groupsets etc? where do I start looking?

[Black Sheep]

If this gets a bit long and rambly, skip to the bottom, I'll summarise

You used to be able to go on chainreactioncycles or wiggle and pick shimano or sram and then pick how much you wished to spend and sorted, now it seems you have to pick from parts and not a lot of choice.

I've got a hardtail MTB that's been singlespeed for years, however due to not riding to commute anymore my fitness level has gone down and due to moving to the west pennine moors the hill size and steepness has gone up, factor in having a baby i've not got time to get fitness levels back to the point of being able to ride everything on single speed anymore (used to do day trips around the lake district!)

So, as everyone keeps asking what I want for christmas I figured I'd get a bike part from everyone and spend a happy boxing day fitting them.

It's been about 10 years since I was looking at gears, 9 speed was new and expensive and I was a student on a budget (my road bike still has a deore rear mech I had spare!) I'm fancying sram instead of shimano but I'm finding wiggle & CRC hard to navigate and find what I'm wanting so,

Can anyone recommend components to make a group set for my bike?
Should I be looking for 9 speed or 10 speed?
What's good and not good now?


Summary,

not paid attention to bike parts for 10 years of singlespeed fun,

need gears on bike, looking for list for family members to buy as christmas present

what to look for? where to buy? preference of sram.

 

[Adam Parker]

I'd stick to shimano Deore personally or shimano slx, they represent the best value for money, in their respective price range. If you're feeling flush go for Shimano XT... Merlin cycles are doing some great prices on the www. Adam

 

[Crackle]

Yes, I've just built my bike with individual groupset stuff as opposed to a full group set, which are available on ebay as well. Buying it individually was cheaper if you shopped around and Deore was the level I decided on as best bang per buck. 9 speed worked out cheaper overall when cassette's, chains and cranksets were considered and a 3x9setup was cheaper than the more modern 2x10. The full list of what I bought is in this post http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/kinesis-maxlight-ff29-build.139614/post-2748844

I bought stuff from www.bike-discount.de , Merlin for shifters, crc for cassette etc....

 

[Cubist]

Chain reaction have a sale on now. 10 speed is currently cheaper than 9. Bang for buck go slx, and with a singlespeeders legs id suggest 2x10, with an 11-36 casette. German sites sell groupsrts occasionally, but you have to make sure what you want is in stock. If you can afford it, xt m785 can be found for not much more than m675 slx, and do look very nice. Check probikeshop.com, hibike.de, roseversand.com, or rosebikes, bike-discount.de. Crc have some bargain slx cassettes in.

 

[lpretro1]

Cant go wrong with Shimano Deore 9spd - not too expensive. But as above lots of nice new 10 speed stuff....and prices are very good!