Reasons NOT to buy a used groupset I've spend covid times in Asia, and getting ready to go home soon.
For the last several months here, I rode an old Cannondale Synapse with a Claris groupset - not amazing, but I really liked the frame, and it's actually the first indexed shifting road bike I ever used extensively.
Back home I have my old Klein Performance (circa 84'), with the original Suntour Superbe groupset, but I busted its front derailleur before leaving. I want to upgrade its groupset to a more modern indexed one, thinking of buying used on ebay before flying back.
I've always bought used bikes, so I'm looking on ebay for nice finds.
The options I'm more interested in are old Dura Ace 7700 9s, and old 8-10s Campagnolo Chorus. or Campagnolo record if I can get a good deal.
But I realize that I'm not sure how much wear and tear should come into consideration...
Assuming the chainrings are in good condition (no shark fins etc), can I expect a 25 year old derailleur to operate smoothly enough to be happy with it? Or will I be better off spending the same money on a new Shimano 105?
Other relevant questions - 1. Should there be any issues fitting these relatively-newer components on my old frame and wheels? (the Klein has old Wheelsmiths, I'm not sure of the model, I'll try to post a pic).
2. is there an easy adjustment I can make to use the Campagnolo groupset, or will I have to buy Campagnolo wheels to fit it?
TIA
Twenty-plus year old STIs that really and truly have much life left are rare and expensive.
The 7700 STIs are much more serviceable than most, hypothetically. They allow some make-one-good-one-from-two-bad-ones type stuff to be done where it's not practical otherwise. In practice most of them are trashed by now.
The wear parts on pre-Escape Ergo are all replaceable, hypothetically. In practice the world is getting dry of a lot of that stuff.
You ask about derailleur performance in particular. The age per se isn't what matters, but rather how worn it is. A slopped out RD-7700 is garbage compared to a new RD-R7000. Comparing apples to apples, NOS to new, it's hard to get away from giving a subjective answer there in my opinion, but few reasonable people would find anything to complain about either way. 7700 is longer wearing. More reasonable questions would be what are your gearing needs and do you want something closer to period-correct.
The bike is aluminum, 37 years old, and has a 126mm freewheel hub. It's got light construction for its time in terms of tube choice but it also has monster dropouts. If you want to change the group you're buying a 130 wheel, and then you're going to flex its axle and/or add to the already-considerable chance of frame failure. People do all of those things and it can result in a rideable bike. Whether you want to is up to you. You're buying a Campy wheel if you want Campy and Shimano otherwise. Meanwhile the freewheel hub you've got is one of the nicer ones ever made.
If just getting STI on the Klein is what you really want to do and you're more or less happy with the gear range you've got, you could consider keeping the cranks and wheels, getting new 2x8 STIs, a new 7-speed Shimano 11-28 freewheel, an 8-speed chain, a Claris or Sora 8-speed double front derailleur, and whatever pre-11-speed-road Shimano rear derailleur you want. Running 8-speed STIs as 7 is fine and was once condoned by Shimano themselves.
Finally, there are some Kleins that epitomized the 80s crit-geometry-on-everything trend. If your bike is like this, ie sub-405mm chainstays, then getting the FD rub-free can prove tricky no matter what you do with a more modern group.