Gears

Get your LBS to install anyone of these:

1) 2008 Campagnolo Record full gruppo

2) Shimano Dura Ace full gruppo

3) SRAM Force full gruppo

These are the best money can buy

exactly what gears do you have now?

Are you thinking of changing just the cogs, or the shifters and (maybe) rear derailleur too?

You should be able to put anything you want on the bike 🙂

hd reynolds said:

Get your LBS to install anyone of these:

1) 2008 Campagnolo Record full gruppo

2) Shimano Dura Ace full gruppo

3) SRAM Force full gruppo

These are the best money can buy

Campagnolo is the best money can buy, it just takes significantly more money.

Ideally I'd get a SRAM Force set with a DA crank. Stiffer and better looking.

For reliability, I must say SRAM is beating Shimano, but Shimano is still great.

But out of those three, it would be better to list them as

1) Campagnolo Chorus 2008

2) SRAM Force

3) Shimano Dura Ace

And for reference, anything from Shimano 105 and Campy Veloce/Centaur and I guess SRAM Rival, but that is closer to Ultegra, is great stuff. If you have these and they aren't shifting well, it is an adjustment and cable issue, not shifting system.

bobbyOCR said:

Campagnolo is the best money can buy, it just takes significantly more money.

Ideally I'd get a SRAM Force set with a DA crank. Stiffer and better looking.

For reliability, I must say SRAM is beating Shimano, but Shimano is still great.

But out of those three, it would be better to list them as

1) Campagnolo Chorus 2008

2) SRAM Force

3) Shimano Dura Ace

And for reference, anything from Shimano 105 and Campy Veloce/Centaur and I guess SRAM Rival, but that is closer to Ultegra, is great stuff. If you have these and they aren't shifting well, it is an adjustment and cable issue, not shifting system.

Nothing compares to a Record groupset. Chorus takes second fiddle and the 2007 model is even better than DA.

OMFG What a quick and expert responce thanks so much

I was looking for the front mech change do I have to change anything else?

I am new to this but find the front gear change a little slow

Thank you so very much

Steve

You can upgrade anything, but sometimes it works out cheaper in time and money if you sell the bike and buy one already set up right.

You might consider an internally geared hub.

hd reynolds said:

Nothing compares to a Record groupset. Chorus takes second fiddle and the 2007 model is even better than DA.

I dunno. I understand that it is different, aesthetically more pleasing and a couple of other things but....

DA has the lightest and stiffest crank out of the top runners

From experience, SRAM shifters are the nicest, and lightest,

SRAM RD because it works with the shifters so well

Chorus FD and shifter (I don't care so much about gear dumping) is easiest to use

Shimano brakes personally, but a lot of people prefer the modulation afforded by campy. SRAM is a nice compromise.

Chorus everything just looks so good.

bobbyOCR said:

I dunno. I understand that it is different, aesthetically more pleasing and a couple of other things but....

DA has the lightest and stiffest crank out of the top runners

.

2007 Campy Ultra torgue system crank is only 640grams complete. The new ultra torque system is stiffer than the Shimano's integrated axle. It also has the narrowest Q factor of any crank in the market today at around 54.5mm (dura ace is wider).

[img]ppolnews.comcampy1.jpgOpen ↗[/img]

[img]leichtbau-konfigurator.deCampagnoloUltraTorque1.jpgOpen ↗[/img]

[img]roadcyclinguk.com004%5B1%5D mid.jpgOpen ↗[/img]

mandaric.combb left.jpgOpen ↗

- from an engineering standpoint , is that Campy ultra-torque
split-crank-axle design sound ?

.

pistole said:

- from an engineering standpoint , is that Campy ultra-torque
split-crank-axle design sound ?

.

Yes.

stiffer, longer bearing life, easy maintenance, lighter, narrow q-factor. its been tdf tested since last year. The concept is so sound and simple they are trickling the design even in the lower groups such as centaur and veloce.

Shimano is testing carbon versions of their crank in this year's tdf and at least 1 team has some issues with them.

hd reynolds said:

Yes.

stiffer, longer bearing life, easy maintenance, lighter, narrow q-factor. its been tdf tested since last year. The concept is so sound and simple they are trickling the design even in the lower groups such as centaur and veloce.

Shimano is testing carbon versions of their crank in this year's tdf and at least 1 team has some issues with them.

so its good for people weighing less than 150 lbs...? lets be honest, tour riders are all pretty damn slim. Most of the rest of us probably arnt.

If i had the money id probably go with SRAM's Force. I love how sram mountain stuff shifts, even though i personally only have shimano, ive fixed/ridden an SRAM equipped bike and the shifting was so precise and quick. Campy is too fancy for my tastes, and cost way too much even compared to dura ace (at least when ive seen it). Dura ace is as good as shimano gets, but Ive only ridden SORA on road bikes....

mongooseboy said:

so its good for people weighing less than 150 lbs...? lets be honest, tour riders are all pretty damn slim. Most of the rest of us probably arnt.

If i had the money id probably go with SRAM's Force. I love how sram mountain stuff shifts, even though i personally only have shimano, ive fixed/ridden an SRAM equipped bike and the shifting was so precise and quick. Campy is too fancy for my tastes, and cost way too much even compared to dura ace (at least when ive seen it). Dura ace is as good as shimano gets, but Ive only ridden SORA on road bikes....

07 TdF Stage 11, 12, 13... 3 days in the mountains and 3 straight days drivetrain problems for DA equipped teams.

You get what you pay for.

Also nothing to do with rider weight... how did you arrive at that conclusion?

hd reynolds said:

07 TdF Stage 11, 12, 13... 3 days in the mountains and 3 straight days drivetrain problems for DA equipped teams.

You get what you pay for.

Also nothing to do with rider weight... how did you arrive at that conclusion?

- what "drivetrain problems for DA equpped teams" were these ?

.

pistole said:

- what "drivetrain problems for DA equpped teams" were these ?

.

I know one DA derailleur bit it for a Credit Agricole rider up the Galibier.

Where does longer bearing life come from? I've heard horror stories.

and the complete weight is 690g, at least. For a double in cost, you don't really gain much in terms of performance. Also, DA cranksets lose a fair chunk of weight if you take out the protective sleeve that campy lacks.

They are still way more hot though.

Narrow Q-factor isn't good for everybody.

SteveKnight said:

I am new to this but, I find the front gear changes a little slow

you might just need the cable tightened. 🙂

Apart from that, how many cogs do you have on the rear hub? If you wanna change the number, you'll have to at least get some new shifters, cogs and chain

hd reynolds said:

Yes.

stiffer, longer bearing life, easy maintenance, lighter, narrow q-factor. its been tdf tested since last year. The concept is so sound and simple they are trickling the design even in the lower groups such as centaur and veloce.

Are you talking about your crank?

SteveKnight said:

I have a Saracen Vortex Le
I love the bike but gears are not great can I upgrade them?
What can I get money is not an issue I want compatable gears that are going to shift quickly every time

Steve

Just so everyone knows, are we talking about the Saracen Vortex mountain bike? If yes, then this is not a high spec bike and suggestions about Record and DuraAce gruppos are not relevant. I wouldn't go any higher than a Deore or Deore LX for the front derailleur.

I echo the suggestion about tightening cables. If this is a relatively new bike you may find the cable has stretched a little and needs adjusting. This will do a lot to improve your gear changes. Are the gears and drivetrain clean? This makes a huge difference to how quickly and efficiently you can change gears.

Are you running the stock 8 speed rear cluster? You might want to consider upgrading to a 9-speed but you will need to change the shifters, and you will need a 9-speed chain.

If you are riding this exclusively on the road, then can I suggest you ditch the mountain bike and upgrade to a road bike?

hd reynolds said:

07 TdF Stage 11, 12, 13... 3 days in the mountains and 3 straight days drivetrain problems for DA equipped teams.

You get what you pay for.

- again, what "drivetrain problems" were these ?

.