Your Preferred Groupset ...

My vote goes to Shimano. I really like Campagnolo's appearance, performance, and the fact that the brifters can be repaired, but I don't like the price.

Shimano is more reasonably priced and pretty close in appearance and performance, and I have yet to have an STI lever go bad so I haven't had to deal with replacing it. But I only have one bike that is equipped with STI levers and it gets less riding time (400 or so miles a year) than most of my old downtube shifter bikes so I probably won't have to deal with it for quite some time. Another reason for my choice of Shimano is availability in my area. All of the bike shops in this area, and there are quite a few, carry a wide range of Shimano, but usually have to order Campy.

I don't dislike SRAM, I just never used it much and not at all on any of my bikes. I am not particularly fond of its appearance, but I can't fault its performance. I do use SRAM chains on all of my bikes and I use a SRAM cassette on my Shimano 105 equipped Raleigh, but I don't use any of their other components.

I wish that the Maeda Industries' Suntour components were still being made. I have a nice vintage Lotus with a Suntour Radius drivetrain, Suntour Cyclone wheels, and Suntour Cyclone brakes, and I like the appearance and performance of this old stuff.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by kdelong [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I wish that the Maeda Industries' Suntour components were still being made. I have a nice vintage Lotus with a Suntour Radius drivetrain, Suntour Cyclone wheels, and Suntour Cyclone brakes, and I like the appearance and performance of this old stuff.

I used to like the Sach gear in the mid 90's, basically re-branded campy @ a reasonable price [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif[/IMG]

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by gman0482 [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I am in the process of upgrading my components, and trying to decide if I want to stay with Shimano, or maybe go with a different setup. Lots of choices out there, many models within each of these makes.

I have a chance to grab a 2010 used (3k miles) Campy Centaur 8-pc set for around $500. There are many many different other options.

I know that Record, Red, and DA are the top dawgs, and I'm not planning on them unless I find that rare deal. I just spent some $$ on a new wheelset so not trying to brake my bank that much.

What is your favorite set and why ?

Thanks
-Greg

Campagnolo is the most functional, reliable and maintainable. shimano a second but only because if the levers fail, warranty or throw away. sram a distant 3rd. Poor reliability, BB, chainrings, cogsets, chains. Poor der action, FD. VERY finicky when der cables/housing degrade any. Gore is a waste of $, when the plastic [censored] on the cable frays, the whole mess stops working. I have warrantied about a dozen sram levers for broken levers.

Veloce and 5700 shimano both are superior to sram anything including red. Deep pockets, well marketed of 'average' stuff.

I have a mixture of Shimano/Campy and Suntour on my Trek. My Specialized is still in stock form with Shimano Sora/Tiagra and a Sugino crankset, but I am in the process of upgrading to Shimano Ultegra. Although I would love to have both of my road bikes equipped with 100% Campy, I simply can not afford it. So I would have to say Shimano simply because of the reliability and how flooded the aftermarket is with Shimano parts, making it very easy to obtain them for reasonable prices. I have no experience with Sram at all, so I can't really comment. But if you go by the list of pros who use Sram (Lance, Alberto, the Schlecks... did I mention Lance?) then Sram must be doing something right. Of course, what they are doing right might be having deep pockets, but whatever.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by stevegreer [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

But if you go by the list of pros who use Sram (Lance, Alberto, the Schlecks... did I mention Lance?) then Sram must be doing something right. Of course, what they are doing right might be having deep pockets, but whatever.

You forgot Cancellara, Basso and Nibali... [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif[/IMG]

i have tried and owned them all. easy of use, shimano dura ace, so soft!
sram it is just super light which i have in a colnago trying to make it light since the frame is heavy
campy in a pinarello, beacuse it has to be al italian
they are all good, it is basically what you look for, price, reliability or weight

carlos
www.bikingthings.com

Funny that this topic would spring up and I'd get into a conversation about old components with old racing friends at the same time.

I loved the old Suntour Superbe Pro stuff. I wish that I had the money to get it when I was a kid. That and the "real" Campag Super Record stuff and the first gen Campag C Record with the cobalto blue inserts on the brakes that followed. Nice...

I still have a soft spot for 7400 Dura Ace. The chainsets were ace and everything just worked so well and the brake levers that were just brake levers were so much more comfortable. It's good to see that Di2 electric shift levers are getting to be almost as svelt as those.

Today I just roll with Dura Ace stuff. A fair bit of the stuff I have on the training bike was ebay fodder (7800 replacing ancient stuff that was past due replacing from the 80s and 90s) and the new Cracknfail came with DuraAce 7900. Awesome stuff.

hope i don't touch off a [censored] here but I'm going to put a vote in for microshift.

I'm not a racer, but a pretty avid cyclist. I will admit i've got limited experience with any thing else having started on a shimano equipped flat bar last year and changing it over to a drop bar setup with Microshift brifters but I have ridden for a bit on some rental tiagra and 105 bikes on a couple of vacations i've been on. Plain and simple, Microshift brifters are $120 and in my opinon work as well as the 105stuff I rode on at 1/3rd the price.
I also have a road bike equipped with Microshift brifters and ultegra compact with ultegra long cage RD. It's not the easiest bike to shift from the drops but it is FAR better than SORA

The OP seems to be interested in higher end stuff so perhaps microshift won't fit the bill. I am unfamiliar with the Microshift ARSIS series which is supposed to be their higher end offering

If I was getting a groupset today, I'd go for a Dura-Ace 7800. I guess I'm a Shimano guy, and the price:quality ratio for 7800 at the moment is amazing, as there are some awesome deals online at the moment.
Yes, Shimano levers are not readily repairable, but they last FOREVER! :-) All my 8sp levers did about 50,000km, and all my 9sp DA levers are still faultless, with about 30,000km on them.

If I was a Campag guy, I'd probably go for Chorus, but I ain't a Campag guy. :-)
This is nitpicky, but compared to Shimano, changing Campag gear levers is a bit of a pain, but I suppose ya don't haffta do that every month.

I've had Shimano both MB and RB they work flawlessly. My newest bike is a RB that i put up together with Ultegra 6600 this works like a dream. After comparing it to 105 which I own in my older bike it feels better, this 105 is and old model. The new 105 vs Ultegra I don't see much difference I think 105 is a great group. Have owned some Campagnolo components and I have no complains only the price and less availability in my zone. SRAM I don''t like, here they are too expensive and can't see any advantage.
My MB wll be "overhauled" and I'm looking for some Shimano SLX or XT all depends in my budget.