jonny7

I used to hate th 7800, especially the crankset, but somehow ended up thinking it could look really nice on a nice steel frame (which I don't have yet) and ended up collecting the full group. With 7800 downtube shifters of course.

bamboobike4

Balanced strength. If they'd have just polished the FD and RD cages.
Bulletproof dependability, last great triple group.

I just took in a Waterford RS-12 to tune up.
OEM 6503 group, with working Flight Deck.
Some really awesome sheet.

bamboobike4

When you find the frame that goes with that crankset, let me know.

dddd

Shimano's aesthetic stand-outs, for me, include the oft-mentioned 7410 crankset, the 7800 brake calipers, and the 7700 rear derailer (which has found it's way onto many of my vintage bikes, used with SIS or friction shifters).

I have 6500 cranks that have been fully polished by a previous owner and also look great imo.

The 9100 gruppo (on my 2010 Argon 18 Gallium Pro frameset) looks great imho (in the modern context) as well, and was one real bargain as part of that compete used-bike purchase.

non-fixie 

I'll be siding with the grown-ups on this matter.

'77 Crane on a '77 Speedwell, in as-bought condition:

Classtime 

The best looking DA Group will have DT shifters and solid alloy cranks.

bamboobike4

If t'were my druthers.....
7410 crankset, swap in a 38T TA Specialties small ring.
7410 BB (for the 103 mm)
7700 GS RD with a Wolftooth Roadlink
CST-7700 cassette, 11-34
7400 or 7700 FD
7700 dual pivot calipers
7700 DT shifters
7700 headset
7403 hubs laced to Mavic tubulars
7400 seat post (aero)
BL-600 brake levers

Pick a nice steel frame, say the 7-11 Merckx.
Refrain from small-small and big-big, but it works fine on 38/34 to climb.
Get the 9-sp DA jersey for Sundays, the 7-11 jersey for Saturdays.

The rest of the week, slum down to carbon.

StanSeven

Thread moved from C&V. 7700 is nine speed STI and made from 1996 - 2003. Doesn’t seem to fit in C&V

BMC_Kid 

I originally built my Tesch S-22 with a combination of DA-7400/7410 and 25th anniversary DA-7000, all of which were beautifully made, almost jewel like.





I still have my DA-7700 on my 1990 Team Miyata.

genejockey 

I love the 7410 seatpost, but alas I can't generally handle that much setback. Short femurs.

BradH

7700, as well as 6500 and 5500 are probably my favorite groupsets to build around. They work great with 10 speed 7900 DT shifters, 7403 or 6401 hubs and any of the Shimano SLR aero brake levers. I cut apart cassettes and build a 14-28 10 speed with either a 38/53 or 36/52 double. Polished aluminum, DT shifters and the gears I use. All my boxes are checked.

RiddleOfSteel

Like others have said, there are components to celebrate in every generation.

I have found that the 7400/7402 crankset to be the most iconic and handsome of '80s cranksets as it had the polish, the engraving, and the design. Shimano's 6207 cranksets (2x or 3x variant under a different code) are also up there. I still do not care for the "ice grey" coloring they used, but it was well-finished. 7402 levers, however, are the crown jewel of all brake levers IMO. Gorgeous design, coloring, texture, and feel when operating. 7400 hubs, of which I've had many (laced to various wheels), top all others. Polish, again, beautiful design, gorgeous cup-and-cone setup, spins forever. The 7403 8-speed hubs I am especially fond of since they allow up to 10-speed setups.

7700, to me, bridges the gap between the '80s establishment of Shimano and Dura-Ace, and the weight weenie race. Shifters are smart looking, the crankset still has that classic look (replete with a beautiful pearl silver finish), and the GS rear derailleur is beautiful and capable on any tourer (on my 720 presently). Absolutely nothing wrong with that groupset.

If going with beauty, performance/capability, and ease of capability, it's 7800 all day for me. Superior in many ways to 7700. Yes, the crankset is modern (welcome to a Gen Y cyclist here. ), but the shifting is sublime, the derailleurs are stunning and simple handle business, and the brake calipers are pretty much the best in town (7900, 9000, etc don't get any stronger feeling, IMO).

My ideal setup comprised of "greatest hits" goes something like: 7403 8s hubs, 7402 brake levers, 7800 FD, 7800 RD, 7800 brake calipers, 7400/7800 crankset (depending on frame) or actually a 9-speed Chorus crankset (curveball!), 7900 10s down tube shifters. I've run this combination before and love it. Nothing is as vicious a stopping combo as 7402 levers and 7800 calipers with Kool Stop pads. Ya gotta be ready, but the power is so reassuring.

In the end, I like 'em all, and I have presently full 7400, 7700 (ok, not the crankset) and 7800 (ugh, no crankset here either) groupsets. I've had 7900, and that is an underrated groupset. I have 9000, which has been my dream groupset for a while now, and it lives up to the hype. Just use Dura-Ace shift cables. Absolutely gorgeous groupset, and looks best on gloss black bikes. Classy as all get out.

smontanaro 

I would have felt weird replying if this were still on C&V, but as it got moved...

I am currently taking Doug Fattic's framebuilding class (having a blast, just brazed my fork blades yesterday — a lot of filing and shoreline finishing remains). My drivetrain will be 8sp 740x with downtube shifting. To bring this post on-topic, I've had the group for a few years (bought it from a friend in a swap meet held in my back yard!) and think it's the prettiest thing Shimano ever made. That said, it will have an unusual mix of other parts, at least to start. I have some direct mount MAFAC Raids, and some Campy wheels inbound. The steerer is threaded, so I will probably opt for a Nitto quill stem and bars of some yet-to-be-determined type (I like Noodles, but would like to find something with a groove for brake cable routing).

I'm not entirely sure about the crank. My rear derailleur is at my son's place where he's in theory going to design some long cage plates for it that we'll prototype in plastic then have 3D printed in metal. That, coupled with my fairly long dropout hanger, should allow me to exceed the stated max large cog. If that doesn't work out, I will probably opt for a crank with smaller than 130BCD to get a lower low gear (I'm getting old-ish).

In essence, your classic custom frame with a dog's breakfast for parts.

DMC707

26 years old is too new?

veganbikes

7400 would be the best Dura Ace Gruppo in terms of looks but I do prefer the 600 Arabesque or 6400 Tricolor.

smd4

Beautiful bike. Needs white cages and saddle. Never liked those bars (yes, I had them: too limiting).

cat0020

I remember it came in a case with a watch:
https://www.speedbicycles.ch/works/d...25th_1998.html

veganbikes

I do have a white Ta-Bo saddle as well as a Super Turbo saddle but they don't work for me but that C17 is comfy on my buns.

The cages are King Ti Cages with a rainbow anodizing from Firefly I though the rainbow was nice. The bars I was never married to but I like something with a flat top section and less of the classic drop those were at the time the best bars that fit what I needed without having to change everything.

I may just say screw it and go for an Innicycle headset and swap to a threadless stem and make the bike more comfortable for me so I can ride it more. However I don't know yet. I just love staring at it

smd4

It’s a stunning color scheme.

veganbikes

That is why I got it, I had to have it, I love Phil Wood, I grew up on Apple Computers with that logo and I love pink and purple and I had a bunch of 7400 Dura Ace so it was just a perfect match.

IAmSam

600 Ultegra Tricolor. But since this was a Dura Ace thread I didn't want to infringe. Thanks for opening it up.

And since this is a Brifter Bike sub-forum...it has got be ST-6400 8-speed STI.

And the kicker is that it is functionally superior to Dura Ace too.

top506

The group hanging on my Allez Pro:



Top

smd4

Keep telling yourself that…

roadcrankr

For pete's sake...not even close.

IAmSam

Oh I do - whenever DA of the time won't work with anything else while Tricolor works with other Shimanos

You are, of course, entitled to your misperceptions - ride safe