Shimano Groupsets | All You Need To Know | Cycling Weekly

[Applause] [Music] Shimano is without doubt the biggest name when it comes to road groupsets but do you know the difference between duration 105 or Polaris and T Agri there are so many options so we're going to take you through the six main mechanical group sets and to electronic group sets this Shimano has to offer we're going to go through the main differences between them and hopefully help you make sense of the whole range so let's start with what you actually get within a group set so if we look at this bike here it starts with the shift and brake levers or as shamanic on the STI levers then there's a chain set or crank set included we have a front and rear derailleur cassette chain and then the brakes which can be room brakes or in this case hydraulic disc brakes I briefly mentioned that there are both mechanical and electronic group sense available and the main differences between the two is how they shift gear mechanical group set uses a cable to move the derailers over the gist whereas the electronics version uses wires and batteries to do the same job don't forget that all the group sets and components here today can be bought on free world code at UK a convenient way of shopping online while still supporting your local bike shop now Clarisse can be found often on entry-level bikes normally sub 500 pounds and it is a group set that is designed for new riders and it's designed to be as simple as possible the great thing about it though is it shares a lot of the design features of some of the higher-end group sets so it doesn't look entry-level at all Clarisse is an eight-speed group set that means it's got eight cogs at the rear and then there are two chain set options so the front set of chain rings there's a double which is obviously the tutoring and then a triple option she might not only produce one of each to keep things as simple as possible but it uses the same hollow tech to design as all the rest of the range that means we've got a two-piece chain set so the left-hand crank arm attaches to the right hand crank arm which has the bottom bracket axle on and attached this uses hollowed-out crank arms so which want to keep it as light as possible but it also uses the holo style chain rings on here as well so we have a backing on there which keeps things quite stiff so it has some of the same performance benefits of the higher end so this is where we have this trickle-down technology coming into play it also uses a redesigned shift lever so the STR lever it's only available in a rim break version so we've don't have any hydraulic disparate versions at this level but it retains the same style in design and the dual control shift in of all of the rest of the range so we have a large lever which is your brake lever and then we can push for shifting up and down the cassette that uses slick cables as well so we've still got very very good shifting at this level if we go down to the rear derailleur it uses the traditional rear derailleur design from Shimano it's available in a GS which is the longer cage to allow it to run the wider range cassette that is available at this level and then if we look at the cassette itself the cassette is the Hg 50 which shares up on to the next level as well this is a pressed steel cassette so it's only made up of three different parts so most of the cassette is a single piece ie they are all riveted together it's press deal but it still has the shifting ramps and it's drilled as well to keep it as light and with performance in mind so it's a very very well performing cassette there are plenty of options available in the 8-speed version but the most popular one is the 11 to 34 in your phone most likes will come with that now the main difference between Sora and Claire is the one below is that so it goes to a nine speed drivetrain it shares a very very similar chain set to the Clarisse so this is still the challah techtube version and it has the hollowed out arms as well there are more options though and that's the main difference between this and Clara so there are more options with chain ring size here so it's slightly more advantageous for riders that are maybe a little bit more experienced the cassette is the same HD 50 but 9 speed version as the klaris is 8 speed version so it uses the same manufacturing process and the same material so it's press T or sprockets that are riveted together with a couple of separate ones on top the shifters themselves are very similar to the Clarisse versions so they have the same action and the same profile just it shifts 9 years rather than 8 gears so they feel almost exactly the same on there and the same goes for the front derailleur itself that uses the more traditional longer arm to actually shift gears and again it's available in both double and triple just like the chain sets if we look at the breaking options for the soil group set its rim break only just like with klaris the brakes themselves are a single pivot design that use a spring to provide the tension at the back a large barrel adjuster on the top and they've got single compound pad so it's a one-piece pads so if these do wear out you do have to replace the whole unit now this is the point where we start seeing a lot more performance coming into it and a lot more refinement as well and there's a lot more options with T Agra compared to Clarice and Sora first off it goes to ten speeds so there are ten cogs at the back on the cassette and it still retains the same options at the front so we have triple and double chain ring options the chain set itself retains the same design as both Sora and claryce with the hollowed-out arms but the difference is the outer chain ring has a composite backplate to reduce weight and to keep things working as perfectly as it can do so stiffness is still very much paramount on here there's a little bit of refinement when it comes to both the derailers and the shifters themselves so we have a slight slimming down of the bracket and lever hoods here but it still retains the same metal levers and the same lever throw now tiara is where the brakes get more options so not only do we have the rim brakes which are the same as you find on Sora and claryce but you have hydraulic disc brake versions so that means then that the shifters will change as well not only is there a hydraulic disc weight version of the shifters but there's also a version for smaller hands with pyaara so there's a shifter that has smaller overall dimensions that means for smaller riders or younger riders that's a great option for keeping things as economic as possible the cassette itself use a very very similar type of construction to both Sora and claryce but refines it slightly so we have a slightly different machined outlook to this it still retains the steel construction so obviously from a longevity point of view that is ideal for your cassette but what we have here is we then have more drilling so slightly lighter weight and that there's still has the shift in ramps so shifting is as good as it can be with this the slight difference is when it comes to the materials for both the front and rear derailleur so we've the dual colors on the front dérailleur and it's a lighter front derailleur than both sora and claryce itself so overall the tiago group set becomes a lighter weight version and if we finish off by looking at the rear derailleur you can see that the differences between this and Clarisse are quite obvious the main parallelogram is much more refined and it's a much stiffer unit here so shifting is more precise with the tiago rear derailleur and we have even little things like the barrel adjuster is drilled out and much slimmer to make it as light as possible while still retaining its performance so those the main parts of the tiara r4 700 group set so this is a group set that shares a lot of the technologies and looks with the flagship dura-ace group set so we have got real performance just with slightly more economical parts so we've got a group set that offers the main benefits but without the bigger price tag of the higher-end group sets y5 is often found on bikes around the thousand pound mark but you can find on bikes that are slate cheaper and slightly more expensive depending on where you're looking and it's really a group set for everybody so there are options for everybody within this group set so let's start with what you've got under main differences between this and a lower tiara group set first and foremost we've gone to 11 speed at the back so this is an 11 speed cassette and this now stays the same all the way through the rest of the ranges if we start off by looking at the chain set you will see that there's a very big difference in the design and also the construction compared to tiara this still uses that same hollow tech to version with the left hand crank arm and the right hand and bottom bracket acts all together but you will notice that these crank arms are now solid but they're not solid they are actually hollow so these have been hollowed out and put together to make as light and as stiff a crank set as is possible so the weight difference between this and the lower chains it is noticeable it's available in several different options both double and triple options include in 50 to 36 which tends to be a very common size and 50:34 compact chain sense and if we look then at this right hand crank arm and the chain race you'll notice that the chain rings themselves are very very much machined out so we've got a machined out backing plate on here that reduces weight but still keep things as stiff as possible to keep shift in performance as good as it can be we also have different crank arm length options that's the same as all the other ones but we just wanted to point it out here that you can get everything from 170 2.5 which tends to be the common size to 175 160 165 so there's several different options on this going on to the shifters we have a very much more refined version compared to TRS it so much slimmed down version so it feels a lot better in the hands and it's also as we said 11 speed it still has the same shape lever as you find on tiara but it's a very very sort of slimmed down and it's got a shorter lever throat so it shifts gears much quicker and with better precision main difference obviously is the material so this is all a metal construction with a plastic bracket that makes the shift lever but we also then have a more patent hood on his sofa better grip when you are riding in the wet and just in normal conditions as well if we look at the derailers themselves there is a big difference in terms of the design of the rear derailleur the rear derailleur goes to a shadow version so by this they've changed the way it attaches to the frame so it sits lower down and further into the cassette so it's out of the way so in case of a crash you're less likely to damage the derailers this is a design that's retained throughout the next couple of group sets as well but it just makes very neater and overall better looking to system you will also notice that the cage for the jockey wheels is much more sort of cut out and refined if we compare it to the tiara version here so there's a big difference in the way it looks and the weight overall there's also a big difference in terms of the way that the cable attaches so it's again completely out of the way so you need a less cable coming out to the back of your bike so it looks a lot neater and there's a smaller but stiffer parallelogram design on here so the shift in on this is very very precise something else has changed for the rear derailleur is the capacity for the different star so again we have two options where they short a cage or a longer cage this is the longer gs version the shorter cage can cope with a 32% and the longer cage is up to a 34 tooth cassette so it means that you can use wider range cassettes in both options without fuss the front derailleur has changed as well this has gone to a compact toggle design the same as you find on our Tegra and Anjou race so there's no large lever that sticks out and it makes it look a lot neater and it also means that there's less effort required to shift gears it's a much smoother operation to the front derailleur for 1:05 if we look at the brakes so again 105 is available in both rim brake and hydraulic disc brake version but if we look at the rim brakes where we see the main difference is this goes to a dual pivot style so rather than just having a single pivot here there are two pivots on here to allow a much lighter action so it uses less force to pull that brake so it means you have more powerful braking for less effort it also goes to a two-piece brake pads so we have a brake holder and then a brake shoe so when it comes down to wearing out these you just replace the inner part so there's little adjustment needed before your brakes are working perfect again everything again is more refined and it's gone to a different quick release style which is the same that is retained for all tegra and Gerace so they lever to release the cable is below now rather than to the side so again it looks very neat the final thing about the rim break is it's been refined and lengthened to allow it to take up to a 28 millimeter tire now so for modern bikes the clearances are there when you're using rim brakes to use those wider volume tires so that's a good thing with the 105 brake going onto the cassette obviously 11 cogs is the biggest difference between this and T Agra but we've now gone to a multi style cassette so there are several different parts to this cassette rather than everything being riveted together it's also put onto a lighter aluminium spider so the largest three runs are cut down says less steel and more aluminium which means again weight is more refined everything else is still it's a full steel construction so you still have that durability and again we're available in lots of different options I'll take where our 8,000 is probably the most popular of all of Shimano's group sets and for very good reason it combines excellent performance reliable and lightweight construction and materials and enough choice to satisfy any rider it's also at Altera level that we start seeing an electronic shift in version available but we'll talk about that a bit later I'll take away is an incredibly versatile group set and there are choices in chainrings cassettes and derailers to suit a wide variety of riding and bikes from touring to racing to cyclocross and gravel so let's look at the key parts of the art egg rat our 8000 group set so starting with the chain set and there are plenty of options to play with the main difference between the Altera and the 105 is in the chain ring construction so our Tegra 105 uses a cutout construction for the backing plate for the out ringg whereas the Altera uses a delight to weight composite material to do the same job so it keeps things stiff and shifting performances excellent but without that extra weight There is obviously a slight different version in the materials you so again we have a weight reduction with our Tegra / 105 the other really really interesting thing about the El Tigre chain said is that the chain set uses the same BCD for all of its chain rings so that's the bolt circle diameter this means that with one set of crank arms you can fit any type of chain ring from the smaller compact 50:34 all the way up to the 53:39 racing set so if you've got a trip to the Alps and you want to fit the lower charing sizes you can do that very easy and then swap them back when you come back to the UK going to the shifters and the biggest difference is actually in the lever material so now with our tegra you go to a carbon fiber lever so this part here is made of carbon fiber so we have a reduction in weight here for no difference in performance the internals are also slightly more refined in terms of their materials so we have more exotic materials in use and there is a composite bracket body here so the main body of this is a lighter weight material as well overall the shape is the same as 105 and the shape of the lever is the same as 105 they also have a slightly more refined cable routing for both gear and brake cables going to the derailers the biggest difference is in the jockey wheels or the pulley wheels themselves these have a more cutout style so we have a weight reduction here and it also uses a sealed bearing for them to run on so we have a more reliable way of running so these should last longer than on the 105 and retain that gear shift in performance better than ever before there's also a slightly more refined barrel adjuster so if we compare the two you can see whether we of a difference in terms of the barrel adjuster so it's a much neater looking unit but overall it's a very very similar unit there's also an rx version available in all Tegra and that is a much stiffer spring that allows it to be a better performing derailleur for off-road use so for cyclocross and gravel use the RX version of this derailleur is a great option going onto the front derailleur and you can see it's got that compact toggle designs there's no large arm that comes over the top so cable routing is much easier and it uses less force to shift gears it's got a steel plate so that's the same as the 105 version but overall it is a nice neat and refined unit for the old tegra front derailleur critical difference as well is in the cassette we know it's an 11 speed cassette because it's the same as 105 but the materials that have been used and the construction is very very different whereas with the 105 we have a multi-part construction with an aluminium spider on the larger three cogs for the Altera this has been extended to put the weight down even further so the top 5 cogs are put over 2 different spiders the smaller one is a composite so it's a plastic composite spider and then we have a lighter weight aluminum spider for the larger ones the steel that is used for the sprockets themselves is a more refined steel so it is a little lighter weight and there is more drilling and better shift ramps as well so overall the weight difference between this and the 105 means that the Artaria cassette is lighter there are several options available so for any type of rider there is a choice within the cassette range itself the all tegra group set is available with both windbreak and this brake version so the shifters do change shape depending on which version you've gone for there's also a little bit more adjustment with the integra shifters then even the higher-end Gerace so you can adjust the ever throw for your hand size much more than you can on the Gerace shifters themselves at the very top of the group set range is Shimano dura-ace r9 100 this uses the very best in materials and construction techniques to produce the lightest and most flawlessly performing group set Shimano has to offer often found on the very best of bikes and at World Tour level as well this is the group set that every other group set is compared to and it's where the latest in technological innovations Shimano has to offer are shown first and foremost so let's go through a few of the key components of this group set starting with the chain set now this looks fairly similar to the old tegra change that though we showed just recently but there's a huge difference not only in the way it's constructed but also the materials themselves first of all this used the same designers all the other group sets so it's their hala tech - with the lighter hollow arms but this eases a cold forging technique so it uses huge presses to push the material through which aligns all of the atoms in the same way making it as strong as possible whilst reducing the amount of material that's required so this is without that the lightest chain set that Shimano has to offer it's available in a variety of different choices predominate in the double chain set versions and again it uses the hollow outer chain ring technique the dura-ace chain set is also available in a power option so there is an option with a power meter built into this so for those people that are very very keen on racing and training that is a great option that Shimano provides only on the dura-ace chain set the shifters themselves are fairly similar to the Alta graph they use carbon fiber for the main lever body this is a slightly different grade carbon fiber so it's a little bit lighter again they also use much more refined internals so the materials use inside are better quality so we have things like titanium inside here which reduces weight and keeps the reliability up as high as possible it also has a carbon bracket so this they carbon reinforced plastic bracket that is lighter than you find on the old Tegra version and a titanium plump so that clamps it onto the handlebars so this is as good as it gets the shifting is very very light action with jury so there's a much lighter weight feel when you're using this compared to the other group sets if we go on to the breaking options it again is available in both rim brake and hydraulic brake versions so this rim brake version is the same style as you find with the 105 and el tigre but it uses sealed bearings inside the pivots to give it the lightest action possible so it uses minimal force to provide maximum power it also uses that same removable inner brake shoe so you can replace these when they are worn out very very easy with very little adjustment and it's available in both standard aluminium rim versions and carbon fiber rim version brake pads going onto the hydraulic brakes you can see that these are flats mount brakes this is the same for the rest of Shimano's hydraulic brake range and it's a technique and a technology that Shimano developed themselves to give a very very stiff mounting point and again these are available with both the mechanical version and also the electronic version that we'll look at in a few minutes going on to the derailers now this is the electronic version but it's hard pushed and notice that because it's so slim it used the same direct mounts so we've got that much stiffer mounting point and also it keeps it out of the way but the main difference between this and all Tara is in terms of what the cage is made from so our tagra uses an alum cage whereas Gerace uses carbon fiber so we've again reduced weight to the minimum without reducing performance the raid trailer is only available in one size as well so whereas most the others are available in that SS and GS the short cage and long cage version this is a long cage and it allows it to run a larger capacity cassette and talking about the cassettes now Gerace cassettes are available in up to an 11 to 30 tooth which is a wider range than they've ever had before allowing more riders the ability to run Gerace in Hillier areas so a dura-ace cassette isn't all steel so what we have here is we have two different materials for the sprockets you can see that by the difference in the color there so the larger sprockets are the ones that have the most weight are now made from titanium so this is obviously a very expensive material but it reduces the weight of the cassette the use of all these lighter weight materials means that there's a weight saving of over 50 grams compared to the old tagra cassette so that's a large saving definitely worth it if you are looking to race going on to the front derailleur now this is obviously the old Tegra version but the difference between this and the dura-ace is that juror ace comes with an aluminium case or rather than this part being made of steel it's made of aluminium to reduce weight as much as possible the bolts themselves are titanium so we have extra weight saving involved so overall the dura-ace group set is as light as it's possible to be and as reliable as as possible to be with no compromise whatsoever so that's the six mechanical group sets the Shimano has to offer so now we need to look at the two electronic variations that they produce they're labelled di2 and that's the way you know that they are the electronic versions and they're only available in the two highest group sets your Tegra version is known as the Ortega r80 50 or our 8050 and the diretor is known as the r 950 or 9150 so let's look at the parts that are involved first and foremost this shift levers these are very very different to the mechanical version because they don't need to pull a cable so instead of a lever that moves inwards we now have two buttons on the sides these are differentiated by the patterns on them so you can feel for the differences while you're riding the larger top lever shifts up again and the smaller bottom button shifts down a gear so you can hear that there's a single click when you go up or down but if you press and hold you can shift more than one gear at a time going on to the derailers the main difference between these and the normal mechanical versions is they have a motor sitting at the top or in the case the rear derailleur at the back of the system this is used to power the derailleur to move it to shift gear so for the front derailleur we have a motor at the top and the rear derailleur has a motor at the back the rest of the construction is the same as with the mechanical so if we look at the gyrase rear it has the carbon-fiber rear cage and the lighter more refined shaping this is practically as light as the standard rear derailleur system which is pretty incredible when you think about how complex the motor is inside the rest of the parts you need to convert to electronic is a series of wires junction boxes and of course a battery to power the whole thing the advantages of the electronic system is complete reliability in gear change so every time you change gear it will be exactly the same and there's also the ability to run it in a synchronized mode which allows the front derailleur to shift when your shift in the rear dress you will always end up with the perfect gears you can obviously change this around so you can have the system working exactly as you want it and the electronic system is both bluetooth and and compatible so if you have a smart phone or a computer with the relevant software you can completely customized a way that this system shifts suiting yourself as Shimano's di to electronic parts are consistent with the rest of their group set range if you are running an 11 speed group set you can of course use the electronic parts you can mix and match between art Agora Gerace and 105 as well if you so require that's the beauty of this system hopefully this little overview has shed a little bit more light into the differences between these key Shimano rode group sets if you need more information we've put the links to both Shimano and free wheels websites in the description below so you can find out a little bit more information there thanks for watching and don't forget to Like and subscribe to keep up with our latest releases and if you've got any questions regarding Shimano group sets please put it in the comment section below but until then we'll see you soon [Applause]

Channel: Cycling Weekly

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Keywords: cycling weekly, cycling weekly magazine, road bike, road cycling, shimano, shimano groupsets explained, shimano groupsets, shimano groupsets ranked, shimano groupsets levels, shimano groupset comparison, shimano groupset hierarchy, sram vs shimano road groupsets, shimano buyers guide, what shimano groupset, which shimano groupset is best, shimano claris, shimano tiagra, shimano sora, shimano 105, shimano ultegra, shimano dura ace, shimano ultegra di2, shimano dura ace di2

Id: dArMiKU24n0

Length: 31min 20sec (1880 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 12 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/Liquidwombat]

tldr: 105, Ultegra , and Dura Ace are all basically functionally identical, fully interchangeable, and other than to save weight there’s really no reason to go with anything more than 105