>>1247786Pt. 3
All 3 manufacturers make combined brake & gear levers, so you don't have to take your hands off of the bars to change gear. Each manufacturer does this slightly differently. Shimano uses the whole brake lever to shift one way & a lever behind it for the opposite shift. Campagnolo has a lever behind the brake lever for one shift & a thumb lever on the brake lever body for the other. SRAM also has a gear lever behind the brake lever; pressing it for a single click shifts one way, a double click shifts the other.
Campagnolo, Shimano, & SRAM also offer electronic versions of their top groupsets. Switches on the brake levers take the place of gear levers & motors in the derailleurs make the shift happen. They work superbly, but they're costly. FSA has also released an electronic groupset, K-Force WE; it's OK.
Compact, Standard, or Triple Chainrings
The chainset comes w/ chainrings of various sizes. On an entry-level bike, you'll usually find a compact double chainset, w/ 50 & 34-tooth chainrings to give low ratios that make getting up hills easier.
The broadest possible set of gears is achieved w/ a triple chainset, so called because it has 3 chainrings. These are now fairly rare because a compact chainset gets you gears that are almost as low while being lighter & simpler to use. Triples are still ideal for very steep hills, riding in the mountains, or carrying luggage.
The Wheels Make the Bike
The next important area of your new bike is the tyres & wheels. The wheels heavily influence how the bike feels, responds, & rides. Lighter wheels are slightly quicker to spin, but serious speed comes from deep-section aerodynamic rims. Faster & lighter tyres feel more responsive.
Decent wheels should be high on your list of priorities. While you can easily replace components like the rear derailleur & other components that will eventually wear away, the wheels are a large part of a bike's general cost so they're more costly to upgrade.
