I purchased a Scott CR1 with centaur components. What I was told at the bike shop and makes sense to me is that going by metals used in both campy and shimano. Record is the best with all the carbon used, chorus and dura ace are equal using titanium, and centaur and ultegra are equal using aluminum. However the edge goes to shimano with the stronger bottom braket design, that is and probably is the only place shimano has campy beat, the rest is up to the purchaser, what he/she feels is the best. I chose campy because shimano hoods were not comfortable for me, I couldn't get used to the feel, ergo shifters felt better. The centaur bike was also $500 cheaper than the ultegra bike, I couldn't see shimano's bottom braket making that much of a difference. My bike is a 10 speed, for whatever reason shimano's 10 speed is really expensive, that was the reason for the price jump on the shimano equiped bike.