How To: Inspect Your Bike
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Shimano, Campagnolo or SRAM? Shifters & Derailleurs for Road Bikes – An Overview
Whether you’re a sprinter or a mountain enthusiast, a nerd for classics or a fan of light materials, our tips will guide you to the right road bike system.
Current groupsets for road bikes combine precision and smooth shifting with powerful brakes and a wide range of gear ratios. Whether you compete in every sprint or are more drawn to the mountains on your road bike, a fine gradation of gears will always help you ride at the right cadence. Our tips and tricks will help you find the right shifters and derailleurs to meet your road bike needs.
What’s in a Complete Groupset? The Right Gear Ratio for Your Road Bike Rim Brakes or Disc Brakes? Road Groupsets from Shimano Campagnolo Groupsets SRAM Groupsets for Road Bikes Mechanical or Electronic Shifters? Groupsets with Power Meters The Right Cassette for Your Freehub Variants and Options for Road Groupsets The Custom Road Bike Drivetrain Tools for Assembling Road Bike Shifters & Derailleurs
With the right road bike shifters & derailleurs, you'll always find the right gear, no matter whether you're riding uphill or downhill.
The gear range in combination with a fine gradation of gears allows you to ride at a comfortable cadence at all times.
In addition to the classic circuit with Bowden cable, electronic circuits are now also established outside the professional peloton.
What's in a Complete Groupset?
Complete groupsets for road bikes usually consist of shifters and brakes. In finer detail, this means a chain, a cassette, a crank, a rear derailleur, a front derailleur, shift/brake levers and brakes. The advantages of groupsets compared to individual components are obvious: the groupset is cheaper and all parts are cohesive, both functionally and visually. Depending on the type you select, the contents of each groupset may vary, which is why you should read the product descriptions in our shop carefully. Of course, groupsets with only one chainring do not include a front derailleur. In addition to complete groupsets, we also offer upgrade kits. They make it easy for you to upgrade certain parts of your drivetrain and re-purpose others. If you only want to swap out old sprockets and a worn-out chain, then have a look at our available wear sets!
The Right Gear Ratio for Your Road Bike
Most current road bike groupsets come with two chainrings on the crank and cassettes consisting of eleven or twelve sprockets. All three major parts manufacturers – Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo – offer groupsets with front derailleurs. The advantage of proven two-chainring technology is that the cassette can have a fine gradation and still offer a sufficient gear range. SRAM also has road groupsets with 1x cranks in its range. The shifting system becomes lighter and less complicated by dispensing with the front derailleur. However, the gradation of the gears is not so gradual, as the spread between the smallest and largest sprocket is larger to ensure the necessary gear range. Do you sometimes ride across dirt roads or with bikepacking bags? Are you looking for a hard-wearing derailleur with a light gear ratio for your all-road bike? Then it’s also worth having a look at our selection of groupsets for cyclocross and gravel bikes.
With a 2-speed crank you combine a high gear range with a fine gradation of gears. © bc GmbH
Rim Brakes or Disc Brakes?
What was a hot button issue a few years ago is now just a matter of individual preference. Rim brakes are a good choice if you prefer a classic look, count every gram and place the highest importance on aerodynamics. Do you want maximum braking power and control in rain or shine? Then you should opt for disc brakes. Of course, your bike must be appropriately outfitted to install them. For disc brakes, you need the appropriate mounts on both the fork and frame. Flat mount is nowadays the most common option on road bikes. However, since there are also post-mount brake calipers for road bikes, you should pay close attention to selecting the right groupset for your bike. Adapters can in some cases mediate between systems and align the caliper to the size of the brake rotor. You’ll also need a disc wheelset which will allow you to install brake rotors. It is also important to consider compatibility in this case – there are brake rotors that are installed on the hub with six bolts and center lock discs that, like the cassette, are bolted to a central lockring. Six-bolt discs can be fitted to centre-lock hubs with adapters – it doesn’t work the other way round. For this reason, the rotors are not included with most groupsets and must be ordered separately. When it comes to rim brakes, a distinction must be made between classic side-pull brakes and direct mount brakes. The mounting points on your frameset are a critical factor, as the systems are not compatible with one another. No matter which type of brakes you install, we recommend directly ordering one or two pairs of spare brake pads.
The Shimano Ultegra groupset is available both with rim brakes and ...
... with disc brakes. Campagnolo and SRAM also offer both systems.
Road Groupsets from Shimano
Shimano has three groupsets in its range for high-quality road bikes. Dura-Ace is its top-class offering. This groupset gives you the most lightweight components made using the most modern manufacturing techniques from the best materials. Ultegra ranks directly below it and differs mainly in its materials. This groupset weighs a little more but is a less expensive option. Both Ultegra and Dura-Ace are available in mechanical and electronic versions – the latter also go by the name "Di2". If you’re on a tighter budget, you should consider the Shimano 105. It is not as lightweight as the top two groupsets, but is a great value for the money.
Campagnolo Groupsets
Campagnolo also offers different groupsets to choose from, which differ in weight, choice of materials, finish and price. The flagship Super Record is their top shelf offering, which comes in mechanical and electronic (EPS) versions. The Record is cheaper, but with subtle differences. Chorus and Centaur round off the range with a good price-to-performance ratio.
The Super Record EPS groupset shifts electronically and is Campagnolo's top model. © bc GmbH
SRAM Groupsets for Road Bikes
With four road groupsets, SRAM also has a broad range of offerings. Once again, the differences in price reflect the materials used, manufacturing technologies and the resulting weight. You can choose between systems with or without front derailleurs and control via Bowden cables or wireless technology (AXS). The top groupset is the electronic SRAM Red eTap AXS, closely followed by the Force. Rival and Apex follow thereafter.
Mechanical or Electronic Shifting?
Among the top groupsets from major manufacturers, you can choose from either classic shifting systems with Bowden cables or electronically-controlled rear and front derailleurs. Campagnolo components communicate via cables – SRAM and the new 12-speed groupsets from Shimano use wireless technology. You can learn more about the advantages of electronic cable or wireless shifting in a separate article.
Groupsets with Power Meters
Among high-end groupsets you will also find variants with power meter cranks in our shop. A power meter enables you to train very efficiently with precise performance data. To be able to use the crank’s sensors, you also need a device that processes and displays your measurement data – also known as a head unit. You can find lots of tips on how to use power meters correctly in our guide on power meters.
Power meters help you track & analyse your training data. This helps you stay in an optimal range while riding. © bc GmbH
The Right Cassette for Your Freehub
To install a complete groupset on your bike, the cassette must fit the freehub on your rear wheel. There are different systems here that are not compatible with one another. We have gone over the differences between the individual freehubs in a separate article. It is best to first find out which type of freehub body is installed on your hub and then have a close look at the groupsets’ product descriptions. Alternatively, you can convert several hubs to another freehub. If you’re not sure where to start, please feel free to contact us!
Variants and Options for Road Groupsets
We offer most complete groupsets in different variants. If you read the item names in the shop carefully, you will notice that there are subtle differences. We differentiate according to the number of gears, the gradation of the chainrings and the type of brakes. Direct mount refers to rim brakes. FM and PM (flat mount and post mount) denote the different disc brake calipers. If there is a groupset with different cranks for different bottom brackets, this can also appear in the article designation – for example GPX or BB30. We generally recommend that you find out in advance which types of bottom bracket and cranks can be installed in your frame. Before you add your new groupset to your cart, you will in most cases have to choose from a list of designs. Here we differentiate between colour, crank length (the gradation of the chainrings is also listed here), size of the cassette and, in the case of Di2 groupsets, the type of distributor used. Front derailleurs on road bike groupsets are usually mounted on the braze-on eyelet. If there is a front derailleur with a clamp for a groupset, you will find information on this in the product’s description.
Contents and Completing Groupsets
You will find a detailed list of contents in each product description. It is worth taking a closer look here. In many cases, we also provide links to recommended products to complete the groupset. These can be bottom brackets, brake rotors and adapters for installing the brakes. In the case of electronic groupsets, the cables – if necessary – are usually not included.
The Custom Road Bike Drivetrain
If you want to give your bike a more personal touch or have specific requirements that are not covered by a complete groupset, there is nothing stopping you from putting together a drivetrain with individually selected parts. Manufacturers outside of the big three also offer parts such as cranks, chainrings, chains and cassettes. However, it is always important to consider overall compatibility. Sometimes parts from one manufacturer from different years or groupsets are not compatible. When in doubt, we will be happy to help you out – just get in touch.
Popular products for tuning a road bike drivetrain include CeramicSpeed derailleur pulley systems. © bc GmbH
Tools for Assembling Road Bike Shifters & Derailleurs
Before you order your new groupset, it is worth taking a look at what’s in your workshop. You will need a few tools for assembly, which also requires you to consider compatibility with current components. For example, many old chain tools don’t work on the narrow chains in current groupsets. You can change the cassette with the right cassette removal tool and a chain whip. Master link pliers help to open master links. If you have settled on a groupset with hydraulic disc brakes, then it is worth buying a bleed kit so that you can shorten hoses and service the brake system if necessary.
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