Campag anyone?

Paul057

Buying a Ribble Gran Fondo when my C2W scheme finally opens up (not that i'm counting down the days, hours, minutes or anything...), and as i have the option to choose my groupset i'm just wondering what are peoples thoughts on Campag.
I've kind of been set on SRAM Rival after a couple of threads on here and a bit of my own research on line in general, but i don't really know anything about Campag. Going off the prices on the Ribble website i'm assuming that Campag Veloce is a similar level to SRAM Rival/Shim 105?
Any comments?

outcastjack

I like it, but I have never tried anything else on a road bike.
I found the shifting action really intuitive and comfortable from the hoods and drops, it has also be totally reliable.

However i expect anything from any of the big three will be similar in performance, comfort of use and reliability.
If you are used to the shifting action Sram use then it might be worth staying with it simply for that.

billy whippet

Ultimately it's about what you like - I've always thought Shimano breathtakingly ugly and horrible to use - love the look and feel of campag. All bike mechanics seem to prefer campag. I'm sure Shimano works, but god it's horrible.

noiseboyfeetman

Like OutcastJack i've never tried anything but Campag on a modern day road bike, I bought a Bianchi and wanted to go Italian with the groupset so I got the Xenon version. I've also now got Athena 11 speed on my other bike, both groupsets shift extremely well, smoothly and efficiently and so far have needed no attention or maintenance at all.

I'm not sure that all mechanics prefer Campag to Shimano, all bike shop workers/owners don't that's for sure, most tried to persuade me to go Shimano for some reason, probably because that's they stock and and prefer to work on and maintain, plus if anything goes wrong with the shifters I believe you need to buy a new shifter as opposed to the part to fix it (I may be wrong here).

You need to try the different makes out and see what your hands prefer and find most comfortable, it may be worthwhile staying with the manufacturer you've already got just for ease of use, but then plenty of people have different bikes with different makes of groupset and have no problem swapping between bikes.

peejay78

i much prefer campag to anything else. i've used shimano, it's fine, but i didn't like the height of the hoods. sram got on my nerves because of the double-click. it's what you're used to.

Paul057

I haven't used ant of the big 3 yet so i'm pretty free to choose any and then get used to it. I'm currently using a 'no make' brand on my Carrera (R80 sunrace???). I don't really know why i've plumbed for SRAM so far really apart from other people's views

Monty Dog

Bike shops prefer Shimano because they make more money from it - they simply don't get the same discounts and therefore margin on Campagnolo and often have to pay cash up-front. Out of the big 3, the worst for reliability is Shimano IME and when it goes wrong, e.g. the STi's they go in the bin and you buy a new set - again why bike shops prefer it because it's £££. Both SRAM and Campagnolo are more simple, are harder to break and you can generally repair them.
But I've only been building and riding bikes for 30 years - some 'Saturday lad' who's ridden a bike with Di2 around the block once will be along shortly to put us all straight..

unixnerd

I found the shifting action really intuitive and comfortable from the hoods and drops

Now that's what's always made me wonder about Campag, changing gear when you're on the drops. I take it you use the thumb lever? Perfect when you're on the hoods but surely it's hard to reach when you're on the drops?

Never tried Campag but would like to.

Berk Bonebonce

Veloce is astonishingly good for budget kit. Pro teams have ridden Campag Chorus groupsets in the past. Campag kit is several notches higher at any given price point than the Far East stuff.

MrChuck

Berk Bonebonce wrote:

Veloce is astonishingly good for budget kit. Pro teams have ridden Campag Chorus groupsets in the past. Campag kit is several notches higher at any given price point than the Far East stuff.

Is Campag not made in the Far East then?

stronginthesun

ive had 105 and veloce . the 105 is better .

rolf_f

unixnerd wrote:

Now that's what's always made me wonder about Campag, changing gear when you're on the drops. I take it you use the thumb lever? Perfect when you're on the hoods but surely it's hard to reach when you're on the drops?

It's no bother at all! On Shimano Sora I think the lever is hard to reach from the drops. I always suspect that Shimano deliberately made the thumb shifter position crap on Sora to try to put people off Campagnolo!

Keith1983

I prefer the Campag I have used over the shimano I have used, although the Campag I used was a higher pricepoint than the Shimano. Never used Sram but I don't see alot wrong with any of them to be honest.

heathy_76

billy whippet wrote:

Ultimately it's about what you like - I've always thought Shimano breathtakingly ugly and horrible to use - love the look and feel of campag. All bike mechanics seem to prefer campag. I'm sure Shimano works, but god it's horrible.

The latest shimano chainsets really one of the ugliest components I have ever seen.
Compare Dura-ace to Super record; no contest!

outcastjack

unixnerd wrote:

I found the shifting action really intuitive and comfortable from the hoods and drops

Now that's what's always made me wonder about Campag, changing gear when you're on the drops. I take it you use the thumb lever? Perfect when you're on the hoods but surely it's hard to reach when you're on the drops?

Never tried Campag but would like to.

I find the thumb levers really easy to reach from the drops, at first i found it much easier than shifting on the hoods.

I am not really sure why so many people complain about reaching the thumb levers from the drops, I guess they either have their hoods mounted in very odd positions or, maybe I just have very long thumbs :?

outcastjack

Is Campag not made in the Far East then?

All my Campag stuff has made in Italy stamped on it!

in other news I had a play with a bike with a Sram Red groupo today and hated it, that double tap thing is totally beyond me!

StillGoing

I suggest you try all three rather than go by other people's preferences. I have small hands and cannot reach the thumb levers on Campag when riding on the drops. For that reason I prefer Shimano over Campag. However, I prefer SRAM and its double tap system over SHimano. The hood position is more comfortable and double tap just makes so much more sense to me. The one downer with SRAM is the brake levers don't pivot so can potentially snap off in a good fall.

Heavenfire

fwiw - my impression of Campag after going thru the same process as you, at length, is that you love it or don't. Same comments as with Italian cars or recent years etc.. - i.e. good dynamics, but build quality not great - hoods that wear more than their rivals', chainrings that flex more ... clunky transmission shift (some would say they love the positive feel), but beautiful appearance. And Athena has that wonderfully-wide range of gears on the 11-speed cassette. As for me, I (almost reluctantly) settled for Shimano - but, boy am I glad I did! I love my Ultegra 6700!

furrag

Started with Sora. Couldn't change when on the drops. Very stupid design from Shimano. Upgraded the levers to Ultegra. A bit flimsy, but far better than Sora.

Tried Campag Centaur 2010, and wowwwwww. Crispy shifting, with the thumb shifter requiring a firm press, and confirmation of a shift comes with an audible reassuring click. The thumb shifters are perfectly positioned for hoods or drops and are easy to reach when I've had to change in a sprint.

Centaur 2011, the levers are a bit of a downgrade. They've lost that reassuring click when you press the thumbshifter, which is unfortunate. It's now more spongy.

Campag is also nicer for people who have smaller hands.

I think I prefer the Shimano's hood shapes, as Campag's run quite high. Just test ride a bike is my advice.

Dodger747

unixnerd wrote:

Now that's what's always made me wonder about Campag, changing gear when you're on the drops. I take it you use the thumb lever? Perfect when you're on the hoods but surely it's hard to reach when you're on the drops?

Never tried Campag but would like to.

I find that most people I come across on a ride, have their hands far too low/far down on the drops. If you hold the bar 'correctly' the levers and buttons should be in easy reach...

mowflow

My current and first (until tomorrow when my new bike is delivered ) road bike has Campag Mirage. The bike was absolutely manky when I got it. The previous owner had clearly done a lot of miles on wet gritty roads, had never serviced it and had then thrown the bike in the dump. The gears not only worked but were incredibly smooth despite the filth and have continued to do so for many more miles. I also found them incredibly easy to set up after a recent service and cable replacement.

While looking for a new bike on the C2W scheme recently I initially wasn't that bothered about groupset. I tested a few bikes, all of which had Shimano 105 and I discovered that I really didn't like it. I found that it was very difficult to get a bike for £1000 with anything but Shimano. Certainly from any of my LBS. Because of this I ended up ordering a Campag equipped stealth from Ribble.

I never tried SRAM and couldn't find anywhere that would let me ride a bike equipped with it. I don't really like their mountain bike gears so kind of wrote it off.

I would say try before you buy. If you don't you will always be wondering if the grass really is greener.

kingrollo

I have had shimano ultegra, Campag centaur, then back to ultegra.

I will be honest I didn't like centaur - I didn't like the clunky gear changing , and found the brake hoods a bit small - that said it performed without a hitch for 8 years !

Glad I went back to ultegra in 2009, and thought I was a shimano man for life - but I don't like the 'blocky' look of the shimano stuff - but perhaps it will grow on me.

Campag seems to have more fans on the web - certainly in the club I am in - its mostly shimano.

If its your first serious gruppo - I would choose the one you get the best deal on - they all work pretty fine...

furrag

Also, Shimano is easier to source. If you want second-hand stuff from places like Ebay or other classifieds, Shimano is in abundance. This becomes a little more emphasised when buying wheelsets due to the freehub (most of which can be swapped, but high-end wheelsets often mean £50+ freehubs!).

Also, as opposed to Shimano levers which when broken, they're crocked, Campagnolo shiters can also be rebuilt.

Paul057

Thanks for all of the replies and advice. Seems like the best bet is for me to try them all out, but it feels a bit wrong to go into a shop and try out bikes when i've got no intention of buying from there. I'll see if i can wrestle my conscience into it. :?

mowflow

Just go round the shops and try some. You say you have no intention of buying a bike from these shops but you never know, you might find something you can't live without. It would certainly be safer than mail ordering your first road bike in terms of getting the right size. Good luck.

Paul057

Getting the right size shouldn't be too much of a problem as i'm planning on visiting the Ribble factory before ordering, but i take your point - i've just had a look at a few LBS websites and i've seen a few nice bikes. I'll go in and have a look, but before i do has anyone got any comments on these that i like the look of?

http://www.formbycycles.co.uk/product/9 ... _Bike_2011

http://www.cyclehouse.co.uk/products.ph ... b88s6p1993