Veloce Vs Centaur Vs Rival groupsets?

Cycling is Forever

I've decided my next [possible] road bike is most likely to have Campagnolo rather than any other manufacturers.

So I have a basic choice of Veloce or paying more for Centaur [alloy].

So, my question to you good folks in the know. Is there much difference in quality & performance between Veloce and centaur? Is Centaur worth the extra cost?

However I haven't ruled out Sram rival groupset because of the Boardman Team carbon and I could choose Rival also for my next possible bike.
So how does Rival fit or compare to Veloce/Centaur?

The more choice one has the harder it is to decide. :oops:

Your feedback/replies will be much appreciated.

Cheers
CiF

kingrollo

I ride centaur - from what I have read the more expensive groupsets have the following advantages

They are lighter
The finish is better.

On my comutter I have sora - which works as well as centaur - I guess it comes down to available cash and how serious a cyclist you are.

redddraggon

kingrollo wrote:

On my comutter I have sora - which works as well as centaur

Lol, I guess you've got the Centaur set up wrong then. My Centaur has been miles better than my Sora.

Hell, my 10spd Veloce shifters index better with 8 spd Shimano Cassette/chain/mech, than the 8spd Sora shifters.......

avoidingmyphd

lol maybe your sora is set up wrong

fast as fupp

im reliably informed that 'sora' is japanese for scrap metal :twisted:

master_grunthos

My 2007 Veloce has worn fast compared to Centaur from the same year, the chain rings and cassettes aren't given the same hardening treatment on Veloce. I also found the design of the front mech on Veloce meant it bent easily compared to Centaur if the chain jammed when changing down a ring on a climb under pressure, after being bent the metal softened through being worked so i replaced with centaur. The Centaur design has a greater strength across the arm through more struts. Otherwise there's not much in it.

Also you may like to know that with Ultra Torque crank sets the Veloce and below chainrings and cranks aren't compatible with Centaur and above! New chainrings are also quite costly and hard to source unless you go for Chorus/Record.

Both are good groupsets and either will be great. I agree that alloy Centaur looks better than carbon

MG

kingrollo

avoidingmyphd wrote:

lol maybe your sora is set up wrong

Its going over old ground - but the shifting on the centaur was never that crisp - I took to it numerous bike shops - who all scoffed and said a correctly set up centaur shifts better than shimano - ok - set it up then I said - after a few return visits same shops - said its shifting as well as it should\will -

haven't had this problem with sora.

Don't dislike the campag - after 8 years - nothing on it has broke - but after 3 years nothing has on the sora either. I do find the sora brake hoods more comfy - but guess thats just personal preference.

spanielsson

Cycling is Forever wrote:

I've decided my next [possible] road bike is most likely to have Campagnolo rather than any other manufacturers.

So I have a basic choice of Veloce or paying more for Centaur [alloy].

So, my question to you good folks in the know. Is there much difference in quality & performance between Veloce and centaur? Is Centaur worth the extra cost?

However I haven't ruled out Sram rival groupset because of the Boardman Team carbon and I could choose Rival also for my next possible bike.
So how does Rival fit or compare to Veloce/Centaur?

The more choice one has the harder it is to decide. :oops:

Your feedback/replies will be much appreciated.

Cheers
CiF

I have a bike with SRAM Red, a bike with Veloce and another that was full Rival that is now a mix of Campag and SRAM.

This years Centaur uses the Veloce cassette from last year, the Centaur chainset in aluminium alloy is probably no better than the Veloce to be honest.

Rival in my opinion is great, double tap is an acquired taste, but makes sense after an hours use. The reason why the bike is now a mix is due to me having a pair of Record Ergopower levers and a crash damaging my Rival shifters.

I think the Boardman is a mega package with the Rival kit, but the brakes are Tektro. They could be worth upgrading to SRAM because the stopping power is fantastic.

Fitting any of it is easy if you can maintain/repair your bike. Everything works straight from the box without any headaches! SRAM Uses the same BB & Cassette lockring tools as Sh1temano, Campag again use their own.

If I were building a bike from scratch, I'd buy Veloce. Price Vs Performance it wins hands down in my opinion. The shifting is the same as the Centaur as far as I know.

redddraggon

spanielsson wrote:

Campag again use their own.

External BB tools do them all

spanielsson

redddraggon wrote:

spanielsson wrote:

Campag again use their own.

External BB tools do them all

Well I now have two that do the same thing then! :oops:

Cycling is Forever

Thanks for the feedback

esp the points on quality re hardening treatment.
Reading another thread regarding centaur chain rings http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12615339
Seems campag have cheapened in certain areas

Looking at the campag catalog the Centaur cass is nickel chrome finished while the veloce is zinc.

If my eng materials lessons have taught me anything it is that nickel chrome is the better finish. Whether that translates significantly to the performance over veloce only time & experience would be the judge.


Thanks spanielsson for the opinion on SRAM Rival whether I can adapt to the double tap system was a cause for hesitation when I tried it. I shall have to have another go.


As for Veloce vs Centaur I cant really see a huge step up [very minor changes].
Am I wrong?

The main reason for picking a better groupset is, so that I would be happy with my choice years latter and not feels the need to constantly upgrade.
Something I did a lot on my Mountain Bikes.
I guess the only way to be sure on that front is to pick Super Record! :P
Only joking well if I win the lottery only then.

Something tells me I ought at least go with Campag to experience something diff
Veloce :?:

still undecided really

Cheers

CiF

synchronicity

master_grunthos wrote:

Also you may like to know that with Ultra Torque crank sets the Veloce and below chainrings and cranks aren't compatible with Centaur and above!

That's news to me. Why aren't they compatible with each other? :?