Logic Zero said:
I have heard mixed things about the bianchi's campagnolo shifters, apparently parts are kind of difficult to get hold of. I really like the style and flair of the bianchi, but the specialized seems very well equiped too. Is it worth the money over the bianchi?
Shimano components ARE many times more numerous than Campagnolo components, but that really shouldn't be an issue AT ANY TIME in the near-or-distant future ...
My initial analysis is that that you can substitute ANY Shimano 10-speed ROAD rear derailleur for a current Campagnolo rear derailleur!
And, Shimano front derailleurs can be used with Campagnolo shifters, too.
Campagnolo cassettes cost more, but the cogs on Campagnolo cassettes are slightly thicker than the cogs on Shimano cassettes, so they should actually last a bit longer. MICHE & IRD make Campagnolo compatible cassettes -- the former are slightly less expensive & the latter are available with a different range.
Campagnolo shifters were-and-remain, IMO, superior to all others. While the 2007-and-subsequent shifters are essentially the Campagnolo Xenon shifters with different levers, based on my "bench test" (vs. on the road) of a pair of 2007 Veloce shifters, there is nothing wrong with the "Xenon" mechanism. That is, all of the pre-2007 Campagnolo shifters other than the Xenon shifters were functionally equivalent to the Campagnolo Record shifters; and now, only the Chorus is functionally equivalent to the Record shifters, and all others are equivalent to the pre-2007 Xenon!
Campagnolo shifters can be rebuilt, in theory -- I have found that it is less expensive to cannibalize the parts from another shifter rather than to buy the parts, separately ... most recently, I swapped the guts from a NOS 8-speed left hand shifter that I picked up for about $20US/(£10) for the worn innards of a current-style (1998 Chorus) left hand shifter.
The ONLY (?) obvious drawback is that some people feel a need to maintain all their components be from the same manufacturer (I am not one of those people) ...
ALL of my bikes currently have Campagnolo shifters + Shimano derailleurs & cassettes (on Shimano/-compatible hubbed wheels) and my Campagnolo derailleurs & wheels are currently gathering dust (i.e., "in-storage").
Unless you absolutely hate the
Bianchi GREEN color (some do hate it, but I think any variation of it is great on a bike -- particularly, if it is a vintage STEEL Bianchi), I would definitely go for the Bianchi
because not only does the Specialized cost £100, more, the particular Specialized bike has inferior shifters from within the Shimano line of components & I think many would not consider anything less than Shimano's
105 shifters to be equivalent (and, no offense to
my-friends-in-Osaka, I don't think ANY Shimano shifter is equivalent to a Campagnolo shifter).