Originally Posted by
bigredkevbot
I think you may outgrow a 10-speed group. In any case my reasons against number 1) I don't like Focus bikes. I find their brand to be flashy with less substance. I think the Sram Force groupset is more suited to cyclo-cross type endeavors, and for performance sake, an Ultegra group is more suited.
With the Cannondale they used an FSA crank instead of keeping a full groupset, and the bike is already 4+ years old. I would want a full brand group with a bike. That being said, I just re-read your post and noted that the Wilier has a Wilier/FSA crank. Im not sure what this means, could you elaborate?
Wut?!
Normally, I wouldn't respond, but there is a lot of misinformation here.
You don't "outgrow" a 10 speed groupset -- that's just the number of cogs in the cassette. Many hardcore cyclists would argue that you typically only use about 7 to 8 of them, and many people feel that 9 speed Dura-Ace was the best ever shifting groupset. More cogs only mean that you can stay in the same narrow pedaling cadence range over a larger range of paces, or you can add in one more lower bail-out gear because you're not strong enough to climb a particular hill on your ride. Eddy Merckx won 5 Tour de France overall with a 5 speed bike, riding faster than anybody on the forum could with today's 11 speed bikes.
Focus is "flashy with less substance"? They are German engineered and don't seem to market their bikes any differently from most bike brands.
"Sram Force groupset is more suited to cyclo-cross"?!? You realize that Sram Force was originally designed as Sram's top of the line road group to compete as an equivalent to Shimano Dura-Ace and Campy Record/Super Record, don't you? It has nothing to do with CX.
"Cannondale... used an FSA crank instead of keeping a full groupset... I would want a full brand group with a bike." You realize that that bike has a BB30 bottom bracket shell, and Shimano does NOT make BB30 cranks, right? Since FSA does make BB30 cranks, that is why that is spec'ed with the bike. You can only run a Shimano crank in BB30 shell if you run an adapter, and many people feel that you give up the advantage of the stiffer crank spindle if you do that (Shimano and others would argue that a 24 mm spindle is as stiff as you ever need, there is more deflection at the BB shell than in the crank spindle). Since Cannondale introduced the BB30 concept, they prefer to spec a bike with a BB30 crank so they don't give ammo to the naysayers. If they supplied all their Shimano bikes with Shimano cranks, it would basically be admitting that BB30 has no advantage over a threaded BB.
The Wilier/FSA crank is simply an FSA crank that is branded with a Wilier logo. Also to nitpick, some people may disagree that "Wilier makes outstanding bikes" as Wilier frames are made in Taiwan (there may also be some made in China, I'm not sure). However, this is true of all 3 of the bikes the OP mentioned, all made under contract in Asian factories for the particular bike company. If you want a bike frame made by the bike company, you're looking either at small boutique brands/builders or at the larger company sizes, companies like Time, Look, and some companies that make their highest level frames in house (like BMC Impec, Trek Madone 7 or whatever the highest number is now).
I do agree there are some advantages to buying new over used. However, you can also get a lot of bang for your buck if you get a well-kept used bike.