am possibly about to buy a road bike rolling chassis (frame/forks/stem/bars/wheels), but need a groupset.

i don’t know much about road bikes at all!

i’m guessing 10 speed, possibly a compact chainset (is that right? i live in the alps and don’t want a dinner plate big ring!).

don’t have a huge budget – £300-£350 tops, really.

if it were a mtb i’d just go 2nd hand, but i don’t know much about compatibility, and living in france, means i’d rather buy all together as opposed to single bits, as the postage would be a lot (everything here seems silly expensive 2nd hand…)

any good deals around? UK or german shops (perhaps?). i’d rather have proper STIs – up and down shift from the brake lever, as opposed to that little button on the hoods of the cheaper shimano stuff.

shimano or SRAM?

basically – HELP!

I’d save up a little bit more and get this:

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+Shop/Road+Parts/Transmission/Groupsets+-+Road+Bike/Shimano+105+5700+Groupset+-+Silver_5700-GROUPSET-S.htm

If it was me… 🙂

Can’t go wrong with shimano 105 – £350 at Merlin

this on djflexure?

i take it the one you linked to teetosugars is a later version?

does the 105 have the shifters i want?

105 is a bit more than 350 @ Merlin but basically you wont go wrong

Ive ridden in the Alps and a compact would be fine
Triples are for losers and MTBers LMAO

you have to try the hoods and shifters out first, everyone’s hands are different and you may get on better with a particular type (i gan’t get on with the thumb shifter of campag or the doubletap sram)

105 5600 is £360 on merlin

i’ve realised that triples are not the done thing 😉

have used shimano shifters before, so pretty sure i’ll be happy with them. not keen on the hood based lever though – want to make sure 105 doesn’t have this?

Blimey I stand corrected

Buy DJF’s rec immediately

Great price
50/34 on the front and 12-25 cassette will be fine
You will swear a lot on the climbs then find some fitness and MTFU

Honestly those ratios will be fine for the Alps
Dont listen to the triple or 27 tooth brigade

cool. s’all right, i’m bringing my SS out here for this summer as it is…

hmm, if i sign up for their newsletter, i get another 10% off… £335 for 105 groupset and some bar tape, with free delivery to france.

think i’ve found a steal of a frame/forks/wheels to put it on too.

‘Shimano or Sram?’…..Campag!

Although to be fair at that budget i’d get 105 😳

I’d get the sram apex for £350 from Merlin:

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+Shop/Road+Parts/Transmission/Groupsets+-+Road+Bike/SRAM+Apex+Groupset_APEX-GROUP-OFFER.htm

Still a double but will take an 11-32 cassette so you could ignor all the MTFU advice and sit and spin like you do on your mountain bike 🙂

105 does have the levers you want – push the brake lever to shift one way, and the little lever just behind it for the other.

I bought 5600 105 from Merlin in the 10% off Christmas sale. It’s last year’s model, which means that it has the “washing line” external gear cable routing, rather than having both brake and gear cables under the bar tape as you get on 5700, but at that price it’d be very hard to justify paying for 5700.

Campag is far better than 105… You can pick up 11speed athena with ali crank for 420quid.

Better made, nicer shifting. Rebuildable if it ever goes wrong.