steine13

I'm amazed at all the informed opinions here. I've been biking -- mostly for transportation and fun, nothing heavy -- since 1986, and I have only a vague appreciation of what various groups can do. I have a Moser from 1987 that I bought new with sew-ups and the Triomphe group. Beautiful form, execrable function. I upgraded the wheels, shifting, and braking with Ultegra I picked off a wrecked Trek from the mid-aughties. Kept the panto'd crankset

Where does one go to source a specific gruppo from 20 years ago??? Is there NOS available somewhere, or is it all scavenging, and hoping that high-end stuff is kept together by careful owners?

This could turn into a serious rabbit hole.
You guys probably have no idea what I'm talking about

rccardr 

We know exactly what you’re talking about.
If looking for a complete group, eBay is often still your best bet. Save a search for what you want and be patient. Really good groups in excellent condition are not cheap, however.
Also be prepared to change your idea of a ‘complete’ group. These days, that means derailleurs, brakes, crankset, shifters and brake levers.
Seldom includes seatpost, stem or hubs, but those are often available separately.

Many feel that the best way to obtain a complete group is to buy a complete bike and swapnthe parts. That can work, but it takes a lot of close examination of pictures and a certain amount of luck. Plus, not unusual for a component here or there to have been swapped out for something else over the years.

RiddleOfSteel

Yet another 6400 600 fan for all the reasons mentioned. Beautiful, accurate, and robust.
7400 (7402 specifically) Dura-Ace is another groupset that I do like a lot, but ultimately wish to make it a grab bag groupset with newer Dura-Ace components as the ice grey anodizing leaves me a little...cold.
7700 Dura-Ace is too new for a "classic" road groupset designation in my mind, though its classic status is around the corner as it is well over 20 years old. Great groupset, but I won't comment further.

Without posting a bunch of pictures of my Davidson, I will say that Suntour's Accushift Plus era of Superbe Pro is my favorite vintage groupset. Gorgeous crankset, exquisite hidden-spring brake calipers, those shift levers, beautiful derailleurs and very nice brake levers. Brake effort is light and wonderfully smooth. Shift look, feel, and sound is 'warmer' than 7400; and the micro-ratcheting of the left (front) lever is superior to all but retrofriction shifters in its ability to hold its big ring position in big sprint efforts (as I have confirmed).





NOS beauties that were/are worth every penny.

seypat

Any decent wheelset I build starts with Tri color hubs. They're so shiny! However, if people dig the gray color of Tri color, why no love for the silvery/grayish/greenish 105SC group? It might be the sleeper of all Shimano groups.

70sSanO

I used to ride Dura Ace 7400. Over the years I have swapped out a few pieces. I am running Dura Ace 7700 hubs to run a standard cassette instead of a freewheel. When I went to a triple I selected a Ultegra 6500. It is classy without having a spider.

But my favorite road components are XTR M900 front and rear derailleurs. They are truly Dura Ace with capacity. I’ve paired them with Dura Ace 7401 shifters and the setup is wonderful.

John

canklecat

Campy Nuovo Record, late 1960s-mid '70s, if it's just for lookin' at. It's what I saw on the best bikes when I was an impressionable youngster, reading magazines and catalogs, hoping to catch a glimpse of a race on Wide World of Sports. If I didn't actually ride the bike I probably wouldn't be disappointed in the function.

But for function and looks, probably Tricolor. Suntour GPX is very close in design and cosmetics -- blue/gray anodized finish, sleek lines from the cranks to the derailleurs.

RiddleOfSteel

I think 105SC ("Champagne 105") is a sleeper groupset, indeed. The color though just doesn't go with nearly as many frames (as in, very few), and is too close, IMO, to painted silver--while not actually being silver--that it ends up clashing more with paint schemes and silver components than complementing them. 7400 Dura-Ace, to me, has largely the same issue, though to a lesser extent. Its purple/blue/medium-grey tone just lands in the middle of everything and doesn't visually 'commit' to light or dark. 6400 600 has that rich, slightly-bluish dark grey (metallic) color, which also matches or nearly matches the dark grey anodized rims of the period. Dark components that let silver pieces and tan wall tires visually 'pop'. It's a very compelling aesthetic statement. The 600's graphics also were extremely well done.

rccardr 

105 SC is Shimano’s red headed step child. Clearly a 640X clone,yet....oddly colored. Works great, looks...unusual.
Double, triple, 7 speed, 8 speed, DT shifter, STI, it has it all.

Except beauty.

otherself

Favourite friction is Suntour Sprint circa 1986 and Ofmega Mistral... Mid 80's.

Favourite indexed has to be 6400 Tri colour 600 from 1990. Got a groupset used in 2003 and have done circa 12'000 miles on it in 17 years. Still going strong. Suntour GPX would also get a mention.

iab

You guys and your modern stuff. Gran Sport. Because it was first.



Campagnolo Gran Sport Hubs by iabisdb, on Flickr

Campagnolo Gran Sport RD by iabisdb, on Flickr

trailmix

Ugly is only skin deep.

Personally, I love Shimano 6200.

non-fixie 

I have a favorite gruppo. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I even have a bike with a complete and correct group.

I prefer this approach. Totally unacceptable if you were Italian of French of course, but for riders from the Low Countries this was what you did. You assembled your own favorite "gruppo" using the nicest parts you could get.

In this young man's case (if my eyes are not deceiving me): Campagnolo cranks and hubs, MAFAC brakes, Simplex derailleurs and Universal brake levers. On a Masi frame painted in the sponsor's colors. A true Frankenbike.