[skhan007]

I'm interested in upgrading and getting a SRAM Red groupset. I haven't decided if I should find deals on separate components (e.g. ebay, etc.) or be patient until I find a dealer/seller with a good price on the group.

Just curious what you guys have done. Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[ngl]

I'm interested in upgrading and getting a SRAM Red groupset. I haven't decided if I should find deals on separate components (e.g. ebay, etc.) or be patient until I find a dealer/seller with a good price on the group.

Just curious what you guys have done. Any advice is much appreciated.

Some people are going to tell you they purchased individual components and some people are going to tell you they purchased groups. Both ways work.
Make a list of the components you want, check ebay completed auctions (or other sites) and write down the average each component sold for (which will be representative of what you will pay) then compare against what complete groups are selling for.

 

[Cinelli 82220]

Bit by bit is a waste of time. You also get hit with shipping for each piece. A group might qualify for free shipping from a lot of big vendors--so that will cancel out any savings from buying one bit at a time.

Save time, buy the whole group, and set it up in an evening. You can be out riding instead of wasting hours on the net searching for items and trying to save a buck or two.

A good LBS might even assemble it for you if you buy it from them.

 

[Roland44]

I'm interested in upgrading and getting a SRAM Red groupset. I haven't decided if I should find deals on separate components (e.g. ebay, etc.) or be patient until I find a dealer/seller with a good price on the group.

Just curious what you guys have done. Any advice is much appreciated.

I personally prefer to buy a groupset. Getting everything at once is easier and saves me time. It's a big hassle getting everything piece by piece.

 

[DrSmile]

If you are in absolutely no rush, then buy each piece or a couple of pieces at a time. Amazon and even Nashbar sometimes have Campy cheap for no reason, with free shipping. Overseas vendors sometimes have closeouts for so cheap it's worth it to buy from them even paying for shipping for each part.

If you're in a rush but have a Ribble coupon that excludes group sets, you can still piece together a group set individually on their site and then apply the coupon. For something like Ultegra that's a pretty great option.

Of course a lot of times it's cheaper to get lower tier items for some components over others. Typically shifters and cranks are best kept as a higher tier, while brakes, chains, cassettes, and even some derailleurs can be downgraded with little performance penalty.

Lastly, if you have old components, you may not need to replace your entire group set. I just upgraded my 10 speed Record group to 11 speed by buying the shifters and rear derailleur plus a Chorus cassette for less than $580.

 

[spdntrxi]

if you have time... you can hunt out deals from private sellers and ebay... but you must be very patient to score low prices on everything individually...
Pressed for time.. better getting the whole group.

 

[looigi]

Yeah, +1. It depends on the situation, but most recently over the winter months I enjoyed searching and finding deals on individual components to build up a second bike, including parts to build up the wheels, so there was no particular rush. It wasn't particularly time intensive but went on over 3-4 months watching prices and pouncing on a good deal when it cropped up.

If you don't have the time and won't enjoy the "shopping", shell out for a complete gruppo.

 

[skhan007]

Thanks everybody. This makes sense- the cost savings, shipping savings, time savings, if I buy the groupset outright. The LBS guy told me that, at a minimum, I could get the shifters and rear derailleur and get started riding with the "feel" of SRAM. I should ask him for more info, but I guess that means my ultegra crank, cassette, FD, BB, chain, and brakes could stay for some time. Not sure if that would silly, to have that mix of components, but it's certainly cheaper.

I'll continue to check in with you guys, but I'm inclined to agree with the recommendation to find a good deal on a groupset and get it done and over with. I'm also assuming (maybe I'm wrong) that 10 sp will now be cheaper, since the 11 sp is the current model.

 

[looigi]

... Not sure if that would silly, to have that mix of components...

What's silly is thinking that it would be silly...with one caveat. Sounds like your intend to run SRAM shifters with a Shimano FD. You may need to get a SRAM FD to work with the shifter...unless you keep the right Shimano shifter to work with the Shimano FD.

 

[Jay Strongbow]

Thanks everybody. This makes sense- the cost savings, shipping savings, time savings, if I buy the groupset outright. The LBS guy told me that, at a minimum, I could get the shifters and rear derailleur and get started riding with the "feel" of SRAM. I should ask him for more info, but I guess that means my ultegra crank, cassette, FD, BB, chain, and brakes could stay for some time. Not sure if that would silly, to have that mix of components, but it's certainly cheaper.

I'll continue to check in with you guys, but I'm inclined to agree with the recommendation to find a good deal on a groupset and get it done and over with. I'm also assuming (maybe I'm wrong) that 10 sp will now be cheaper, since the 11 sp is the current model.

If you already have an Ultegra crank personally I would not change that. Not to dis Red cranks but it wouldn't be a step up from Ultegra (unless your objective is to shave grams). Crank is a large portion of the price of a group set with it sounds like you're just going for the 'feel' of Sram anyway. The bottom bracket situation may be something to consider as well.

I'm not sure about the FD situation there like looigi pointed out. I do know for sure that the Ultegra crank/Red Shifter combo works perfectly well though. One of my riding mates has this but unfortunately I can't recall for sure what he's using for a FD. I actually think it's shimono but don't want to say for sure because I could be wrong.

 

[TricrossRich]

i just purchased a complete Shimano Ultegra 6700 group from Merlincycles.com. It was the best price I could find, by far... even better than a Shimano dealer's direct price here in the states. Shipping was free and here in less than 5 days.

 

[bruin11]

Both times that I purchased from Ribble.co.uk for a complete group it was cheaper to buy individual parts as opposed to the whole group set. That is because of the discount offered on individual components but not the group set.

 

[mannymerc]

I always thought the complete groupset was cheaper. hhhmm even tho my DA9000 I bought it separate, becuase I wanted the 52/36 chainrings and the ultegra brakes.

 

[Madone SIX]

Yeah, +1. It depends on the situation, but most recently over the winter months I enjoyed searching and finding deals on individual components to build up a second bike, including parts to build up the wheels, so there was no particular rush. It wasn't particularly time intensive but went on over 3-4 months watching prices and pouncing on a good deal when it cropped up.

If you don't have the time and won't enjoy the "shopping", shell out for a complete gruppo.

I would be curious how much you ended up saving overall? If you do not mind me asking that is.

Reason I am curious, in the last 5 groupsets I have purchased, it never made sense to shop around, even auction sites. Finding the best deals over several weeks or months almost always ended up at the same, and in most cases higher, total costs. Even before shipping.

Two of them should probably be discounted, as they were newer groupsets, so obviously prices were not all that competitive yet. But the other 3 I would have expected shopping around would have saved me hundreds, but it was not the case.

 

[looigi]

I would be curious how much you ended up saving overall? If you do not mind me asking that is....

I didn't add it up...

OK. Just went over my files and added it up. New Red 10sp: shifters , brakes , crank , FD , RD , chain, Force cassette, Jagwire pro cables = $1458

I don't know what a complete current 10sp Red gruppo goes for.