Upgrading from Centaur

il_principe
il_principe Posts: 9,155
edited July 2007 in Workshop
I want to upgrade the Groupset on my 07 Wilier Mortirolo and have a budget of around £600. I'm debating whether to go for Chorus or SRAM Force. Anyone got any SRAM experience? The guy in my LBS is always banging on about it. I'm slighty put off Chorus as I find it so hard to get serviced properly, as far as I can tell Condor are the only London store handy for me that stock campy, and they're always so busy. My LBS - who service my Shimano eqipped bikes - will service the Wilier but do not stock campy. They do stock SRAM though...

Comments

  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    SRAM are about to re-jig their groupsets for 2008, bringing a new topline RED grouppo - it may mean Force kit being sold cheap soon. I know some guys running SRAM kit and they're pretty happy, but the worst thing are the brakes which are not very good in comparison to Campag and Shimano. However, I don't understand your concern about the need for needing to service Chorus - provided you don't crash there is very little need for any parts. Besides, I've found I can get them next day from Italian Cycle Products - far quicker than I can get Shimano spares from my LBS. At the moment, SRAM kit is way overpriced, particularly the shifters - they're nearly £100 more expensive than Chorus and they're probably the bit that's going to take the brunt in a crash. Besides, the Campag UD cranks are a thing of beauty in comparison to the ugly rebadged Truvativ ones - you can buy the Truvatic Rouleur Carbon for £150 but the Force one is £300.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    Oh god go for Chorus - wonderful stuff! I have Record and it's just brilliant. You won't regret it.

    IMO SRAM kit won't be around for ever, but Campagnolo definitely will, and as for servicing, well service what exactly? Trouble free in my experience.
  • timbooth
    timbooth Posts: 160
    Got to be Chorus - excellent gear.
  • mcdonji1
    mcdonji1 Posts: 121
    Go for the Chorus upgrade and sell me your centaur bits. How much do you want for the grouppo?

    Jim
    Kind words butter no parsnips.
  • Beatmaker
    Beatmaker Posts: 1,092
    I'm surprised you are struggling to source Campag spares in London, you could try a myriad of stores. CycleSurgery, Chamberlaine, London Fields, Cyclefit, Condor, Holdsworths etc.

    Also, as mentioned above the Truvativ/SRAM chainsets are poor, I've run two top end chainsets from them (inc 1 carbon). Never again.
  • il_principe
    il_principe Posts: 9,155
    Beatmaker wrote:
    I'm surprised you are struggling to source Campag spares in London, you could try a myriad of stores. CycleSurgery, Chamberlaine, London Fields, Cyclefit, Condor, Holdsworths etc.

    Also, as mentioned above the Truvativ/SRAM chainsets are poor, I've run two top end chainsets from them (inc 1 carbon). Never again.

    Sourcing spares aint the problem, it's finding LBS' handy to me that stock campy, ie if they don't stock it I'm not trusting them to service my pride and joy!
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    Again J I say what is there to service groupset wise? You're talking about the chain, chainrings and the sprockets, only to check these aren't worn too much, and cable wear, and perhaps the jockey wheels, again checking for wear.

    Not much else to it, if it needs re-indexing then any half decent bike mechanic could do it I'm sure. A 'service' doesn't really consist of very much you know.

    There are loads of Campag dealers in the UK, and surely where you are too.
  • paulbricey
    paulbricey Posts: 84
    Why upgrade entire groupo when the gear is less than a year old ? - that's nuts!. In my experience Centaur is good for at least 5 years & you won't see/feel much improvement....if you have 600 GBP burning a hole in your pocket why not use the money on better wheels or clothing, or something completely different ?

    ..............and why didn't you buy the Chorus version (with better wheelset) that is 600 GBP more in the first place ?
    Briceyinstockport
  • gkerr4
    gkerr4 Posts: 3,408
    paulbricey wrote:
    Why upgrade entire groupo when the gear is less than a year old ? - that's nuts!. In my experience Centaur is good for at least 5 years & you won't see/feel much improvement....if you have 600 GBP burning a hole in your pocket why not use the money on better wheels or clothing, or something completely different ?

    ..............and why didn't you buy the Chorus version (with better wheelset) that is 600 GBP more in the first place ?

    he already has fulcrum racing zero's on it!! - not much room for progress there short of lightweights or cosmic carbones!

    wow J - you're throwing some brass at that mortirolo - should have went for the cento after all!

    seriously - I'd spend the £600 on as much record parts as you could (forget about this intermediate steps such as chorus) so get the shifters, mechs and maybe calipers then when you get your next upgrade fancy you can change the remaining and have all top-line stuff.
  • aarw
    aarw Posts: 448
    [quote="gkerr4

    wow J - you're throwing some brass at that mortirolo - should have went for the cento after all!

    seriously - I'd spend the £600 on as much record parts as you could (forget about this intermediate steps such as chorus) so get the shifters, mechs and maybe calipers then when you get your next upgrade fancy you can change the remaining and have all top-line stuff.[/quote]

    That's what i was thinkin! less than a year old and how many major upgrades has there been?! :shock:

    I'd maybe start putting Record parts on it, say chainset, ergo's and rear mech - so transmition then! or wait for the SRAM Red and use it's transmition and keep the campag brakes. I'd hate to take lovely campag kit of a willier though only to replace it with american... come on, i know you have a love for that Italian beauty! :lol:
  • aarw
    aarw Posts: 448
    or spend the money learning how to service it yourself!? nothing like servicing and cleaning your pride and joy yourself... no one else will do it with more attention.
  • il_principe
    il_principe Posts: 9,155
    Yep I am throwing some cash at it, thing is I've changed jobs since I bought the bike and now have a bit more money to spend and would like to spend it on the Wilier. I originally wanted the Chorus model but couldn't afford it and didn't know I'd be changing jobs... Perhaps I'll go the route of buying Record bits and upgrade bit by bit. Thanks for the advice everyone, I'm sure some of you think I'm mad but I'd rather spend my cash on cycling than on anything else.
  • gkerr4
    gkerr4 Posts: 3,408
    jashburnham wrote:
    Yep I am throwing some cash at it, thing is I've changed jobs since I bought the bike and now have a bit more money to spend and would like to spend it on the Wilier. I originally wanted the Chorus model but couldn't afford it and didn't know I'd be changing jobs... Perhaps I'll go the route of buying Record bits and upgrade bit by bit. Thanks for the advice everyone, I'm sure some of you think I'm mad but I'd rather spend my cash on cycling than on anything else.

    Nowt wrong with spending money on the bikes mate - especially if you have changed jobs - I have a nasty habit of buying a new motorbike as a treat when I change jobs (and I do it a bit more regular than I probably should - but hey hum - you can't take it with you!)

    although recently I have been tempted to sell the motorbike as it has done about 400 miles this where my Trek has done over 1200

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