Some friends of mine are set to buy new road bikes from an LBS here in Seattle called R&E Cycles. I've heard good things about both the store and their line of Rodriguez steel frames, but am a bit concerned about the component groups that come with the bikes they're looking at. It's either Shimano Sora for $1400 or Campy Mirage for $1700. Centaur's completely out of their price range at $2200. How good are either of these groups, and are there any specific components within each group that they should try to upgrade, such as the brakes? Seattle's a very hill town and good brakes are essential here.
Oops, my mistake. Veloce is actually $2200, and I didn't even bother to ask about Centaur.
-- Kovie [email hidden]
"Kovie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:_fHCc.139669$3x.51437@attbi_s54...
Quoted message said:
Some friends of mine are set to buy new road bikes from an LBS here in Seattle called R&E Cycles. I've heard good things about both the store and their line of Rodriguez steel frames, but am a bit concerned about the component groups that come with the bikes they're looking at. It's either Shimano Sora for $1400 or Campy Mirage for $1700. Centaur's completely out of their price range at $2200. How good are either of these groups, and
are
Quoted message said:
there any specific components within each group that they should try to upgrade, such as the brakes? Seattle's a very hill town and good brakes
Some friends of mine are set to buy new road bikes from an LBS here in Seattle called R&E Cycles. I've heard good things about both the store and their line of Rodriguez steel frames, but am a bit concerned about the component groups that come with the bikes they're looking at. It's either Shimano Sora for $1400 or Campy Mirage for $1700. Centaur's completely out of their price range at $2200. How good are either of these groups, and are there any specific components within each group that they should try to upgrade, such as the brakes? Seattle's a very hill town and good brakes are essential here.
Mirage group offers good value and is actually functionally very similar to Veloce (and Centaur for the most part). The brake calipers themselves are superb but it's worth upgrading the shoes/pads to Kool Stop Salmon to get orbital adjustment (along with a very effective pad compound).
The rest is fine. No point in upgrading until things wear out or something /much/ better can be afforded. Steel chainring could eventually be upgraded to an aluminium one.
On the other hand, a clever mixture of groups could be put together if able to specify individual components (rather than buying then upgrading) - eg: Mirage Ergos and crankset, Centaur BB, Xenon derailleurs & hubs, Veloce brakes (or Mirage with Kool Stops).
kovie-<< I've heard good things about both the store and their line of Rodriguez steel frames, but am a bit concerned about the component groups that come with the bikes they're looking at. It's either Shimano Sora for $1400 or Campy Mirage for $1700. Centaur's completely out of their price range at $2200 >><BR><BR>
How about Veloce?
All Campagnolo share many small parts, like shift innards and of course, these Campagnolo levers are maintainable, convertible, repairable.
Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302 (303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"
