Campag 11 speed owners?

APIII
APIII Posts: 2,010
edited July 2009 in Road buying advice
There must be a few out there by now. Anyone care to post how they are getting on with it? I'm toying with the idea of a new frame and pondering whether to put 11 speed on it or scout the net for 10 speed deals. Perfectly happy with my current 10 speed, but would appreciate the closer ratios of an 11 speed cassette. Not sure that this small benefit warrants the expense though.
The other thing is I paid 45 quid for the 10 speed chain tool a while back. Even with Ribble's 15% off the 11 speed version is nearly 100 :shock:

Comments

  • James_London
    James_London Posts: 530
    The new 2009 lever shape is the main benefit and I find it a huge improvement. Closer ratios are nice but not - for me at least - don't really justify the premium. You can run 2009 Centaur Carbon Ergopower levers with an otherwise 10-speed setup if you want to try the new shape though the Centaur mechanism is mushier than the higher groups. There is no difference between Chorus-11, Record-11 and SR-11 levers apart from I think one bolt which is Ti in SR. Certainly there's no material weight difference.

    I've also found an 11-speed chain runs fine with 10-speed cranks and rings.

    I've run this combination (2009 Centaur levers+2008 Record) and straight Chorus-11 and SR-11 on various bikes for probably 10,000km.
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    APIII wrote:
    There must be a few out there by now. Anyone care to post how they are getting on with it? I'm toying with the idea of a new frame and pondering whether to put 11 speed on it or scout the net for 10 speed deals. Perfectly happy with my current 10 speed, but would appreciate the closer ratios of an 11 speed cassette. Not sure that this small benefit warrants the expense though.
    The other thing is I paid 45 quid for the 10 speed chain tool a while back. Even with Ribble's 15% off the 11 speed version is nearly 100 :shock:

    Please disclose where as this is cheap ...
  • APIII
    APIII Posts: 2,010
    giant mancp wrote:
    APIII wrote:
    There must be a few out there by now. Anyone care to post how they are getting on with it? I'm toying with the idea of a new frame and pondering whether to put 11 speed on it or scout the net for 10 speed deals. Perfectly happy with my current 10 speed, but would appreciate the closer ratios of an 11 speed cassette. Not sure that this small benefit warrants the expense though.
    The other thing is I paid 45 quid for the 10 speed chain tool a while back. Even with Ribble's 15% off the 11 speed version is nearly 100 :shock:

    Please disclose where as this is cheap ...

    It was at Ribble when they had one of their 20% off weeks I think. It's 52quid there now
    http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/productdetail.asp?productcatalogue=CAMPTOOL340000000000
  • magliaceleste
    magliaceleste Posts: 748
    I think it's great. Unlike a lot of the naysayers in other forum threads, I like the range/spread of gears that 11 provides. On a wide range cassette 12-27 for example the tooth count is only ever 1 or 2 different, so there are no big jumps.

    The new Ergo levers are great improvement (so much so that I'm going to upgrade the levers on my Centaur winter bike when I can).

    Everything else works as Record 10 did before. i.e. flawlessly.
  • APIII
    APIII Posts: 2,010
    Thanks for the feedback. I've got quite small hands for a bloke, so do you think braking on the drops is easier with the new shape levers?
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    APIII wrote:
    giant mancp wrote:
    APIII wrote:
    There must be a few out there by now. Anyone care to post how they are getting on with it? I'm toying with the idea of a new frame and pondering whether to put 11 speed on it or scout the net for 10 speed deals. Perfectly happy with my current 10 speed, but would appreciate the closer ratios of an 11 speed cassette. Not sure that this small benefit warrants the expense though.
    The other thing is I paid 45 quid for the 10 speed chain tool a while back. Even with Ribble's 15% off the 11 speed version is nearly 100 :shock:

    Please disclose where as this is cheap ...

    It was at Ribble when they had one of their 20% off weeks I think. It's 52quid there now
    http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/productdetail.asp?productcatalogue=CAMPTOOL340000000000

    Thanks man
  • Chip \'oyler
    Chip \'oyler Posts: 2,323
    I like it. The hood shape is better and the actual gear lever movement is easier and smoother.

    I recently rode on my 10spd winter bike and the difference was quite marked - the 10spd Veloce levers seemed very stiff and small!
    Expertly coached by http://www.vitessecyclecoaching.co.uk/

    http://vineristi.wordpress.com - the blog for Viner owners and lovers!
  • magliaceleste
    magliaceleste Posts: 748
    APIII wrote:
    Thanks for the feedback. I've got quite small hands for a bloke, so do you think braking on the drops is easier with the new shape levers?

    I've got small hands too and have no problems. Campag stuff is generally more suited to smaller hands IMO.

    The new Campag levers can be shimmed for bigger hands.
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    I rode with SR 11 the other week and it was very nice. The hoods are different now of course, to the older Egos that I have, but still nice.

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