Campagnolo Switch...

rpd_steve

So the Tiagra/105 mix up on my Spesh Allez was getting tired and I was looking about for a new groupo. Main options I was looking at were 105, Rival, and then a link fom a friend suggested something from the dark side - Campy. Anyway, I tryed to evaluate on a level playing field and if I ignore that it has a different hub fitment it did look very good! I like the shifting method and it was better priced than the other options. I have mavic hubs so can just change my free-hub body too.

I now have a full Campagnolo Centuar Carbon group set on its way to my door! Have I made a boo boo, or will I be a convert?! And if so do I need some forms to join the Campy cult?

Calpol

My new bike has got Campagnolo Veloce. I too was a bit worried about how this would be after my Shimano experience. Two rides in and I can tell you its fine. Shifting is different but only in that it feels and sounds different. A little clunkier but I actually prefer that vs the hyper efficient Shimano 105 bikes I test rode. You know you have changed up and down and there is a re-assuring THUNK. Trimming the rear derailler is exactly the same as on Shimano so no maintenance dramas. So far as the levers are concerned - you have a thumb shifter for changing up which works well from hoods or drops. You learn it in minutes and will probably not even notice after one ride. Good luck

marcusjb

The only issues really are tools - if you've tooled up for Shimano over the years, swapping to Campy means a few new tools.

I've owned both - I don't get all the arguments - both are good if setup right.

thegreatdivide

It’s ‘Campagnolo’ or at a push ‘Campag’, but never ‘Campy’. As this is the Road Beginners forum you’re excused...but just this one time ;-)

Also – it’s not going over to the dark side – it’s seeing the light.

rc856

thegreatdivide wrote:

Also – it’s not going over to the dark side – it’s seeing the light.

Amen brother

Velonutter

thegreatdivide wrote:

It’s ‘Campagnolo’ or at a push ‘Campag’, but never ‘Campy’. As this is the Road Beginners forum you’re excused...but just this one time ;-)

Also – it’s not going over to the dark side – it’s seeing the light.

Yep ^ what he said 8)

pitchshifter

thegreatdivide wrote:

It’s ‘Campagnolo’ or at a push ‘Campag’, but never ‘Campy’. As this is the Road Beginners forum you’re excused...but just this one time ;-)

Also – it’s not going over to the dark side – it’s seeing the light.

My mrs insists in calling it "Campagnolio" :shock:

Dancing Bear

thegreatdivide wrote:

It’s ‘Campagnolo’

Also – it’s not going over to the dark side – it’s seeing the light.

exactly !

markwb79

I think you have made a great choice. I was running Shinamo and older Campagnolo, I couldnt decide on which to keep. Went for Campag and had my first proper ride at the weekend, thought it was amazing. The newer shaped hoods took a little getting used to, but they are great now.

I really felt that the shifting was better, moving to the big chain ring was so quiet and so fast. I wasnt always sure it had worked, the amount you have to move the lever is just perfect.

One down side, already mentioned. The bloody tools! Definitely worth the expense of changing IMO

rozzer32

I'm going to say that you should have gone Sram. Lighter than anything else, and probably better than anything else (not electric). You wouldn't have had to change the freehub with Sram and you wouldn't have had to pay stupid amounts on campag tools. Too late now but hope you enjoy using the sora shifters

rolf_f

rozzer32 wrote:

Too late now but hope you enjoy using the sora shifters

They are nothing like Sora shifters. They are comfortably sized for normal thumbs and easily reached from hoods or drops. Sora is just Shimanos way to try to con people into thinking that the Campag approach is inferior to their floppy brake lever method!

markwb79

rozzer32 wrote:

I'm going to say that you should have gone Sram. Lighter than anything else

Really? What bottom bracket do you use on your Scott? From what I could tell SRAM would have weighed 1928grams, Campag weighs 1875grams

rozzer32 wrote:

I'm going to say that you should have gone Sram. probably better than anything else (not electric).

I thought SRAM Red was notorious for having a poor front mech? That was a large reason to not have SRAM actually, Campag has been amazing actually. Very easy to set up, and was faultless on Sunday's ride.

rozzer32 wrote:

I'm going to say that you should have gone Sram. You wouldn't have had to change the freehub with Sram

Very true, luckily I found someone in the opposite situation and was able to swap freehubs at no cost.

rozzer32 wrote:

I'm going to say that you should have gone Sram. Tools

I will give you that one!


Loving it!

rick_chasey

What are the brakehoods/bit where you put your hands like?

On old Campag bikes I've ridden (mates bikes) they were much smaller, and the brake levers were much lighter and less stiff than the shimano stuff I was used to- which I really liked.


Is it still like that?

rozzer32

Markwb79 wrote:

rozzer32 wrote:

I'm going to say that you should have gone Sram. Lighter than anything else

Really? What bottom bracket do you use on your Scott? From what I could tell SRAM would have weighed 1928grams, Campag weighs 1875grams

rozzer32 wrote:

I'm going to say that you should have gone Sram. probably better than anything else (not electric).

I thought SRAM Red was notorious for having a poor front mech? That was a large reason to not have SRAM actually, Campag has been amazing actually. Very easy to set up, and was faultless on Sunday's ride.

rozzer32 wrote:

I'm going to say that you should have gone Sram. You wouldn't have had to change the freehub with Sram

Very true, luckily I found someone in the opposite situation and was able to swap freehubs at no cost.

rozzer32 wrote:

I'm going to say that you should have gone Sram. Tools

I will give you that one!


Loving it!

Where did you get those weights from? Just had a quick look on weight weenies and the sram rival crankset is 20g lighter, the rear mech about 50g lighter, the front mech is about 5g lighter, the shifters about 20g lighter. Sram is lighter than pretty much every thing else, it is one of its main selling features.

Front shifting - Not great on red (although red and centaur isn't a direct comparison), but they have solved this with the new sram red gruppo. But most people just put a force front mech on instead of the red one as it was stiffer. I have even seen pro bikes running Sram Rival brakes instead on Red as they found them better. Don't think you would see pro bikes with Centaur brakes.

Freehub - good for you, not everyone will have that opportunity.

Can someone bring me some more popcorn please, I'm running low

lostboysaint

I have Centaur on my Izoard and had Veloce on my Escape. Wonderful, direct changes, superbly reliable (NEVER had to touch it!), beautiful to look at and ergonomically excellent. Good decision.

markwb79

Hang about......So some of the pro's use Froce front Mechs, Rival brakes. I have seen Dura Ace cassettes. Which bits are any good on groupset?

Pop corn all round then!

rozzer32

Markwb79 wrote:

Hang about......So some of the pro's use Froce front Mechs, Rival brakes. I have seen Dura Ace cassettes. Which bits are any good on groupset?

Pop corn all round then!

Yup mix and match, you'll find a number of pros mix and match components

But Boonen is just wiping the classics on the new Sram Red. Wasn't he riding Campag last year

alihisgreat

i'm going to put it out there... does anyone else think the Campag Shifters/hoods look worse than Shimano and Sram Shifters/Hoods?

eg:


vs.


and



the campag ones look too old school for a lot of bikes in my opinion -> they wouldn't look great with a very sharp frame like a Giant TCR.

Centaur Carbon is very sexy though. Because Carbon.

thegreatdivide

They're V2 hoods. V3 hoods now - and very sleek.

markwb79

rozzer32 wrote:

Markwb79 wrote:

Hang about......So some of the pro's use Froce front Mechs, Rival brakes. I have seen Dura Ace cassettes. Which bits are any good on groupset?

Pop corn all round then!

Yup mix and match, you'll find a number of pros mix and match components

But Boonen is just wiping the classics on the new Sram Red. Wasn't he riding Campag last year

Bit like Gilbert then? haha

thegreatdivide

rozzer32 wrote:

But Boonen is just wiping the classics on the new Sram Red. Wasn't he riding Campag last year

2011 – Philippe Gilbert – Campagnolo SR - case closed

majormantra

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

the campag ones look too old school for a lot of bikes in my opinion -> they wouldn't look great with a very sharp frame like a Giant TCR.

Centaur Carbon is very sexy though. Because Carbon.

They look old school because you've posted a pic of old Campag! :roll:

This is what current Campag (SR11) looks like:



EDIT: Oops, slightly beaten to it.

rozzer32

thegreatdivide wrote:

rozzer32 wrote:

But Boonen is just wiping the classics on the new Sram Red. Wasn't he riding Campag last year

2011 – Philippe Gilbert – Campagnolo SR - case closed

Old new though, that was last year

I could drop the fact of sram vs campag grand tour wins. But it's old news

Anyway I'll be back later, just off to get some more fuel to get this burning more

And I'm Pro Tour Pundit Champion so I'm higher up the food chain

markwb79

Rank Name Team Points
1 Philippe Gilbert (BEL) Omega Pharma-Lotto 718
2 Cadel Evans (AUS) BMC Racing Team 584

alihisgreat

MajorMantra wrote:

They look old school because you've posted a pic of old Campag! :roll:

This is what current Campag (SR11) looks like:

[img/]http://www.diamond-cycles.com/product_images/j/886/Campy_SuperRecord_2011_Ti_Group__87154_zoom.jpg[/img]

EDIT: Oops, slightly beaten to it.

i was more talking about the actual shape of the Hoods and shifters... which looks the same in the new stuff.

FoldingJoe

rozzer32 wrote:

I could drop the fact of sram vs campag grand tour wins. But it's old news

Am I mis-reading this?

You think SRAM has more Grand Tour wins than Campagnolo? I'd like to see the stats to back that one up!!

markwb79

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

MajorMantra wrote:

They look old school because you've posted a pic of old Campag! :roll:

This is what current Campag (SR11) looks like:

[img/]http://www.diamond-cycles.com/product_images/j/886/Campy_SuperRecord_2011_Ti_Group__87154_zoom.jpg[/img]

EDIT: Oops, slightly beaten to it.

i was more talking about the actual shape of the Hoods and shifters... which looks the same in the new stuff.

The new Campagnolo stuff is very different now.

markwb79

FoldingJoe wrote:

rozzer32 wrote:

I could drop the fact of sram vs campag grand tour wins. But it's old news

Am I mis-reading this.

You think SRAM has more Grand Tour wins than Campagnolo? I'd like to see the stats to back that one up!!

Gutted, cant believe I missed that one!

thegreatdivide

Off the top of my head...

Ballan 2008 - Worlds
Evans 2009 – Worlds
1968-83/84-87/1988 – TDF

Edit - shot too quickly ;-)

thegreatdivide

Markwb79 wrote:

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

MajorMantra wrote:

They look old school because you've posted a pic of old Campag! :roll:

This is what current Campag (SR11) looks like:

[img/]http://www.diamond-cycles.com/product_images/j/886/Campy_SuperRecord_2011_Ti_Group__87154_zoom.jpg[/img]

EDIT: Oops, slightly beaten to it.

i was more talking about the actual shape of the Hoods and shifters... which looks the same in the new stuff.

The new Campagnolo stuff is very different now.[/quote]

Yip. Only the shifting has stayed the same - hoods and levers are very different.

rozzer32

FoldingJoe wrote:

rozzer32 wrote:

I could drop the fact of sram vs campag grand tour wins. But it's old news

Am I mis-reading this.

You think SRAM has more Grand Tour wins than Campagnolo? I'd like to see the stats to back that one up!!

Not counting the times before Sram was on the market of course!!!! haha, I know Campag dominated the grand tours in the olden days.

But bit harsh comparing when one of them hadn't been invented yet. But anyway glad see to your defending your campag god so much and not biting on anything I say.

Campag is as good as any other the systems. I prefer sram, I prefer the hoods, prefer the shifting and it's a bonus it is lighter. Some people prefer shimano, some campag. I only rode campag once and hated it. Just personal preference.

Maybe you'll see the light one day (that was another joke by the way).