Bicycle Part Compatibility Basics

Sometimes you may wonder about bicycle part compatibility and specifications. Let me be direct and tell you that the specifications and compatibility are always changing. It is now harder in 2022 to get them right than it was in the 1970s. Back then, everything followed a regular standard. For the most part many of the components that were featured on bicycles were interchangeable. Now, there are components that require very specific tolerances. And the various corporations involved in making some of the most sought-after components have used this as an excuse to state that you need their components to match their very tight mechanical specifications. Some of these specifications have been engineered to exclude cross compatibility with competitors. So, let’s dive into the compatibility of modern bicycle parts.The beating heart of the bicycle is the drivetrain. The drivetrain contains all the essential parts: crank, chainrings. rear cassette/freewheel, chain, front/rear derailleurs witch derail the chain on the front or rear chain ring. Almost all the compatibility issues boil down to the number of speeds on the rear sprockets. Starting in the 90s on the rear cassette every 1 speed added after seven, substantially reduced the space for chain clearance creating new component standards. This in turn required new speed specific chains and new speed specific detailers. To add to this as this happened, another trend called indexing came into existence where a derailleur was able to be moved exactly into alignment at each speeds sprocket instead of being pulled at the same rate as the lever pull. This necessitated an entire new class of components that allow indexing by speeds; such as 8, 9, 10, 11, and now12 speed indexed components. If you have an indexed system and you want to keep it that way, then, whatever speed value you have on your rear cassette is what components you need to find to match up to that. For example, if you have a 9-speed indexed drivetrain, you need to find 9-speed indexed derailleurs and a 9-speed chain. However, if you have 7 speeds or less everything for the most part is cross-compatible. Friction cross-compatibility is very important as many components can be run in friction mode. So even if you have parts and pieces of drive trains, which exceed 7 speeds, as long as theyre able to run non-indexed mode, they would be compatible. Lastly, and most importantly, major component manufacturers such as Campagnolo. Shimano. and SRAM have made their components in such a way, as to make them non compatible with each other. For example between the same amount of speeds in a Campagnolo cassette or a Shimano cassette the spacing between sprockets has been made so different that its not possible to jump across for a different manufacturers derailleur. Now in my experience, what I do is run everything friction because i’m not racing and I don’t care about indexing which allows me a much greater and broader range of compatibility. But if you want a index drivetrain, these are the kind of things that you need to keep in mind. Now, what is a group? A group ( or grouppo ) is a tier of components for a manufacturer year, that meets the quality criteria for certain tear at a certain price point. For example, Shimano will have different groups for road bicycling and mountain bicycling. And for both of these verticals, they will have different tiers of quality. Everything from bicycle components that are sold at Walmart to bicycle parts that are raced professionally at Tour de France! For Shimano, specifically, the best recommended group for most road cycling is Shimano 105; which is a quality group where the parts won’t break on you and come in at at the lowest possible reasonable price. Whereas anything above that, such as all Shimano Ultegra or Dura-Ace has diminishing return for the average rider at increased cost. Here comes the most important part. How can you tell which parts are compatible with what you have when you’re looking to find an upgrade or a replacement component? It is likely that you are probably looking at a drivetrain that is mostly comprised of components from a specific major manufacturer. If so, go look at the documentation provided by Campagnolo. Shimano or SRAM online If you need further assistance with compatibility look at the websites of Park Tool, Sheldon Brown, Jim Langley or Velo Base. Or even ask on sites, like StackOverflow and Reddit. Beyond that another great resource is forums such as: bike forums, PinkBike, Mountain bike forums or even Facebook groups.Ultimately get familiar and make friends with your local bike shop.Your neighborhood LBS should be your ultimate fallback resource where you can go and get help whenever you are not able to find the solution online. Your bike shop is there to be your guide in terms of understanding your specific bicycles compatibility. Because a bicycle shop is staffed with the best and most educated staff and ultimately wants you to be able to ride safely and comfortably in order toCreate a business relationship, where you become a return customer. Lastly consider that it takes a lot of time to research bicycle component compatibility. And not only can you rely on a bike shop to give you the best advice, but they are often able to find the components that you need for your ride to get going. Even if they don’t have them in stock they can recommend a nearby bike shop that might. And it never hurts to check Sprocket bike marketplace as well just in case there’s somebody near the parts you need at a good price nearby. 7