Originally Posted by Retro Grouch

How thin can you slice the baloney?

The marketing folks at Shimano have the responsibility to extract the maximum amount of money that each bicycle user is willing to spend for every component. That's why they have so many different price points. The truth is they all, even the most entry level Tourney components work but the higher priced offerings really are nicer: they work more crisply, they are lighter in weight and they look more attractive.

Here's the interesting part. If you were to graft the performance of the different parts group, the line would be pretty straight. If you were to graft the prices, however, you'd find a more exponential curve.

The decision is easy if you have either an unlimited budget or a "cheapest of everything" budget. The rest of us just decide where our price gag point lives and buy that.