I just got off the phone with Shimano, anyway he told me the part I was looking for was no longer available. I asked him to recommend a replacement. He indicated that I should try to stick around the Shimano Deore product line (entry-level) or even the Shimano SLX. He indicated that you have a higher availability of replacement parts and that they last much longer. Is this correct? Also what are the Shimano product lines in terms of lower end (entry-level) all the way up to high end?

Thanks

Shimano makes (as example) rear ders that retail for as little as $15 or over $700, the Deore line actually sits about at the half way point WRT numbers of lines (not, though, in price). Most don't consider Deore as entry level in the least. I suppose one could further refine their scale and only include the lines that are designed to appeal to "sporting" riders (and dropping out Tourney, Altus, Acera, Aliveo and other lower cost lines) and make a claim that Deore is the base of the "performance" lines. But that's using opinion to support marketing rubbish talk.


Deore is found on many $1500ish touring bikes because it handles the gearing range that loaded touring needs, is well enough made to not be a demerit, works well, is quite durable in the aspects that actually count and isn't too expensive (at around $60 if bought separately).



I agree with the recommendation of using Deore but not the "entry level" description.


A quick viewing of the Shimano website will give you the complete and current Shimano line up and in less time then it took to write this. Andy

What is the bike in question? Is it a mountain-bike? What are the other parts like? What specific part are you needing to replace?

In broad general terms I agree about Deore and SLX as good places to be, but some details about your specific bike and application would help us to provide more targeted advice.

It's primarily road bike downtown Washington DC. It will stay parked overnight.

First I would decide on how many speeds I want. More speeds will be more expensive, but not necessarily be more durable. Like 8-speed is the bottom, and it goes up to 11-speed for Shimano, which can be combined with cranks that have 1-2 chainrings and multiplies number of gears. Then pick the lower one of the ones that have your desired number of speeds if you just care about durability, the higher one if you care about weight but not cost. The lighter (and more expensive) option can be less durable. Light, durable, cheap - pick two.

All of them will shift fine. Typically the more speeds the more "premium" all features will be. If you want special features (like clutch) you end up with higher lines.

Too many people just pick a line because they are told that is good, or good enough. But the actual gearing and number of gears is more important to how you feel. Maybe you feel better with a 3x8, maybe better with a 1x11. so gearing should be first decision, then the brand name.

What part are you looking for/looking to repair? I live in the DC area and have lots of experience with building robust city-oriented bikes. Might have just what you need in my parts stash...for free!

Donor bike parts - the trick to keep from turning a cheap old bike into an expensive old bike that has a few new parts.

From my knowledge and experience:
Equipment classes

Interesting and informative web page. I can't help but thinking of the outrage of Campy lovers must have expressed from seeing you equate Athena with Tiagra!

Deore sounds great for that. Good performance, yet zero bling factor to attract too much attention and you are not out too much money if it gets swiped

Highest to lowest roughly:
Xtr
Xt
Slx/saint/zee
Deore lx
Deore
Alivio
Acera
Altus
Tourney (TZ, TX series)
Sis

There are others like Revoshift shifters (RS series), Ezyfire (EF series shifter/brake combo) and STX also.

I personally won't mind anything Altus and above.

Tourney and SIS fd and rd are fine. Only parts i have issue with are shifters which are clunky and some Tourney shifter/brake combo which have plastic levers.

Revoshift takes more force to shift than trigger shifters but reasonably precise and better than Tourney.

If you don't care about names, just look at the model numbers. Bigger number = higher level.

Must add some disclaimer that it's just for orientation, a groupset class rough guide, not carved in stone.

HillRider,

Thanks for the site. Being new to all the 'biking' paraphernalia and product badging this site will help me on my learning curve journey.

This is a very helpful reference table....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimano#Cycling

I think it is true that is what some peoples’ stereotype is of high end stuff like XT and XTR.

However, I also think it is totally inaccurate. It is every bit as durable as mid-range stuff like Deore and arguable more so than the entry level stuff.

parked overnight in a secure lock up or on the street?

If on the street go cheap so you won't lose much when (not If) it's Stolen.

I have 30 year old Dura Ace which still functions like new. The new stuff may not have that longevity but i would be surprised if it wasn't extremely reliable. There was a guy here recently who said he had 25000 miles on 9000 series Dura Ace.

Don't make them like they used to. That's been my experience.
For durability and function quality (quickness of shifting, resistance to abuse, time between tune ups/service...), going over the mid class range doesn't do much - mostly (not always for every type of equipment) reduced weight, sometimes (not always and not for the same types of equipment, not the same for every groupset) at the expense of durability.

Having said all that, when set up correctly and with good maintenance, even the low end stuff works well - while the high end stuff works wonderfully, with diminishing improvements with class/price increase - as with most other products.

Yup! How thin can you slice the baloney?

The highest cost parts really are nicer, but even the lowest end parts do actually work. In real life the functionality goes up linearly but the price rises exponentially. Each step up costs almost twice as much as the previous level. There are so many levels that the functional difference between adjacent groups is usually too subtle for me to notice. As you can see, Deore ranks in about the middle. That's why Andrew Stewart resisted the "low end" comment.

I've gotten significantly more than that on 8-speed and 9-speed 105 groups.

This is for the old 7200 3 x 8 speed you posted about earlier? I would say just go with something cheap but functional. Altus, Acera, or Alivio. Something like that. Deore is a overkill, IMO. You indicated it would be parked outside, exposed to the elements and bike thieves. And, it was only going to get a couple of miles/day use anyway.

That was a fairly comprehensive list, but I'm going to make a few changes. Mainly because Saint & Zee are in the wrong place.
I'm going to make a few qualifiers and changes.

The Saint & Zee components are designed for DH mountain biking. They're heavier and more robust than their XTR/SLX brothers.

In terms of functionality, generally things get smoother and better working up to the XT/Ultegra level, with XTR and Dura-Ace being about the latest features and lowest weight.

105/SLX/XT/Ultegra/XTR/Dura-Ace are all currently 11-speed rear systems. Below that you typically lose 1 gear per groupset tier.

I currently have bikes with everything from Alivio to Ultegra & XTR. A new Deore derailleur will out-perform an old worn XTR derailleur. Design improves and components wear. Deore/105 have excellent shifting, the shifts get marginally lighter above that. New Deore brakes will blow 3 generation old XTR brakes out of the water. There is no comparison.

The sweet-spot for price/performance is probably SLX or 105/Ultegra, these have all the features of their higher brothers but at lower cost. A lot depends on sale pricing and where you're getting stuff from.

OP is looking to replace parts on an old Trek 7200 he bought for $40 to commute a couple of miles per day in Washington DC, and would likely be parked outside exposed to the elements. It would seriously be overkill to put SLX, 105 or Ultegra components on such a bike. This bike would seem to be a candidate for maybe looking for used donor parts from a bike coop parts bin, or alternately, going with the cheapest Shimano or similar quality part available.

^^^^^^
That's what I think too. To do otherwise is just converting a cheap old bike into an expensive old bike that happens to have a couple of new parts.