Shimano, Campagnolo or ?

[MOULTY]

Shimano!

If its good enough for Lance,its good enough for me.



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[John]

12-34 cassette 30/42/52 rings STI road levers 145mmOLN rear hub - try that with Campags roady rubbish and Lance has a sevice vehicle 50metres behind.

[James]

quote:Originally posted by John

12-34 cassette 30/42/52 rings STI road levers 145mmOLN rear hub - try that with Campags roady rubbish and Lance has a sevice vehicle 50metres behind.

I've never seen anybody working on his gearing in a race.

[Polar Bear]

As far as I can tell if you're an out-and-out racing type the campag stuff is as good as shimano in this sector.   Try touring , leisure, hybrid or mtb stuff.   DOn't see campag there at all.   Shimano kit is on every one of our six bikes simply because I can get the stuff easily and the available kit is more appropraite to need.  

One point though:  I have a mate with a campag chorus setup on his tourer - he is always having gear adjustment problems.   I never do on my shimano 105 setup even though I have non-standard ratios.   He likes touring with me 'cos I can get them working for him whereas he's about as useful as a chocolate teapot with a screwdriver!

[SPINNERS]

I've been using Campag since 1994 and I've had 8, 9 and 10 speed groupsets starting with Stratos and Mirage (8 speed) moving up to Record and Chorus (9 speed) and now Centaur and Chorus (10 speed). It's really good kit and the only time I've needed a spare part was when I broke a headset fork crown race due to trying to force it onto a fork that was ever so slightly bigger than normal. There were no problems getting a spare part at all, thanks to our friends at MERCIAN CYCLES (always worth a visit).

At the moment, I do think that Campag are overdoing the carbon fibre which is why I prefer Centaur and Chorus (2003 not 2004) and I'd love to see Campag introduce some 57mm deep drop brakes so that I could eliminate ShimaNO from my bikes totally.

[oxenholme]

Campagnolo is the best.    I'm quite happy with the carbon fibre, and I'm looking forward to the Compact chainsets.   I wish that they would bring out a larger cassette - 14-34 maybe, large flange hubs and indeed, deep drop dual pivot brakes.  

However, TA chainsets are excellent - the new Carmina is incredibly rigid and beautifully finished.   Stronglight continue to make the A9 headset and their chainsets are better than ever.   Hope and Royce make superb hubs.

I prefer solid European engineering to far eastern hype.

[Si Davies]

in my experience it's all much of a muchness for roadie stuff.  Obviously Shimano is better than Campag for MTB or touring, but there is other stuff as good as Shimano, if not better: SRAM, TA, FSA, etc etc.

However, given a straight choice for a light weight road bike I'd go for Campag, mainly because if and when the shifters give up the ghost the Campag ones are much easier to service, with STI it is often a case of a new unit.

But, the best groupset I've ever had is XTR!

[coolboarder]

I realise this topic has been going for ages but as a user of everything from crappy Benelux and Simplex in the 60's to sublime Campag Carbon Record 10 now, I've used the lot. At the end of the day you get what you pay for and there is nothing but personal preference between Campagnolo and Shimano if you take their relevant groupsets head to head. I presently use Campag Chorus on my touring bike and Record on my race bike with Shimano (what else) on my mountain bike. Previously I've used Shimano Dura-ace, Ultegra and 105. With Campagnolo it may be a bit more difficult to set up the gears to change sweetly but once you have, you are rewarded with quick, precise, crisp changes, although there are those who prefer the soft almost imperceptible changes associated with Shimano. This probably just means that Campagnolo is engineered to closer tolerances. I went for a short tour in the summer and realised that at the age of 54, despite the number of bikes and set-ups I've had over the years, I'd never actually used a touring bike fully equipped with campag before. I rode a Thorn Cyclosportif fitted with Chorus 10 and it was the most enjoyable, rewarding and trouble free ride I can remember. Lance may win Le Tour now on Shimano but before him, Campagnolo had won them all bar the odd incursion by Mavic. As the icing on the cake, Campagnolo equipment is finished like jewellery and the feel good factor over the more functional appearance of Shimano is palpable.

Finally, I may be a sad old git but I'm not so sad that I'll be thinking about buying spares 6 years after the components were last made. Anyone who is needs to get a life and a new bike! Talking of which, if I have time to write to forums like this, maybe I need a life to!!

[n/a]

Sram from Evans Cycles looks good.

[ahconway]

I do like the SRAM offroad setups (I also have a 7-speed hub gear which gives me no end of trouble!), but I also saw the forthcoming road group recently, which should give Campy & Shimano a bit of competition for once!

Whatever became of Huret, Simplex, and Zeus, anyway?

[hankamania]

Dunno about Zeus, but both Huret and Simplex were absorbed by Sachs, which in turn was bought by SRAM.

[hsps1]

Basically it all sort of works, one is cheaper and more available and if you want a performance bike you would not be thinking Thorn.

[DJ Krew]

Shimano is better in my opinion. The dura ace hollow tech cranks and external bearings make it a lot stiffer and lighter than the campy. The gears shift smoother. You may be able to rebuild campy shifters, but good luck finding the parts. And if your an avid rider, you replace the shifters once a couple years anyway.Campy may have some parts lighter than Shimano, but I found that the Shimano dura ace drivetrain weighs less the the campy record. it also is alot cheaper

[PH]

quote:Originally posted by DJ Krew


You may be able to rebuild campy shifters, but good luck finding the parts.

No luck required,a phone call to italian cycle products and you'll get the parts in the post next day.
http://www.italiancycleproducts.co.uk/

[coolboarder]

I've subscribed to this topic before but at the last analysis there is nothing to choose between Campagnolo and Shimano so long as you compare groupsets like for like i.e. Record against Dura Ace. They're equally reliable and functional.It comes down to personal taste so forget the rest of the bull but there is one indefinable quality - heritage. Campagnolo has it, Shimano doesn't.