dm69 said:
Between the two what are the big differences? I am thinking of getting a cervelo soloist aluminium fitted with fsa gossamer cranks and BB so the advantage I think ultegra has over centaur in BB stiffness in now null. The other thing I like about centaur is the internal cabling with thebrake levers, investing in a very aero frame you do not want loose wire's going everywhere.
As far as weight goes they are almost identical and as far as aero goes centaur wins by 2 cables
...is there a usual hierachy in gear setups where ultegra is always viewed above centuar because it is shimano's 2nd in line versus campy's 3rd in line or is this just nonsense? I havent used the ergopower yet but i doubt i will have much trouble anyway getting used to it.
The prices are the same either way I go. Personally I thought centuar would be a better set up than ultegra but ultegra is more expensive usually, not that it means anything
.
Would a few people like to tell me how great or how **** these two setups are?
By the way would the two cable's make much aero difference anyway. I have heard from sites like cervelo that aero has a huge impact compared to weight!
FWIW. I
love Shimano components. I
love Shimano's customer service in North America although I have read horror stories from other people; and, I recall reading that Campagnolo's customer service is hard to come by ...
BUT, after being dissatisfied with Ultegra 6500 shifters (which are certainly good-enough!), I use Campagnolo ERGO shifters
WITH Shimano derailleurs.
To digress, a very recent issue of
Velonews noted that the most recent, 10-speed Shimano 105 STI shifters were almost as good, now, as the DA shifters -- race worthy. Whereas, as is known by most current Campagnolo users, the difference in the ERGO shifters is mostly cosmetics & weight -- little, if any, performance degradation by using a Mirage/Xenon shifter instead of a pre-Ultra Record shifter.
You may have read/heard some people say that the Campagnolo shifters were
intuitve. Although I had probably been using ERGO shifters for a year when I first read
that, I honestly did not know what they
probably meant until I read someone else clarify it (for me) by observing that when you push the RIGHT shift lever blade toward the center of the bike, the chain moves in the same direction on the cogs ... push the RIGHT thumb lever down, and the chain moves down on the cogset. Push he LEFT shift lever blade toward the center of the bike, and the chain moves from a small(er) chainring to the larger one next to it ... push the LEFT thumb lever down, and the chain moves down to a smaller chainring.
HOW GREAT IS THAT?!?
But, more than the multiple cogs that can be shifted which many people laud as the reason they prefer Campagnolo shifters, what I personally like (which may not be a problem for the 10-speed STI shifters OR a concern to you) is that you can downshift to a larger cog (if you have one beyond where the chain is at that moment in time) when the drivetrain is under a load (i.e., going uphill). I know people who use the 9-speed Ultegra shifters who claim they have NEVER had a problem downshifting while under load -- your results may vary ... mind did!
I thought the shifting was sufficiently balky that I had gone to a triple so I could have a granny to bail-out onto AND I had considered switching to a rapid-rise rear derailleur with the older, 9-speed Ultegra 6500 STI shifters just before the "experimental" switch to the ERGO shifters!
If you are a Flatlander, then being able to downshift when the drivetrain is under load may not be a meaningful consideration AND/OR the new 10-speed STI shifters may be presumed (by the Velonews' article's praise of the 10-speed 105 shifters; so, the same has to be true of the 10-speed Ultegra shifters) to be sufficiently more efficient than the 9-speed shifters were that downshifting while under load is less of a factor than before.
BTW. The weights aren't even close to being identical, IMO. The heaviest Campagnolo shifter is ~410g per pair, and the lightest is ~330g per pair. The weight differential is just a bonus, IMO, to using Campagnolo shifters.
BTW2. The cables matter most for tourists who use a handlebar bag, in which case the STI's derailleur cables are a nuisance.
Being able to REBUILD the Campagnolo shifters is a consideration for some ... in reality, the cost for parts is really high, and cannibalizing another shifter(i.e., a cosmetically damaged shifter) is the most economical source of parts. I think, but cannot confirm, that the problem of
catastrophic failure with Shimano shifters (some 8-speeds could lock up) was eliminated with the 9-speed design. As with the Shimano shifters, by the time you
need to rebuild a Campagnolo shifter (about 10,000-to-12,000 miles) you will probably want the newest & latest & greatest.
So, FWIW, I think you'll be marginally happier in the long run with almost ANY Campagnolo shifter;
BUT, Campagnolo ERGO shifters are probably
NOT as well suited for bullhorn handlebars (if that is ever to be a future consideration instead of thumb shifters if you go aero) whereas I think that Shimano's STI shifters can be mounted on bullhorn handlebars without too many concerns.