What the Heck is a Grouppo (and Why Do I Care)?

What the Heck is a Grouppo (and Why Do I Care)?

Out of all the words that get thrown around in bike shops, grouppo (the Italian word for “group”) smacks particularly of the kind of snobbery that people associate with bike shops. It’s really just a fancy word for a single collection of components from one manufacturer, also called a group set or, even more clearly, a component package. These include the shift/brake levers, chain, cassette, crankset, bottom bracket, and brake calipers, and as mentioned before, they are often sold in bulk as a package deal to bicycle manufacturers from component manufacturers to keep costs down.
Making things a little more complicated, each of the major component manufacturers has multiple tiers of these collections that you might be offered on any given bike. There are three to five levels for each manufacturer, but the one thing that all of them have in common is that as the price increases so does the quality, while at the same time they get lighter.
It’s good to get acquainted with the styles and terms because when you start looking at bicycles, their main differences are going to be in three areas: frame materials,wheel sets,and what group set they come outfitted with.
No matter what style of riding you’ll be doing, these options will remain fairly consistent across the board on both new and used bikes.