Campy CT Offerings

App said:

Ya know, I find myself quite enamored of the gear ratios available to
me via the 50/34 of a compact crankset. I have an FSA Energy compact
on on my tertiary bike and find that the top end is almost sufficient
(50/12 or 13 which translates to spinning out at about 27-30 mph) and
the bottom end is quite nice.

I am a Campy fan but cannot bring myself to appreciate the design of
the new compact cranks, especially the Record. Yuk! It looks chunky
and costs $500+ bucks. They really failed on this one. Did they ask
anyone outside the project team about the aesthetics? Did they do any
market research on the pricing?

I was at the Death Ride where nice bikes and dedicated cyclists abound.
I saw only ONE Campy carbon CT crankset. Does anyone buy these
things?

Sad. I actually saw a great deal on ebay - $350 for NIB Record CT PLUS
NIB Record bb. I looked at it and said no. At that price I expect not
only performance but also aesthetics. Not that the FSA carbon are much
better, especially those ones that try to copy the dura ace chainrings.
Double YUK!

I think this spring it will be a Campy Centaur CT. Aluminum, so it
won't get all chipped up the first time I ride pea gravel, and under
$200 with bb! I can't imagine I will notice the difference.

Does anyone think the Carbon CT's (or current carbon non-CT) are
attractive or in any way priced to sell (who doesn't have a vested
interest in their sale)?

App

Definately overpriced but every other compact or noncompact carbon
crank all look the same, like toyotas, with different names on them.
Campag, I think with the hidden spider, is gorgeous.

Plus the FSA, cheezy bearings and soft-ish rings, may not be worth the
$ in the long run. I think the Centaur with new Centaur BB is quite the
value. Price range of the FSA, with better bearings, rings and more
options in terms of Itl or eng threading and ring size options.
Something the FSA does not offer. AND we found 4 Itl FSA BBs, I think
they were the last in the US.

We have sold not a lot but more than i had thougfht. All were Record.
Like a Porsche, if ya want the best......you know the frill. If
somebody is plunking down 2 grand$ for a group, another $250 is no big
deal.

Qui si parla Campagnolo <[email hidden]> wrote:

: We have sold not a lot but more than i had thougfht. All were Record.
: Like a Porsche, if ya want the best......you know the frill. If
: somebody is plunking down 2 grand$ for a group, another $250 is no big
: deal.

Well, not me. I've got mostly Record on the bike but went with a TA Vega Light.
Much nicer, cheaper and just as light.

And to wander slightly, I can't get on with 34/50. The gap is just too big. 34/48
works much better for me. 48x12 is still a pretty big gear.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune PGP/GPG Key: http://www.clune.org/pubkey.txt
The struggle of people against power is the struggle
of memory against forgetting - Milan Kundera

Aesthetics... no comment

I'm a new CT rider. Here is my 34/50 story. First impression ride was
not happy. Too much shifting, too much time in the big ring and too
little gear development in each gear. By that I mean with a 53 tooth
you are able to ride each gear longer.

I'm on CT because its a medical necessity for my knees. CT fills that
bill completely. You learn to double-down shift without dropping the
chain. There is no shifting strategy that works since your gear inch
development is so short. You just shift until you match speed/cadence.
I *highly* recommend upgrading carbon shift cable. It makes crisp,
accurate and no-adjustments required on the derailleur. Shift feel
from the brake/shift levers is substantially improved. With CT you
will be shifting.

CT is great in the hills. With 10 speed and smaller rings CT enblaes
you to just spin and shift without mashing the little ring. CT has
changed the way I ride my rings. Now I only need ride the top-half of
the chainrings. Big difference!

CT is not a competitive weapon. I don't ride peloton, but I think
you'd find yourself dropped off the back running CT. It is adequate in
every other venue I can imagine.

I think 110cm should be in everyone's kit and change-over to 130/135cm
cranks as required. Both work for different ride profiles. I would
advise this strategy over purchasing big rings to fit the 110cm CT
cranks.

Price .vs. profit? CT fits a ready market that is ageing and in
degrading levels of fitness. These people can profit from what CT has
to offer irregardless the price, be it $200 or $600. They will feel
the difference...

App said:

I am a Campy fan but cannot bring myself to appreciate the design of
the new compact cranks, especially the Record. Yuk! It looks chunky
and costs $500+ bucks. They really failed on this one. Did they ask
anyone outside the project team about the aesthetics? Did they do any
market research on the pricing?

Campy nuked their most beautiful crankset (Chorus, 2003)
To introduce their most ugly models (Compact versions).

Tullio is undoubtedly turning over and over in his grave ....

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

Quoted message said:

Aesthetics... no comment

I'm a new CT rider. Here is my 34/50 story. First impression ride was
not happy. Too much shifting, too much time in the big ring and too
little gear development in each gear. By that I mean with a 53 tooth
you are able to ride each gear longer.

For a given gear ratio, whether the chainring is 53 or 50 makes absolutely
no difference in terms on how "long" you are able to ride each gear. If
you refer to the "gear" as a particular sprocket on the cassette, then
re-think it as a particular ratio and you will re-evaluate your situation.

Quoted message said:

I'm on CT because its a medical necessity for my knees. CT fills that
bill completely. You learn to double-down shift without dropping the
chain.

No double shift should cause you to drop the chain. If it does,
something is misadjusted.

Quoted message said:

There is no shifting strategy that works since your gear inch
development is so short.

Again, this is meaningless. A given ratio is a given ratio, and you can
do precisely the same things in a given ratio independently of whether it
is a 53/18 or a 50/17

--

David L. Johnson

__o | And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all
_`\(,_ | mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so
(_)/ (_) | that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am
nothing. [1 Corinth. 13:2]

App said:

I am a Campy fan but cannot bring myself to appreciate the design of
the new compact cranks, especially the Record. Yuk! It looks chunky
and costs $500+ bucks. They really failed on this one. Did they ask
anyone outside the project team about the aesthetics? Did they do any
market research on the pricing?

<snip>

Does anyone think the Carbon CT's (or current carbon non-CT) are
attractive or in any way priced to sell (who doesn't have a vested
interest in their sale)?

I always thought that the Campagnolo carbon fiber cranks are among the
cleanest and nicest looking on the market. Especially compared to for
example FSA. The current aluminium Chorus and Record cranks for me are
the most beautiful ever, but if I were to upgrade to a carbon crankset
(for no good reason), Chorus or Record would be my choice.

The Campagnolo carbon fiber cranks used to be way overpriced, but their
prices have been coming down to the level of their competition. The best
price I've seen for a Chorus carbon cranks is 320 euros. I do agree that
it was silly that they introduced the compact drivetrains without a
reasonably priced crank option, though.

-as

Arthur Clune said:

Qui si parla Campagnolo <[email hidden]> wrote:

: We have sold not a lot but more than i had thougfht. All were Record.
: Like a Porsche, if ya want the best......you know the frill. If
: somebody is plunking down 2 grand$ for a group, another $250 is no big
: deal.

Well, not me. I've got mostly Record on the bike but went with a TA Vega Light.
Much nicer, cheaper and just as light.

And to wander slightly, I can't get on with 34/50. The gap is just too big. 34/48
works much better for me. 48x12 is still a pretty big gear.

Arthur

Agree. We have also sold a few of the TA cranks, very nice altho
aluminum. I use a 50/13 as my tallest gear w/o problem..Few of us need
a 53/12 or even the ridiculous 53/11.

Donald Gillies said:

App said:

I am a Campy fan but cannot bring myself to appreciate the design of
the new compact cranks, especially the Record. Yuk! It looks chunky
and costs $500+ bucks. They really failed on this one. Did they ask
anyone outside the project team about the aesthetics? Did they do any
market research on the pricing?

Campy nuked their most beautiful crankset (Chorus, 2003)
To introduce their most ugly models (Compact versions).

Tullio is undoubtedly turning over and over in his grave ....

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

Don't agree. I think the very best crank was the 1984 thru 1994
C-Record, which I use today. THAT was beeeoootiful.

Tullio probably winced in the grave when his son tried MTB stuff but
Valentino and his crew have done a remarkable job of taking the company
from near extinction in the late 80s to what it is today.

App said:

Sad. I actually saw a great deal on ebay - $350 for NIB Record CT PLUS
NIB Record bb. I looked at it and said no. At that price I expect not
only performance but also aesthetics. Not that the FSA carbon are much
better, especially those ones that try to copy the dura ace chainrings.
Double YUK!

I have a Record carbon BB new for sale. It came with my new-for-me bike,
but I can't use it as it's Italian thread and my bike is a Specialized.
The fellow who sold me the bike just threw it in as he had no use for it
too.

Can't help with the cranks, but if you want to piece it, I'll happily
part with the BB. -paul

nospam-pcassel2ATcomcast.net-nospam

Paul Cassel said:

Quoted message said:

I have a Record carbon BB new for sale. It came with my new-for-me bike,
but I can't use it as it's Italian thread and my bike is a Specialized.
The fellow who sold me the bike just threw it in as he had no use for it
too.

Can't help with the cranks, but if you want to piece it, I'll happily
part with the BB. -paul

Have a decent bike shop nearby that 'qui si parla Campagnolo'? Even tho
they are great BBs, they do wear out. maybe a bike shop has a box of
toasted Bbs, with the cups, so you can swap them, and have a spare BB
or just use the cups now in yer bici.

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

Paul Cassel said:

I have a Record carbon BB new for sale. It came with my new-for-me bike,
but I can't use it as it's Italian thread and my bike is a Specialized.
The fellow who sold me the bike just threw it in as he had no use for it
too.

Can't help with the cranks, but if you want to piece it, I'll happily
part with the BB. -paul

Have a decent bike shop nearby that 'qui si parla Campagnolo'? Even tho
they are great BBs, they do wear out. maybe a bike shop has a box of
toasted Bbs, with the cups, so you can swap them, and have a spare BB
or just use the cups now in yer bici.

I'll call you next week to see if we can come up with a creative swap. -paul

App said:

Ya know, I find myself quite enamored of the gear ratios available to
me via the 50/34 of a compact crankset. I have an FSA Energy compact
on on my tertiary bike and find that the top end is almost sufficient
(50/12 or 13 which translates to spinning out at about 27-30 mph) and
the bottom end is quite nice.

I am a Campy fan but cannot bring myself to appreciate the design of
the new compact cranks, especially the Record. Yuk! It looks chunky
and costs $500+ bucks. They really failed on this one. Did they ask
anyone outside the project team about the aesthetics? Did they do any
market research on the pricing?

I was at the Death Ride where nice bikes and dedicated cyclists abound.
I saw only ONE Campy carbon CT crankset. Does anyone buy these
things?

Sad. I actually saw a great deal on ebay - $350 for NIB Record CT PLUS
NIB Record bb. I looked at it and said no. At that price I expect not
only performance but also aesthetics. Not that the FSA carbon are much
better, especially those ones that try to copy the dura ace chainrings.
Double YUK!

I think this spring it will be a Campy Centaur CT. Aluminum, so it
won't get all chipped up the first time I ride pea gravel, and under
$200 with bb! I can't imagine I will notice the difference.

Does anyone think the Carbon CT's (or current carbon non-CT) are
attractive or in any way priced to sell (who doesn't have a vested
interest in their sale)?

App

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2005/tech/shows/eurobike05/?id=eurobike057/IMG_2206Eurobike2005