Campy vs. Shimano

[Jonathan Kaplan]

I'm trying to decide between a Litespeed Veneto equipped with Campy Centaur or Shimano Ultegra. I've
never owned Campy equipment before. The only thing in Shimano's favor is the fact that I can
substitute an XT derrailleur for the rear and put in a mega range cassette for hills. As I
understand it, the max cog on the rear for Campy is 29. The shop said that they could switch the
granny gear from 30 to 24 (using non Campy chain rings), and then change the cassette to the 29.

Any opinions about the equipment or the possible Campy modification would be appreciated.

P.S. The Ultegra bike has Bontrager EZ Race Lite Wheels, the Campy bike has Campagnolo
Proton wheels.

 

[Bfd]

"Jonathan Kaplan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm trying to decide between a Litespeed Veneto equipped with Campy
Centaur
> or Shimano Ultegra. I've never owned Campy equipment before. The only
thing
> in Shimano's favor is the fact that I can substitute an XT derrailleur for the rear and put in a
> mega range cassette for hills. As I understand it,
the
> max cog on the rear for Campy is 29. The shop said that they could switch the granny gear from 30
> to 24 (using non Campy chain rings), and then change the cassette to the 29.
>
> Any opinions about the equipment or the possible Campy modification would
be
> appreciated.
>
> P.S. The Ultegra bike has Bontrager EZ Race Lite Wheels, the Campy bike
has
> Campagnolo Proton wheels.
>
Easy, test ride bikes with both shifters and decide which shifter you like better. THAT should be
your main criteria of which system to choose. Personally, I like Campy Ergo shifters and would
choose Campy. Others prefer Shimano STI. Still others prefer to use bar-end or dt shifters.

Since you're planning on getting a triple, its true that you can get a smaller inner chainring for
either cranks.

 

[Paul Kopit]

On Thu, 5 Feb 2004 20:25:14 -0500, "Jonathan Kaplan"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I'm trying to decide between a Litespeed Veneto equipped with Campy Centaur or Shimano Ultegra.
>I've never owned Campy equipment before. The only thing in Shimano's favor is the fact that I can
>substitute an XT derrailleur for the rear and put in a mega range cassette for hills. As I
>understand it, the max cog on the rear for Campy is 29. The shop said that they could switch the
>granny gear from 30 to 24 (using non Campy chain rings), and then change the cassette to the 29.
>
>Any opinions about the equipment or the possible Campy modification would be appreciated.
>

The Campy long cage derailleur is longer than the XT rear derailleur. If you use a 52/42/24 and
13/29 the derailleur will take up the long chain but the chain will drag on the bottom of the front
derailleur in combinations like 24/21. Of course you can shift Shimano 9 with Campy 9 or 10 and with
the Campy long cage rear derailleur you can shift
11/34 with 53/39.

My tandem is 50/34 and 12/34 with a Campy long cage Centaur and the Campy Centaur front derailleur.
A Sugino XD crankset goes right onto the Campy 111 bb and yields a good chainline.

 

[A Muzi]

Jonathan Kaplan wrote:

> I'm trying to decide between a Litespeed Veneto equipped with Campy Centaur or Shimano Ultegra.
> I've never owned Campy equipment before. The only thing in Shimano's favor is the fact that I can
> substitute an XT derrailleur for the rear and put in a mega range cassette for hills. As I
> understand it, the max cog on the rear for Campy is 29. The shop said that they could switch the
> granny gear from 30 to 24 (using non Campy chain rings), and then change the cassette to the 29.
>
> Any opinions about the equipment or the possible Campy modification would be appreciated.
>
> P.S. The Ultegra bike has Bontrager EZ Race Lite Wheels, the Campy bike has Campagnolo Proton
> wheels.
>
>
My opinion? Get the Centaur and get the long not medium cage. And for the 24, is it necessary? Do
you ride below 1:1 already? A 26 or 28 shifts better and are all readily available.

--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April, 1971

 

[Qui Si Parla Ca]

insure-<< I'm trying to decide between a Litespeed Veneto equipped with Campy Centaur or Shimano
Ultegra. I've never owned Campy equipment before. The only thing in Shimano's favor is the fact that
I can substitute an XT derrailleur for the rear and put in a mega range cassette for hills.
>><BR><BR>

The long cage Centaur rear der is the same length as the XT one.

<< As I understand it, the max cog on the rear for Campy is 29 >><BR><BR>

For the Centaur long cage, I have used shimano cogsets up to 34 teeth.

The thing going for Campagnolo is the ability to maintain the ERGO levers for a long time with a
few, inexpensive parts. shimano STI work the best the first day and decay, albeit slowly, from then
on and when they go south, replacement is the only option. You should be aware that ultegra will
probably be 10s for 2005 and the ability to get right 9s ultegra levers may be 'tough'...

Ride each style of lever, buy the one that you like. If both styles are OK, get Campagnolo.....

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

[Kenny Lee]

Jonathan Kaplan wrote:

> I'm trying to decide between a Litespeed Veneto equipped with Campy Centaur or Shimano Ultegra.
> I've never owned Campy equipment before. The only thing in Shimano's favor is the fact that I can
> substitute an XT derrailleur for the rear and put in a mega range cassette for hills. As I
> understand it, the max cog on the rear for Campy is 29. The shop said that they could switch the
> granny gear from 30 to 24 (using non Campy chain rings), and then change the cassette to the 29.
>
> Any opinions about the equipment or the possible Campy modification would be appreciated.
>
> P.S. The Ultegra bike has Bontrager EZ Race Lite Wheels, the Campy bike has Campagnolo Proton
> wheels.
>
>
If you ever decide to go to a triple setup. The Campy triple shifts like a dream and the ability to
trim the FD is much better than Shimano road triples IMO.

Kenny Lee

 

[Cm]

1. ride 'em both and see which mechanism you like
2. everything said so far matches my experience
3. my wife rides Shimano with the XTR. She's short so the chain angle on the granny makes cross-
chaining happen earlier
4. the front derailleur indexing while seemingly "automatic" is tough to trim and keep "perfect" as
Kenny said. I prefer the Campy

CM

"Jonathan Kaplan" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> I'm trying to decide between a Litespeed Veneto equipped with Campy
Centaur
> or Shimano Ultegra. I've never owned Campy equipment before. The only
thing
> in Shimano's favor is the fact that I can substitute an XT derrailleur for the rear and put in a
> mega range cassette for hills. As I understand it,
the
> max cog on the rear for Campy is 29. The shop said that they could switch the granny gear from 30
> to 24 (using non Campy chain rings), and then change the cassette to the 29.
>
> Any opinions about the equipment or the possible Campy modification would
be
> appreciated.
>
> P.S. The Ultegra bike has Bontrager EZ Race Lite Wheels, the Campy bike
has
> Campagnolo Proton wheels.

 

[Jonathan Kaplan]

Thanks for everyone's advice. I think my best option would be the Campy with a change in rear
cassette to 13-28 and live with the 53/42/30 front. I'm still negotiating the clearance price on the
bike with my LBS. Their clearance price is significantly higher than other shops which are dropping
Litespeed.

 

[Richard Chan]

"CM" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...

> ... 3. my wife rides Shimano with the XTR. She's short so the chain angle on the granny makes cross-
> chaining happen earlier ...

Please correct me if I am wrong. Isn't the Campy cassette stack wider than Shimano's and doesn't the
Campy freehub dishes even more than Shimano?