Originally Posted by amazinmets73
Alfeng, what cassette, rear derailleur size, and crankset would you recommend for this build? Also, how do I find out which bottom bracket and front derailleur clamp size my frame requires?
Regardless of the BRAND of components & regardless of the gearing that you choose,
I would always prefer a medium-to-long cage rear derailleur ...
- because I am not racing, I don't mind dragging a few extra links of chain around as I pedal
- so, the longer the cage better.
- the EXCEPTION would be if you are racing & using an 11-23 Cassette
THAT means, that if I were equipping the bike with
Shimano shifters, I would probably use an SGS cage
XT rear derailleur ... specifically, a
Rapid Rise rear derailleur if I were using Shimano shifters.
If I were using
Campagnolo shifters (
almost any generation & model), then I would prefer a 9-speed XT-or-XTR rear derailleur (
because it's what I have -- by my reckoning, the old XTR 950 is essentially an 8-speed 105 rear derailleur with a longer cage & different cosmetic finish) ... but, that's more of a cost issue vs. a Campagnolo rear derailleur. If you get a Campagnolo rear derailleur, then I recommend you get one which has a "medium" or "long" cage (
I think that Campagnolo's medium cage rear derailleur is a little shorter than Shimano's long Road cage rear derailleurs ... it is easily long enough for use with their Cassettes which have a 29t largest Cog).
Now, the Cassette & Crankset that YOU choose
really depends on the type of riding which you are planning AND how strong a rider you are.
MOST steel frames use an
English threaded BB ... the exceptions are Colnago, De Rosa, Olmo, presumably Pinarello ...
I think the choice can be as much as an aesthetic choice as a budgetary one ...
I think that the ONLY (?) type which I would recommend against are BBs with an ISIS spline only because there seemed to have been an inconsistency in the quality of the bearings.
Some/Many people have had a disappointing experience with FSA's MegaExo BBs ... if you choose an FSA crankset, it is apparently a safer bet to opt for Shimano Hollowtech II BB cups (
they are NOT perfect ... some have thread which were machined to NASA tolerances which means that they are too tight to thread into a frame without knocking down the threads).
The front derailleur for most steel framed bikes will have a
28.6mm clamp (
or, be a braze-on front derailleur).
- if you are CX racing, the trend in Europe has been to only have a Single chainring for over a decade ...
- and, THAT setup is become more in vogue, here, too.
Originally Posted by amazinmets73
Athena and Chorus are out of my price range. The groupsets I had in mind were Ultegra, Rival22, and Centaur. There's also a guy in my area selling a used 10 speed Record group. What makes you recommend Campagnolo? I've never ridden it
As one might suppose, despite what the marketing people and/or professional reviewers would have you believe, there isn't a
perfect component group ...
Campagnolo is handicapped by generally HIGH prices + an incorrectly presumed lack of compatibility with components from other manufacturers.
IMO, Shimano is
only handicapped by a design legacy which involves an eccentric take-up spool for its shifters, The shifters ARE a bit porky.
SRAM is handicapped by terrible customer service in North America and, although elegant-AND-clever, its Double-Tap shift mechanism.
IMO, despite the cost of the disposable components, Campagnolo shifters are the most economical because they are NOT disposable ...
- one of the so-called selling points which others like to mention is that Campagnolo shifters can be rebuilt Campagnolo Record/Chorus derailleurs can be rebuilt too ...
- the other Campagnolo derailleurs have rivets instead of bolts
- for me, the MAIN selling point of Campagnolo shifters is that they work better regardless of the brand of derailleurs which are attached to them clean shifts without the chain skating on the tops of the teeth
- or the chain being thrown however, a chain catcher MAY be necessary with a Triple
[*]regardless of the load that the drivetrain is under
[*]secondarily, the 11-speed Campagnolo shifters can be used with 11-/10-/9-/8-/7-speed Shimano/-compatible components with only minor fiddling ...
What's not to like?
BTW. I think that the dodgy Campagnolo PowerTorque cranks were designed/spec'd/released to make the UltraTorque cranks more desirable! I would recommend AGAINST a PowerTorque crankset, so if you do opt for mostly Centaur components (for example), then choose a non-group crankset OR an UT crankset from an earlier iteration of the group.
The Athena-and-below shifters now have the Xenon-based mechanism ...
That's "okay"; but, the UltraShift (Record & Chorus AND older post-2009 V3 shifters) are better -- the UltraShift shifters have a more-familiar-mechanism AND (AFAIK) actually lighter than their PowerShift brethren.
SOME people
love SRAM ...
- some people thought the Emperor's new clothes was good looking, too!
This past weekend, I was just talking with someone who had set up (about a year-and-a-half ago) a CX frame with a SRAM Red group ...
He prefers to ride his OTHER bike which has 9-speed Shimano Dura Ace components.
He
still can't wrap his head around the fact that Campagnolo shifters work VERY WELL with Shimano drivetrains even though he knows that I have been using the mis-matched components for over 10 years.