I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I think it’s getting to be time to upgrade my groupset on my bike. My current groupset is Shimano Dura-Ace 7700 9-speed, which is functioning perfectly, but hasn’t been manufactured for almost ten years.
I’ve looked at the new offerings from SRAM and Shimano, but it isn’t the direction I want to go. No, I’m pretty sure that the next groupset is going to be Campagnolo Chorus 11. I played around with Fred’s bike, which is equipped with Chorus 11 and was really impressed with the feel of the shifters.
In the cycling world, this is akin to making the switch from PC to Mac. Shimano and SRAM both make great groupsets, but Campagnolo fans are dedicated enough that it nearly approaches religion. I’m probably buying into some of that, but I also like to think that I’m making a decision based on function. We’ll see if I stick to that assumption after I switch.
The real question is, why upgrade at all when my current groupset works fine? Well that’s the other interesting piece, as I have no intention of letting the current stuff go to waste. It will be going on a new cyclocross frame built by local builder Cysco Cycles. I haven’t ordered the frame yet, but here’s a picture of one of the bikes that Richie Moore (of Cysco) took to the North American Handmade Bike Show recently (NAHBS) recently.
Tell me that isn’t sick.
2 Comments
Nice looking bike. Paint me jealous!
It really is. I’m supposed to meet the builder tomorrow since we will be down in Chattanooga for the final Snake Creek Gap race. Not sure how I’ll spec out the cyclocross bike, but I’m sure it will look almost too nice to race.