2011 Veloce v's Centaur

kfinlay

Hi All,

Looking to buy shifters, chainset, BB, front and rear mechs.
Can get Veloce for £280 and Centaur (aluminium) for £320
Is Aluminium Centaur worth the extra over Veloce?
Had a look at the specs and aside from the slightly lighter weights and a bit more silver finish in the Centaur I can't see anything to make it worth paying the extra £40.
Anything I'm missing in operation or functionality?

TIA

Sammyw23

Unless you are getting the centaur carbon chainset I suspect they are near identical in practice. Go veloce I reckon. I prefer the black too.

rolf_f

One thing to note - I was looking at Veloce for my Ribble. Once upgrade I did want was Centaur brakes as (last year anyway) the Centaur brakes were cartridge and veloce not. The much greater ease of changing pads without having to re-align everything seemed worth the £40 extra (minus C2W) discount - until I realised that I could just order the whole groupset for pretty much the same!

I think the differences probably are mostly cosmetic otherwise. I think the carbon levers are nicer to the touch. The only real difference afaik between the alloy and the carbon is the cranks which save 150 or so grammes which isn't bad. And the current alloy cranks and chainrings look fairly terrible imo. As it happens, I have 2010 carbon centaur on one bike and 2011 alloy centaur on another and probably prefer the appearance of the old alloy rings and crank.

£320 seems a hugely good price - I'd probably spend the extra £40.

What I would definitely do though is to try to source a 2010 groupset - I'd rather have 2010 Veloce than 2011 Centaur (I think!).

thespanishadam

I'd be tempted to go for the full Veloce groupset. That can be had for around £350 ish..

http://www.cyclingbargains.com/product_ ... 491f0198d4

I'm sure it may be had a little cheaper.

Sell whatever bits you don't need. Cables, brakes, cassette, chain, bb..Sorry I can't remember which parts you said you were looking to buy.

Just an idea.

rolf_f

thespanishadam wrote:

Sorry I can't remember which parts you said you were looking to buy.

His first post should remind you

kfinlay

Wish I could afford the carbon chainset but can't

The good thing I already have Centaur brakes

Not needing the full groupset (as I have Centaur brakes and cassette already) but would consider buying it if it comes with all the cables and buying separately means I don't get the cables with the shifters.

The Veloce 2011 v 2010 - I prefer the machined look of the 2011 rings compared to the pressed 2010 ones. Ideally would want the 2010 spider and Ultra torque BB with 2011 rings but that would mean buying both and hoping I could sell the 2010 rings with 2011 spider - don't really want the hassle of that.
Decisions, decisions :roll:

One extra question, do you need any special tools for Power Torque chainsets/BB's?

rolf_f

It's the shifters on the 2010 that make the difference. As to chainrings - I couldn't have the current black and alloy Centaur chainrings on any bike of mine. I'd have to either get the black rings for the Carbon or go Veloce!

pickled

Having gone from 2009 Veloce to 2011 Centaur I can tell you the shifting is much better.
It's quicker and more positive. The thumb shifter has a much shorter travel.
The carbon levers are slightly heavier than the alloy ones. But I'd definitely pay the extra for Centaur.

rolf_f

pickled wrote:

It's quicker and more positive. The thumb shifter has a much shorter travel.

It would be - you are losing the multi shift action.

As it happens, the only thing that bothers me about my Centaur setups is the front mech upshift - not really sure why it needs so much travel. Small complaint though.

kfinlay

mm was planning on the Veloce shifters as Centaur are another £25 for the aluminium and £35 for carbon! Will have to get looking to see what I can go for but can';t be any worse than 2008 Xenon levers I currently have :oops: