Low-end Campy in the U.S.?

[alexantumn]

I'm in the States and I'm in the market for a new low-end road bike - Giant OCR3, Trek 1000, something of that caliber. However, I would strongly prefer to go for Campy Xenon or Mirage over Shimano Sora. The problem is, I can't find a single bike sold in the U.S. that is specced with either of these groups. Nor can I find Xenon/Mirage components available at any of my LBS or online.

I just want a basic aluminum road bike with Xenon or Mirage. Are these not even available at all in the U.S.? I was looking at the Bianchi Via Nirone, which is Xenon-equipped. It's exactly what I'm looking for except apparently U.S. Bianchis are different from Bianchis everywhere else and the Via Nirone isn't sold in the U.S.????

 

[John M]

I'm in the States and I'm in the market for a new low-end road bike - Giant OCR3, Trek 1000, something of that caliber. However, I would strongly prefer to go for Campy Xenon or Mirage over Shimano Sora. The problem is, I can't find a single bike sold in the U.S. that is specced with either of these groups. Nor can I find Xenon/Mirage components available at any of my LBS or online.

I just want a basic aluminum road bike with Xenon or Mirage. Are these not even available at all in the U.S.? I was looking at the Bianchi Via Nirone, which is Xenon-equipped. It's exactly what I'm looking for except apparently U.S. Bianchis are different from Bianchis everywhere else and the Via Nirone isn't sold in the U.S.????

Now you see how Shimano has cornered the most of the US new bike market, especially at the low end.

You can get Mirage online in the US from Alfred E Bike at aebike.com or you can order from the UK. Some of the places actually have reasonable shipping.

According to the BianchiUSA website, the Eros model comes with Mirage shifters, but that might not be the kind of bike you are looking for.

 

[janiejones]

Parker International or Ribble Cycles, both in the Uk are good online places for Campy stuff - rather good prices as well. I bought a lot of Campy stuff from the Uk and had it shipped to Australia and saved a lot of money compared to if I bought the same stuff in Aus.

Have you looked at low-end Orbea, some of them have Campy groups I think.

 

[azdroptop]

You might check Lemond bikes. My 05 buenos aires had Campy on it. Veloce and Centar

 

[the beef]

The Via Nirone caught my eye a while ago - it looked fantastic. Aluminum frame, Xenon or Mirage, I think the price was around $1000 ordering from the UK + shipping. But damn, that paint job looked nice.

 

[jmoryl]

Used to be that some of the low end Orbeas came with Campy - nice bikes for the money. If I were you I would probably build up a frame (lots of good buys on eBay) with some low end Campy (you might be able to afford even Veloce) from some of the European vendors like totalcycling.com or probikekit.com . Another possibility are the build kits at gvhbikes.com in Oregon.

 

[Eastway82]

FWIW I wouldn't bother with Xenon - it's really pretty cheaply made, and the Mirage is a LOT better for not much more cash. If you're going to buy in the UK, try www.cyclingbargains.com - I've had a lot of stuff from them lately and their prices are always good, plus you get to communicate with a real person!
There's also a lot of new Mirage and Veloce stuff on UK Ebay - how about a Mirage 9s group for GBP160 - about 300 dollars...?