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What’s a gruppo or groupset in cycling?

10.20.2016 by Scott Jangro // Leave a Comment

When searching and shopping for your next (or first!) road bike, you’ll probably come across the term “Gruppo”.

In cycling, gruppo is another word for groupset, which is all of the mechanical parts that make up your drivetrain and brakes. Gruppo is an Italian word, which just means “group”, but it’s become an actual word for groupset in cycling.

When you purchase a groupset, you typically get brakes, shifters, derailleurs, bracket, crankset, and cables.

Besides the frame, the gruppo is a big part what defines the quality and value of a bicycle. There are three main manufacturers of groupsets, namely Shimano, SRAM, and Campagnolo. Each of them has different price points for their groupsets with increasing cost for performance and weight.

For example, Shimano has many levels from low to high: Claris, Sora, Tiagra, 105, Ultegra, and Dura-Ace. And when you’re purchasing a bike, paying close attention to which groupset is on the bike will give you good idea of it’s overall value, from entry-level to pro.

Which gruppo should you choose when buying a bike? That’s a whole topic in itself, and there are many pros and cons of each. As well as personal preferences. They all have their own feels, construction, and shifting models, and you should definitely try them all out to determine which is best for you.

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Categories // Components

The Triple or Compact Double Conundrum

10.03.2013 by Ray Niekamp // 11 Comments

I’m revisiting some of my favorite posts from the past, because lots of people who read Bike Noob now might not have seen them years ago. Here’s a post from 2009 that still get lots of page views. What do you ride — a compact double or a triple?

When I bought my bike just a year ago, I was weighing the pros and cons of getting it with a triple chainring, or a compact double. I knew I didn’t want a standard 52 x 39 double ring, but a 50 x 34 seemed to make some sense to me.

Some experienced biker friends recommended a compact double, declaring that I wouldn’t miss the third ring, because most of my riding would be done within the middle gears anyway. And the biking magazines and web sites indicated much the same thing, with the added bonus of smoother shifting.

So when I pulled the trigger and bought the bike, a compact double it was.

After today’s ride, I wish I had gotten the triple.

I turned out at 8 a.m., when the sky was still trying to decide if it would lighten up all the way. Since it was the first day of Daylight Savings Time, it was barely light enough to ride without head and tail lights. At Starbucks, where our bike club kicks off its rides, I had hoped to see several acquaintances who ride at about the same level as I do. Nope. So I figured I would have my work cut out for me trying to keep up with the strong riders in the club. Luckily, they were riding an out-and-back route that lets the rider pick a turnaround spot wherever he or she chooses.

Within three miles from the start, I could see I was in trouble. The peloton was quite far ahead of me, and I was thinking of breaking away on my own and riding a different route. But the ride leader was waiting for me at a corner ahead. We rode together, trying to maintain contact with the main group.

We turned onto Fitzhugh Road, a rural two-lane road that threads its way over rolling hills through small ranches. The hills became more frequent here, and the ride leader had trouble keeping to my plodding pace.

“There’s a guy up ahead who fell off the main pack,” he said. “Let’s catch him!”

For awhile, it seemed like we would. But then, I’d have to struggle up another hill, and when we finally crested it, the other rider’s orange jersey would be farther off in the distance. Finally, the ride leader figured that if we both couldn’t catch the other rider, at least he could, and he pulled away from me. Soon he was out of sight.

I neared the turnaround point, and there was the orange jersey, waiting at an intersection. He was new to the club, and I hadn’t met him before.

“I can’t hang with those guys,” he said. “I’m heading back from here.”

“This is where I’d always planned to turn around,” I answered.

We rode off together. The way back was less tough than the way out, because it was less uphill. But there were still hills aplenty. I was often down in the largest cog of the small chainring, and noticed that orange jersey, who was about 50 yards ahead of me, was pedaling with a faster cadence than I was, no matter if we were climbing hills or riding one of the rare flat stretches (we both coasted the downhills).

Less than three miles from the starting point, we hit the last series of hills. They were among the toughest of the day. Again, I watched him spin frantically as he pulled ahead of me. When we pulled into Starbucks at last, he said he was glad he had triple chainrings, or he would have had to get off and walk his bike up that last hill.

His friend, also a new member of the club, joined us about ten minutes later.

“Man, I wouldn’t have made it up those last two hills without my triple,” he said.

Both sang the praises of their triples. I wondered if I had made the right purchase decision last year. Looking back at the year’s riding, I realized I got stronger during the summer, and was able to handle most of what the terrain threw at me. But I also remembered walking the bike up a few hills, too.

I’ll be riding more, now that the days are longer, and I’ll be building my strength.  But I wonder — would I be better off with a triple?

Do you have any opinions, one way or the other?

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Categories // Components Tags // chainrings

Derailleur Hangar

09.03.2013 by Ray Niekamp // 3 Comments

Guest poster Don Blount deals with a small, but important, piece of equipment.

BlountOnBikingA derailleur hanger is a simple piece of equipment that attaches a rear derailleur to a bikes’s dropout. If it is a removable hanger, its job is to absorb impact during an accident or mechanical problem instead of damage being done to the bike’s frame.

dh1

This piece of equipment usually does not receive much attention until there is a problem with it, as happened to Ray about a year ago.

The derailleur on my five-year-old Scattante CFR Comp was the original. It had been bent a few times over the years but I had always managed to straighten it.

2But during a gear adjustment the mechanic mentioned that hanger had some cracks and should be replaced before the hanger fell apart completely.

Better the problem was found during an inspection while the bike was on a repair stand in a shop instead of on the road miles from home.

My bike is sold by Performance. I was able to find a new hanger on its website. Even better it was available in a local Performance store and cost less than $10. I bought two.

The side-by-side comparison of the new derailleur hanger on the left and old one on the right shows the cracks in the old derailleur.
The side-by-side comparison of the new derailleur hanger on the left and old one on the right shows the cracks in the old derailleur.

Replacement is also simple. Anyone somewhat handy can do it..

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Categories // Components, Maintenance Tags // derailleur, derailleur hanger

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