AEsco48

and ultegra and chourus for serious road riders....thats what a buy at my LBS said....

The_Convert

rofl

new LBS time. Hopefully they do more than just read the sales brochures.

Patriot

I think, therefore I am.

I pose, therefore I have Record.

my58vw

I race so I have 105, I pose so I have DA... hmmm!

In some ways that is true, which rec rider or even serious road rider need to save a small amount of weight to go to DA or record...

Of course it suprises me that an LBS would say that... I am sure more money is made in DA than the other groupos...

Sprocket Man

so, following the bike shop employee's line of reasoning, 105 and Centaur for casual road riding, Tiagra and Veloce for using the bike to run errands, and Sora and Mirage for people who buy their bikes to fill the empty space in their laundry room. Mmmmm. . . it's all starting to make sense.

labratmatt

Make sense to me. I agree. why would a person that is below serious road rider need anything better than 105/centaur?

AEsco48

my impression was that the record and dura ace were top of the line, best shifting, very low weight....and that the 2nd step down was top of the line, as good shifting....but a tad heavier....and if you were not compeating...a few extra grams was not going to kill you....also he was not selling me anything...he is a friend...

theopowers

If you follow many of the threads on the forum, you will find many many many "serious road riders" who are quite happy that they didn't spend the extra dough on Ultegra level stuff. His advice is good, as far as it goes, but the fact is that 105-level stuff is plenty good for any non-racer, and many are very satisfied with Tiagra or "even" Sora.

OneTinSloth

not really. the higher end stuff is most commonly bought online, so more often than not, people looking to buy that stuff will be looking for a price comparable to the OBS price, which is ridiculous, because based on prices i've seen, an online shop is making like, $100-$300 per group (unless they order them in very large quantities, or get it straight from the big S), on DA or record. the lower end stuff is easier to have a larger mark-up, and make more money on. so, based on the assumption that a consumer shopping for high-end kit is also an educated, and price-wise consumer, the LBSes can't charge too much more for the pricier items...or at least, they shouldn't.

then again, the sheer volume of sales that an OBS like performance, or colorado cyclist do on higher end stuff probably makes up for the small profit margins.

Surferbruce

any salesman who tells you 105 isn't race quality has some thing to sell you.

monogodo

The US Women's National Team used to race with Ultegra (back in 1990). At the time, it was lighter than DA, and roughly half the price.

'nother

Gah. Any salesman who tells you anything has something to sell you. True salesmen have no "Off" button.

markhr

take the LBS out and shoot it - XT / Chorus / Rohloff all work beautifully and are significantly cheaper than DA/Record. If you want the extra bling and don't mind the difference in price then go for it. You certainly won't regret it as Record/DA are both very nice groupsets. Personally for the relatively small weight loss/performance gain I just can't justify the extra expense.

gknep

From the Campy 2005 product range catalog/brochure "The chorus groupset is intended for use in competitions." So it looks like the LBS is not even reading the brochures. As to the comparison with shimano my understanding (based on my reading of the marketing materials ) is that Record is considered in a class by itself, chorus matches up with DA, Centaur matches up with Ultegra, and Veloce with 105. I have ridden 105 and been happy, I currently ride Centaur and am happier. Basically I am a happy guy.

55/Rad

Why would I take the chance of ruining my beautiful DA and Record groups by racing with them? Isn't that what 105 is for?

Besides, the Saturday night Circle K Bakersfield honeys won't look at you if you aren't sportin' at least Ultegra shined to a spit polish.

55/Rad

53-11_alltheway

Probably a lot of truth in that. Anybody buying top shelf stuff Record/DA/zero gravity brakes most likely shops online for the big discounts. Plus carrying those items ties up $$ in inventory as well.

OneTinSloth

when i was shopping around for a new group, i looked at centaur, and even with my employee discount at my shop, it was almost better for me to shop through excel sports. i tried to talk my boss into giving me a better deal on the stuff, since, y'know, i work there and everything. but he just kinda brushed me off (this is a guy who, in my first week, GAVE me a nice old brooks saddle, and in the first three months gave me an old specialized steel frame).

i never wound up getting a new group (buyer for my old stuff fell through), but the point is, even on the lesser expensive stuff, the online places still aren't making too much...they can't be, having seen the wholesale costs, there's just no way. my guess is, a lot of them just have arrangements with their distributors to have stuff drop-shipped to the customer...or if they do keep 'em in stock, they get ridiculous volume deals. at the prices some of those places have if they're not getting volume deals, they're either hemmoraging money, or they have extremely low overhead costs. it boggles my mind.

i'd love to work for one of those places, just to see how it actually works.

Zurich

Your LBS is full of sheez. Infact, I hate bike shops.

53-11_alltheway

I think what they are trying to say is that it isn't neccessary to spend the extra money on DA/REcord if you aren't racing. Doesn't mean you can't spend your money on it if you want to though.

Honestly, I agree. I keep wanting to get Campy 10s, but my ultegra 9s works so well I really have a hard time justifying the expense.

royalflash

thats pretty much the bottom line

socalrider

Ultegra and Chorus are both solid and equal in performance to the higher end groups.. If it were my money I would go with Ultegra, fortunately I was given my DA Groups..

Take the extra money you'll save and get a 2nd set of wheels..

Jakey

Not nearly as many poseur ponts for ultegra and chorus. And c'mon... thats really what its all about anyway.

DinoShepherd

When I was college racing, the common thread was not components, but poverty.

These serious racers generally had a conglomeration of whatever decent parts they could piece together. The common them was a good frame and fork, but components were generally a mixed bag.

My personal bike at the time had 105, Ultegra, D-A, Mavic and Campagnolo parts sprinkled throughout.

Dura-Ace and Record were for the guys who had real jobs who couldn't ride full time.

-Z

AEsco48

thats exactyl what he is saying


im a big fan of F1 as well....