How do I know which bicycle components are quality components?

I am mechanically inclined, and have recently begun making upgrades to my old bicycle, which I hope eventually to culminate in a new frame and wheelset, etc. Lots of web-pages have bicycle parts for sale, but seldom give enough information about the parts to determine if they are compatible with other parts you might order. Also there seems to be extremely wide price differences among (for example) carbon forks that weigh about the same depending on either website or brand. I live in a rural area with no real bike shops, so online shopping is really my only choice. What I really want to know is how to tell what components are quality components, and which are not. Surely there is some publication, online or otherwise that does more than just review a few out of the hundreds of products available? I haven’t managed to find comprehensive reviews of anything I’m looking at anywhere online, and customer reviews are totally useless to me.

The 3 major manufacturers of road bike components are Shimano, Sram and Campagnolo. Each one makes several levels of quality components for bicycles. Check out their websites for information concerning the parts they make. In general, if you buy one brand, it is best to stick with it until you learn more concerning compatibility. Even within the same brand, some levels of quality have some parts that don’t work with other levels. When you look at frames and forks, there are many levels of quality as well. Just because a fork is made of carbon fiber, it does not mean that it is the same quality of material as another carbon fiber fork, there are different grades of carbon, as well as different levels of quality control and fabrication. Carbon fiber is not a generic material. There is no single publication that will tell you everything you need to know about bicycles. Sheldon Brown’s website has a wealth of articles about bicycles and cycling, but since his death a couple of years ago, some of the material there is getting a little dated. If you want to become truly knowledgeable about the subject, you are going to have to take the time to read through everything you can find, there are no shortcuts

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