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!

 

[MR_ed]

I bought a bike 1 year ago &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.

 

[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 />

 

[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.

 

[MR_ed]

I am told & am on expert ??? But my source is good That chorus is like DA, Centaur like Ultegra & Record a class of it's own 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; 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 <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?

 

[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 &quot;classy&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.

 

[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.)

 

[maarten]

I know some address in the area with good prices no Postal delivery though But you can always ask me for price compairing. I might also be able to ship them myself or bring them (I hope Coming to South-Africa in July) but for such a thing some should think of a payment method(where I have no payment risk and you no risk off paying and not receeving) and a help for customs (for belgium i know people for S-A not) I dont want troubles with S-A governement for myself of course<br /><br />Titanium is light but has indeed limited lifetime for casette the same is also with dura ace or normal Record casette. They are only suitable when you reallly need the weight saving or have more then enough money

 

[chris2002]

A few quick points. <br /><br />DA is comparable to Chorus. Accept it.<br /><br />Going Campag will be cheaper because a lot mof those 6 year old parts will still work just fine with the new gear.<br /><br />I assume you already have dual-pivot brake calipers. That will save a bit. I also know of nobody that has failed to get a rear mech from that era to work with 10 speed. All you need are 10v Ergo levers and a 10v chain/cassette. The cranks work fine and so will the front mech. If you are really worried, change the pulleys in the rear, a new front mech (with the plastic guide) and a new 10v chainring that is milled to reduce the gap in between the 2 chainrings.<br /><br />

 

[Mampara]

All I can say is that Campag is reserved for Italian, or European, frames. It looks out of place on American or Jap frames.<br /><br />There's my 10c.

 

[big_h]

Hi Guys<br /><br />I have Campy Mirage / Veloce mix on my Tandem. Having Campy on a Tandem is quite scarce as most of the tandems here are STi and Deore equipped. My Ergolevers are still the ones with the pointed hood and not Ergobrain compatible. They work without fail though. I am now considering the Belgian postal porder route and will most likely order new levers soon. The oddity on my bike is that I use a Shimanno cassette and chain on the tandem. This is because I could not get an Tandem hub with CAmpy splines.<br /><br />This part to Mampara - As far as I know you cannot change the freehub or splines without changing the whole hub. You will have to get a new Mavic hub as well.<br /><br />When I just got the Tandem I wanted to chnage to Shimano but the Campy gruppo has since grown on me and I have learnt to respect and trust them.<br /><br />Keep those wheels spinning!!!!<br /><br />Big H

 

[jonny_velo]

ive got record on a c40....super smooth...super sexy...sooo fast

shimano doesnt come close!

 

[Frejus]

Originally posted by 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?

Got to disagree in industry circles, Record stands alone on its own with the technology and material used by CAMPAG.

Chorus has a much closer relationship to DA with it use of alloy/ti rather than carbon

Centaur is aligned with Ultegra and so it goes on down the models.


Campag now have gone 10 speed almost thro its range.

From a servicing view point.....Shimano are continually changing ther models and very soon a groupset in road or MTB very soon becomes obsolete. From a bike trade point of view this becomes a real pain.

Up until recently Campag current model hub axle and cones were interchangable with Nouvo Record grouppo's of the 70,s as well as bottom bracket axles, with the introduction of sealed bb units the later ones still can be used to service a wide range of Campag and of course they have retained the square taper axles.

The price difference in countries is related to buying power and quantities purchased from Italy if you are ordering larger quantities you buy at a better price.

Some mail order 'shops' discount heavily as they do not have the Real Estate retail shop over heads and are happy to turn the stock over with smaller markups.