There's a $200 difference between these 2 configurations – is it worth spending extra on the GRX 820 Vs 610? If yes. Why?
SHIMANO GRX RX610 1X 12 SPEED
RX610 1x Hydraulic Shifters
40T RX610 chainset with 10-51T 12 speed cassette.
RX822 SGS long cage rear mech
SMRT70S 160mm rotors
Or
SHIMANO GRX RX820 1X 12 SPEED
RX820 1x Hydraulic Shifters
40T RX820 chainset with 10-51T 12 speed cassette. Choice of crank lengths
RX822 SGS long cage rear mech
RTCL800 160mm rotors
by h2tcrz1s
7 Comments
The only part that tempted me to buy GRX820 was the integrated dropper post on the left lever. The rest is like jumping from 105 to Ultegra. Nicer, lighter, but for me not at all necessary. I still kinda wish I had bought the 820 levers; the Wolf Tooth dropper lever works well enough, but it’s more “stuff” on the bars.
The $200 is not bad for the “step up” imo. However, you will not notice the biggest difference. Here’s some light reading – https://.com/blog/blog/shimano-grx-which-version-to-choose-for-your-gravel-bike
I’d get the cheaper option, and get a 42T chainring instead.
Also for some reason RX820 crank doesn’t come in 165mm, only RX610 does, so if that’s your preferred length, the choice is basically made for you.
Only if you care about weight, but I wouldn’t. Shifting performance is the same, because the rear mech is the same.
Only worth upgrading if you want to run a dropper post on the left lever.
Also the 820 brake calipers have a little more pad clearance so don’t rub if the rotors warp a tiny bit. From my experience that is just a tiny bit of tink-tink noise after a big descent, and yeah the 820 doesn’t seem to have it, but maybe that bothers you enough to be worth the money.
XT/Ultegra/RX8xx provides good resistance to upgrade-itis. With SLX (and by extension, 105/RX6xx), there’s always a detail-or-two that’s a compromise to long-term performance, eg. bushing pulleys that develop runout sooner (and hence hurt shift precision) than ball-bearing pulleys. A real geek can mitigate some of those… but it’s probably better to just go XT/Ultegra/RX8xx.
The large-spider + finned CL-RT800 rotors alone are also a big deal. The small-spider SM-RT70S rotors are much more prone to heat warping if you are hard on your brakes.
I would upgrade to XT/Ultegra/RX8xx for only $200 in a heartbeat, every time.
I mean there’s not a really good reason to but yeah i would, all of it is nicer