound.
With the campag you can also do anything in between,hence continuous.
Doing something in between though would mean you would be pushing the shifter only a little, and is never a problem. If you want to shift, it shifts and if you don't, it doesn't. It's just as accurate as the Sram I had, only, different.
Front derailleur on the new Athena doesn't have this continuous feel though.

In the end it's all down to preference and even that can be changed.

In the end it's all down to preference and even that can be changed.

Very true. Took me a while to get used to SRAM after Shimano but now, even running both on different bikes, I'm more than happy with either. They're just different. I like the clickiness of SRAM, and the rock-solid brake lever, but changing down a gear feels like a little less effort with Shimano. Swings and roundabouts.

^^ trimming on Campag is nice. Dumping it down 2 or 3 cogs works best with campag too, IMHO. Some people hate the little paddles but they work fine for me.

The perfect mechanical groupset:

Sram for changing up clakiness on those flimsy levers that weigh nothing.
Campag for multiple changes and trim.
New Shimano for front mech, brakes, cassettes, chains, cables, cranks, BBs, chainrings, price.

Best thing about campagnolo is climbing on the tops, shifting with your little finger as the hill crests.

Best thing about campagnolo is climbing on the tops, shifting with your little finger as the hill crests.

I felt pretty cool when I figured out I could do this now

Best thing about campagnolo is...

...simultaneously changing down gear and braking coming into a hairpin on a fast descent.

Changing down >>>

#56t

pinky shifting <<<<

^^^^ You can do that with shimano. Practice away from the cliff edge though.

You can, but nowhere near as smoothly and easily - I'll tend to shift before braking, if I shift at all.