Originally Posted by Med!c

So I have a cracked frame, and I bought one very similar to the GT from nashbar for 100 bucks. IT's sort of a carry over frame to keep my mtb needs fullfilled until I save for a good frame. Possibly a full suspension. I'm looking towards getting good parts that I can eventually carry over. I've been looking towards the shimano saint series 2x10 system. However, I cant simply find a group set. Do they not sell these as a group set or what? SAme thing goes with the shimano zee. What is the reason for this?

I've been looking into the shimano stuff for a while now, but out of the blue a friend wants to convert me to sram stuff. He said their stuff has really
improved over the past couples years and that I should really consider them. But then he started talking about x5 and x7 parts which is not the level of quality I"m looking for. So I'm kind of doubtful now about his opinion. The shimano vs sram threads dont seem to be very helpful either. IT seems to be mostly filled with brand fans and there isnt much discussion over why one system is better than the other and technicalities. I currently have a mixed setup actually and it was good when all the parts were new, kinda eh now though. So I guess my second question is, when youre comparing sram and shimano sets that are on the same level, like the saint and x0 would I actually notice any difference? And is there any reason to go with one over the other?