Group Set Questions

Question:
Hello! I am a rookie in this field. I am in the process of building a road bike. I bought a QUATTRO ASSI XXX2 FULL CARBON (50CM) AND ZERO LITE XR-1 WHEEL (FREEHUB IS FOR SHIMANO 8/9 SPEED CAMPY 9/10 SPEED INTERCHANGEABLE). I am looking at high end group such as Campy Record/Chorus and Shimano Dura Ace/Ultegra. I am really confused about all those numbers such as Hollowtech crank (53/39), crank length (165,170, etc...) cassette range (11-23, 12-23, etc...), front derailer (braze-on or clamp size).
I am between 5'5" and 5'6" and 145lbs in good fit because I work out regularly by lift weight and jogging.
My bottom line is I want to build a 18 speed road bike with double crank. Advertising I saw from lickbike.com says SHIMANO DURA RACE 7800 10 SPEED DOUBLE. I only want 9speed cassette and double crank.
ANOTHER QUESTION IS: Which branch is easier to work with? I heard that Shimano chain is hard to work with.
CAN YOU RECOMMEND ME A GOOD BOOK THAT EXPLAINS ALL THOSE TECHNICAL SUBJECTS THATBICYCLE MECHANICS USE! I AM A AUTO MECHANIC.
PLEASE ACCEPT MY SINCERE THANKS FOR REPLY.
THANKS AGAIN
DAVE.

Hi Dave,

Those numbers are all a bit confusing if you don't know what they are all about, so let us explain.

First you say you only want 9 speed, well forget it you must go for a 10 speed, especially if you want Shimano Dura-ace or Campagnolo Record as that is all that is available, you might manage to find some old 9 speed, but it is obsolete and you wont be able to buy replacement parts if anything wears out, so its got to be 10 speed anything else would be a waste of money.

OK lets explain all those numbers; Hollowtech crank (53/39) is the amount of teeth on the chain rings, 53 outer is what most Pro's ride and the 39 inner gives you a good spread of gears and you should be able to climb just about anything with a 39 and a cassette with 12-25, these are the teeth on the cassette. If you live in a hill area a 25 should give you a small enough gear, if you live in a flat area then a 23 will be fine. An 11 tooth with a 53 is quite a big gear and normally a 12 is sufficient. Crank (165,170) refers to the length of the crank, for someone you height I would guess that a crank length of 170 would be correct or if you have long thighs then a crank of 172.5 might suit you better, this is a difficult one to guess at as you may like to pedal fast or push a big gear, the longer the crank the better for the big gear, but not so good for the more flexible pedaling rider.

The front mech depends on which fitting your frame has, it may have the fittings on the frame for a brazed on front mech or it will have a band that goes round the seat tube, and you need to know the size of the tube as there are three different sizes. You can always do what many people do and that is to buy a braze on front mech and then buy a clamp to fit the frame and the braze on front mech, this is also handy as you can swap the mech from bike to bike even if they have different fittings.

Yes the Shimano chain is a real pain to connect, but you can buy an "easy link" connector if you decide on Shimano. Both Shimano and Campagnolo are fairly easy to work with when building up your dream bike. Your choice will come down to which one you like the feel of, the gear change and the braking feels different from one to the other and it's a personal choice in the end. Repairs can be undertaken with Campagnolo, where as with Shimano it is more in the throw away and replace with new, sort of situation.

There are a few books on the market for bike mechanics, check out Amazon for their suggestions. One of the best seems to be The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance and Repair, the trouble with most repair books is that they become out of date fairly quickly, as I'm sure you know in auto trade. Most mechanics are self taught over many years of practice. I hope this all explains those tricky numbers?