They are just using their standard operating procedure. They spend their time making negligable improvements for marketing purpose while letting Campy do the real improvements.friedmikey said:
They are hedging their bets by releasing the general compact crankset, to cover all the groupsets. Maybe they do think its a passing fad like the biopace chainrings and will never release a DA compact. It does'nt look that bad, it should still match the DA hardware, wonder if its compatible with the DA BB or would you need the new one ?friedmikey said:
friedmikey said:
The TDF Shimano pros rode 12-27 x 34-50s in the mountain stages. Of course, they don't care about crankset weight because they are adding a lead weight to the bottom of their bottom bracket lug, to bring their bikes up to the legal weight minimum anyway. Many rode this compact in other, less than flat, stages with a 11-23, which gives you a lower low and a higher high than a 12-25 x 39-53. Plus the compact gives you more usable gear ratios than the 39-53 because there is less gear ratio overlap between ring cog combinations. Who needs multiple cassettes, I run a Campy 12-25 x 34-50. This gives me a low gear equivalent to a 29/39 and a high gear that only requires a few more cadence rpm at 40mph. Ring gear wear has nothing to do with what cassette is being used. Unless you live in the mountains, the wear difference between 34t and 39t rings is negligable. Even a steel 25t cog, almost lasts forever if properly maintained. Pure speculation, but I suspect the manufacturing cost for a Shimano alloy D-A and Ultegra crankset may be almost the same and you only have one set of tooling. Even more and more of the Campy Record and Chorus components keep getting closer together.Phill P said:
Most pros rarely use anything lower than a 39-25. The exceptions are are some stages in the Giro and Vuelta that include climbs that are far steeper than anything in the TdF. In fact in this year's Giro pros and team managers complained about the steepness of a few Giro climbs, saying that anything that required more than a 39-25 was not suitable for bike racing.lks said:
The old adage, "What wins on Sunday sells on Monday," comes to mind. You don't honestly think that Shimano makes Dura-Ace products for the pros, do you? It's for the wanna be pros, like me. But I'm realistic. I know I'm nowhere near the same level as a pro, so I don't try to use the same gears that they do. Sure, I can survive on a 39/25 too, but why suffer unecessarily? A compact suits me much better. It's consumers like me that keep Shimano fed and happy. Not the pros.Phill P said:
OLN, Velo News and Cycling News interviewed many of the Shimano equipped top teams, including Shimano's technical support.Almost every Shimano rider requested and got the 34-50 crankset and used a 12-27 cassette for the mountain stages. Campy riders used the same, but with the 12-26 cassette because the 26t cog is the lowest gear availible with a 12t cog. Guess what they will be requesting next time around at the Giro and Vuelta. The general consensus of the bike industry is that the advantages of the compact crankset, far outweigh the standard crankset. Racers select what is best for each course.Bro Deal said:
Correct, use the gearing that best suites only "YOU" and where "YOU" ride. The industry came out with compacts to give people, women are a growing custormer base, the gearing the vast majority need, without the added shifting complexity and cost of the 3rd ring of a triple. For the most part ,the triple is dead, it just hasn't been buried yet. At least that is what the bike industry is forecasting. The bike industry is in the business of profit and their products reflect that.Phill P said:
From: http://www.racycles.com/com/catalog/campagnolo_record_sprockets_2935358.htm
Are you talking about Claviculas? 
