Campy vs. Shimano

Eldron

<br />It's an age old debate but has recently caused me some constrenation (not constipation wise guy!) so I thought I'd ask my cyber buddies to answer the question.<br /><br />Right - I have a quite new Look AL274 frame (awesome and higly recommended!), with pretty new Mavic Classics SSC wheels and a 6 year old Record/Chorus mix gruppo. Time has come to change said gruppo - but to what?<br /><br />I love Shimano's splined and hollow crankset/bb combo but I also love Campy's reliability. I hate that little plastic lever behind the carbon one on Record shifters. I hate Shimano STI's gear cables sticking out from the lever. <br /><br />Throw the fact that my racing wheels and the Mavic Classics are both Campy (no upgrade needed for 10spd Campy but new splines needed for a change to Shimano) and it's a tough decision.....<br /><br />Shimano is also miles cheaper than Campy in South Africa - not to mention back up for Campy being worse.<br /><br />The sleepless nights are killing me people - tell me what you think and I'll buckle under the peer pressure and buy summin.<br /><br />What say ye? Japanese or Italian?<br />

admin

I would get campy.....i've found my chorus groupset to be far better than anything shimano have ever made.

Vo2

The world belongs to Campagnolo...Shimano are just visiting<br /><br />Hope that answers your question!

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MR_ed

I bought a bike 1 year ago &amp;amp; did 17 000kms on it. <br />The bike severed me well, it had shimano on it, But it was worn out, I was a bit disapponted I would of like it to last me a bit longer, Now I have a new bike it has Campy. you will have to wait till next year to see if it will out last my old bike.<br />To me both bikes rode the same, Sorry I can't be of any mor help

bigringking

I don't understand why everyone is so down on Shimano. Maybe they send their rejects and seconds to you developing nations. Here in the good old USA, I've never heard of the number of bad experiences like I see posted from other places. Maybe my friends and I have been lucky.<br /><br />I've ridden Shimano, both road and mountain, for 10 years with no problems. <br /><br />I purchased my last road bike 2 years ago with Ultegra and have put 11000 miles on it. I've replaced the cassette and chain rings (once each), and gone through several chains. I still have the original STI levers, crank arms, brake calipers, and front and rear derailleurs (all still working fine.)<br /><br />Sure, Campy has cache and mystic, and perhaps you have Euro-envy. But price vs. performance gives the nod to Shimano. About 90+% of the people I know ride Shimano. If something does break, one or more of the 3 large bike shops in town (pop. about 300,000) will have a replacement. If a Campy part breaks, chances are it willl have to be ordered...with several days wait. And Campy is even harder to find when visiting smaller towns.<br /><br />Sorry, but the choice is easy for me.

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jockanese

It's got to be Campag! Your old stuf is 6 years old? Well you'll never get the Jap stuf to last that long. Go for the quality and no messing around with your wheels.<br />Go on, you know it makes sense!!

maarten

Some information here is coloured by your preferences.<br /><br />I have a Shimano Dura ace group 7 years old intensively used and it all still works, except op the shifters but thats because I crashed them very hard. Older versions sometimes have shifter sound on rough roads but this is easy to fix and is fixed in recent recent Dura ace ultegra or 105.<br /><br />When I Look at cylelab Prices Campy stuf is a super rip off in South Africa <br /><br />Prices you pay here Belgium and Holland for 2003:<br />Complete with hubs chain and casette<br /><br />Dura 1100 euro<br />ultegra 700 <br />record 1150<br />chorus 800<br />centaur 550<br /><br />1Euro is 1US dollar exals approxiamtely 9 rand<br />These ar common prices when I see What you pay for Campy and Mavic wheels you are ripped of very hard over there, isn't there a parallel import system, could save you al lot of money<br />

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bigringking

The difference is more pronounced in the US.<br /><br />A Record 10 group is about $350 more than DA, and Chorus 10 is $300 more than Ultegra.

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MR_ed

I am told &amp; am on expert ??? But my source is good That chorus is like DA, Centaur like Ultegra &amp; Record a class of it's own &gt; Dont jump down MY throat I have Heard that going around at the Bike shop. Has any one else heard this

admin

[quote author=MR_ed link=board=20;threadid=2774;start=0#23633 date=1039945908]<br />I am told &amp;amp; am on expert ??? But my source is good That chorus is like DA, Centaur like Ultegra &amp;amp; Record a class of it's own &amp;gt; Dont jump down MY throat I have Heard that going around at the Bike shop. Has any one else heard this <br />[/quote]<br />I would agree with that (ps - campy is still beter )<br /><br />cheers

maarten

Correction(my perception)<br />record is like dura ace<br />Chorus is a little bit better dan Ultegra<br />and centaur is like 105<br /><br />But the most important thing is that you like the group you have.<br /><br />But my question are cyclab online prices a refference for South African Prices? Im considering writing an essay about Price differences between South africa and Europe.<br />Anyone any links to other South africa based Shops?

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nferyn

Same question here,<br /><br />I'm in for a new bike (going to buy one in a couple of weeks) and I'm still trying to make up my mind about what to buy. I want to go bargain hunting and see what 2002 models are for sale at reduced prices. My current bike is +/- 15 years old (Merckx Corsa Extra with Record) and can't be properly maintained anymore due to wear on several parts.<br /><br />Now I know that the current linup of bikes would give me something superior to what I have, even if I were to choose a lower groupset, but I still want my new bike to last at least 5-7 years comfortably. I've always been very happy with my campagnolo equiped bike and think that it doesn't make much sense switching as campagnolo parts are easy to find in Belgium and the price difference is minimal.<br /><br />I was thinking about a decent aluminium frame with carbon fork and a centaur groupset, which would set me back about 1800 Euro (Don't want to spend more than 2000 Euro)<br /><br />Any suggestions: other groupset, carbon frame, .... and why should I spend the extra money?<br /><br />Niek

ewep

Bad subject, but Ihave to give you my piece of mind as well. I've had both Shimano and Campy and both have their pros and cons. Here they are:<br /><br />Pros:<br />Shimano:<br />1. Easy to get parts/service.<br />2. Price.<br />3. Ease of changing when on HB drops. (STIs, NOT Sora!)<br />4. Much quiter than Campag (while riding and changing)<br />Campag:<br />1. Very reliable.<br />2. Solid feel to changes.<br />3. Easy to change when on STI hoods.<br /><br />Cons:<br />Shimano:<br />1. Not as &amp;quot;classy&amp;quot; as Campag.<br />2. I've found that you have to give the rear der. fine tuning about once a month. (I'm a noice freak!)<br />3. STIs might develop some noise (I fixed mine, so this is not really a major issue!)<br />Campag:<br />1. PRICE<br />2. Support in SA<br />3. When changing on the drops, it can get a bit tricky if you don't practice the procedure.<br /><br />My preference: Shimano. Why, much quiter during the ride and the service and parts are readly available in SA at a decent price.<br /><br />I rode a Bianchi Gold Race with Campag Veloce and now a I ride an Omega V-Max with 105/Ultegra mix.

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Lab_Rat

Hiya Eldron, <br /><br />I agree with Maarten i.t.o. South African prices for groupsets and I would recommend that you import your own groupset. You can find some relatively good prices for groupsets in the international cycling magazines such as Cyclesport etc. Pay the little bit extra for the courier but you save on the margin made by the SA Dealer.<br /><br />From discussions I've had with some of the SA pro's try and stay away from the Record Titanium Cassettes coz they wear faster than the normal steel ones. I would go for a Chorus one instead.<br /><br />You seem to be happy with your campy groupset so why change it to Shimano? I cannot come to terms with the Shimano feel and won't easily change from Campy. Perhaps Maarten can assist you to find a really good price on a groupset, regardless of what you eventually choose. And you can get it delivered by air in less than 2 weeks, so it's not a long wait. Let me know if you need any assistance with the customs stuff. (Bike parts are duty free by the way.)

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