Is it true that Shimano is much less durable then Camp or SRAM?

Talking with the owner at the LBS, I was telling him that I had my bike with old 105 Shimano and even a Shimano 600 rear deraileur. I told him I don't ride that much but over the years km accumulate and that they are in perfect working order, I check the chain and have replaced it a couple of times, I always lubricate it.
He told me that Shimano is much less durable than Campagnolo or SRAM, he says that the way he rides that Shimano won't last more than a year or two. I find it hard to believe but his the experienced and is supposed to know what he is talking about.
I' about to replace the old 105 8 speed for a new Ultegra ten speed just for renewing not for any other reason, as I said the 105 is still working with no problems. I will replace the shifters, chain and cassette. If necesary the rear deraileur but I'm almost sure it won't be necesary. I'll keep the old 105 crank and FD. Campagnolo and SRAM are too expensive for what I think is not a big difference in performance, specially Shimano vs SRAM, to me Campy really is above of the other two but I don't or can't spend that much.

Nothing wrong with Shimano. LBS may have an agenda?

Yup. That LBS is spewing a line of ****. Dura Ace is durable, as are the other Shimano offerings. What Shimano doesn't have, though, is rebuildability. Campy has it. SRAM allegedly has it (but SRAM also has bolts that rust, which a real nice touch on expensive kit. ).

I've used Dura Ace, but didn't get on with it. I used pre-integrated shifter Ultegra which was plenty durable. Not selling rebuildable parts is reason enough for me not to use Shimano. I think building throw away stuff like that is irresponsible and environmentally ignorant, but that's just my personal view.

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I've bashed the crap out of 4 sets of 9sp Dura-Ace stuff for the last five years (I usually do about 17,000 to 19,000kms a year), and it's all still going well, despite a few mashes, which seemed to impact heavily on the levers (the caps got smashed up each time). I'm kinda hoping some of my 9sp stuff will clap out so I can buy some new 10sp levers

Yup. If anything will destroy a gruppo, it's cross, and I see lots o' Shimano kit in the cross pelotons.

Like I said, I won't buy Shimano's gruppos anymore 'cuz of my stand on disposability and no possibility of rebuilding. That don't mean the stuff ain't durable, though. Even if that weren't the case, me and 10 spd Dura Ace (and likely the lower gruppos) just don't get along. I like a mechanical feel when I shift. Now, Shimano shoes are a different story. Iffin' my feet could splooge, they'd splurt all over my SH-R220's when I put 'em on. Wearin' 'em is kinda like elbow sex but a whole lot better.

__________________
Sex is horrid
Pain is Fun
I cut my fingers off
One by one

My Aunt Matilda's mustache. shimano is on par with Campagnolo in terms of reliability and durability. Campagnolo levers can be repaired and shimano cannot but in terms of chains, chainrings, cogs, derailleurs, even 105 stuff works well for a long time.

Sram is pretty new so we'll see but the MTB stuff seems to work well. The function of sram levers is what I don't like and the Red Powerdome cogset is really expensive for what it is.

But $ for $, I think it all works well and lasts pretty much the same.

You are who shimano is counting on....

My DA 9 speed triple stuff is holding up fine at 20K miles now. Only maintenance required has been the replacement of the shift cables after the front cable broke this spring. Sure when a shifter wears out I'll have to buy new rather than repair, but based on the trouble-free service I've gotten over 5 years, feel I've already gotten my money's worth. Agree maintenance-free designs aren't my favorite, but if they last "forever" it's really a moot point.

Only 2 types of STI lever. Those that quit working and those that will.


I prefer shimano over sram, and I am no fan of shimano.

And they wonder why we buy mail order rather than LBS: To me there are only two reasons to purchase LBS: 1- if there are actually experts working there (in my town one shop has only experts, one has about 75%, one has about 25%, one has 0%) and 2 - if it's convenient.

LBS's are full of ignorant amateurs who not only don't know what they're talking about, but actualy parrot "conventional" wisdom which is wrong or worse yet, spout personal opinions that they just make up as fact that are wrong.

I'm very tired of this and avoid local bike shops at all costs unless factors 1 and 2 above are in play.

The LBS where I shop gave me some guidance when I was shopping for a group.

They don't sell many Campy groups, and quite a few Shimano groups.

Campy groups are indeed repairable and they do the repairs regularly. Shimano are not, yet they rarely sell replacement groups.

Hard to tell if you are responding to me or the OP, but if it's to me, I can make copies of the 90-100 RA numbers I have had for STI levers that I have warrantied since we opened in 2000.

10s seems much more relaible but we have warrantied about 10 of those.

It is possible to repair shimano stuff. You can buy, at a way elevated price, spare parts from STI shifters etc etc.... at the end of the day it's almost as cheap to buy new as it is too repair the stuff.

Nice drawings...
http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/te...9830609264.pdf

But then, when you pay twice as much for a similarly functional piece of Campag gear you expect the bits to be cheaper when it breaks, no?

The shift lever assembly is complete, not small parts available to 'take apart and repair'. It's not really possible anyway.

But initial quality is of course a different thing than wear life. From your database of warranty claims, are you saying that new Shimano stuff has more defects than Campy, or that the initial failures with Campagnolo can be corrected at your shop (vs. requiring a warranty replacement)? Can you estimate a warranty failure rate for Shimano shifters (eg, 100 claims out of 2000 units sold) and compare that to the rate of Campy?