Daniel 62

trying to understand the Shimano systems, I have Acera, and Alivio, which I assume are entry level

whats the pecking order on the different sets? and whats the main differences

I hear alot about Deore, and Altus, Any benefit to upgrading to Deore?


thanks

Dave

fietsbob

Yea to make a bike more affordable, the price point of the parts is lower.

but really its the chain and sprockets is what moves the bike.
the derailleurs just shove it from one to another..

IthaDan 

https://mc2.vicnet.net.au/home/vichpv...manoparts.html

Sometimes its easily quantifiable or identifiable- for example the number of speeds or whether the chainrings are replaceable.

But more often, especially as you go upmarket, the main differences revolve around manufacturing tolerances, bushing/bearing types and tolerances, finish and material of the parts (and weight). Paraphrased: "Quality".

jimc101

Nice listing, but unfortunately very out of date, with groupsets and speeds which aren't used anymore.

If you look at the Shimano TechDocs,https://techdocs.shimano.com/techdocs/index.jsp it will give you a basic idea.

from the top
For XC
XTR
XT
SLX
Deore
Alivio
Acera
Atlus
Tourney

For Freeride / DH
Saint
Hone
Zee

There are also a lot of non series parts which fit in all over the place.

bobotech

I actually prefer the first link. I am exposed mainly to bikes in the 5-8 speed range and myself was curious about the rankings. So the first list was awesome on explaining where a part that I find at the coop lies.

surreal

Jim,

your listing isn't exactly up-to-date either. Hone and Altus are long gone, although lots of NOS exists for Altus, plus I suspect they still make some of the bits as replacement parts for outmoded set-ups. You cannot get an Altus group, or even an Altus derailer. Not new, anyways. Seems like Acera has gone the way of the buffalo;it's no longer listed on the site, anyway. Can still buy "new" Acera parts online, though.

Listing "Tourney" under the mtb groups seems malicious; anyone who puts Tourney ANYthing on an actual trail bike oughta be locked up. =P

To the OP: don't upgrade any of your stuff til it breaks. Once you do, Deore is the the cheapest one that is worth buying new, in my opinion. Cheap enough, good enough. Getting the now-defunct LX stuff on closeout is the best bet these days; no telling how long it'll last.

-rob

jimc101

Well Shimano still list Hone on Tech docs as a reference group, and they don't have the new Vee listed yet. Atlus is still going, and is fitted to 2012 bikes, under M310 parts; Acera is still going strong, and had a revamp for 2011.

Tourney is listed as a MTB groupset, and it was poor previously, but it's going road from 2013; and looking very good as that , it's pretty hard to keep an accurate list of Shimano groupsets, but it gives an idea, and is recent, the probelm with the link, was it was listing LX, good as that is, it has been a touring groupset for over 5 years now.

surreal

I see you're in the UK, Jim. We got a different list of offerings over here in the USA, entirely. The Zee is s'posed to debut in 2013, but I reckon we'll see it sometime later this year. They just ditched LX here entirely, which is a shame, as it was good stuff. In the States, they ditched LX and the largely identical Hone at the same time, to make way for the slightly upmarket SLX, which was supposed to replace both of em.

I agree re: the incomprehensible "organization" of Shimano components. But Tourney becoming something decent? That's completely mind-blowing.

-rob

ps- Tourney originally was a road group, in the 70s. I have a set of Tourney centerpulls in my parts bin; no clue how they got there. They are absolutely ghastly

Andrew R Stewart 

The big issue with trying to track what Shimano calls things is that it is a marketing focused company. Yes, they claim/have a strong design base. But the enginering supports the sales. So they will rebadge older designs with cheaper finishes, bushings or materials and call it something new. I will say that their stuff does work well. but you do need to drink the Kool Aid... Andy.