Campagnolo vintage

rolf_f

As long as it is Ultrashift (which old Centaur is) then it is fine and completely serviceable.

I'd go second hand rather than current Veloce. The hood design issue is probably a personal thing. I believe the current design is slightly shorter so can be better for those who need to minimise reach.

There's lots of ways you could do this. Eg you'd probably be quite happy with a new Veloce groupset married to the second hand Centaur shifters you linked to. You might be able to sell the Veloces for most of the likely cost of the Centaurs. That way you get the multi downshift and serviceability of the old levers without having to scratch around on Ebay for every last component. Not that there is anything wrong with that approach and it should be cheaper if you are patient! What is the BB on the frame? If square taper then you'll probably want to source an old crankset anyway.

rolf_f

The 'experience' is mainly down to the shifters - you won't be noticing the mechs when you are riding. The mechs were redesigned about 4 years ago but all those before that (with the narrow parallelogram bodies) seem pretty much the same over quite a few years.

Personally, I'd look for early-mid noughties ones in all polished alloy plus a square taper chainset. The only tricky part would be the shifters. I bought some second hand Centaur carbon ultrahifts on here with a known fault for about £70 and spent the same having the fault corrected and them both serviced. I was happy with that because new shape 10 speed Ultrashift is very rare. I'd probably try to find new old stock if I was buying the older type.

ugo.santalucia

Yep, early to mid noughties were better shifters than the current crop. If you don't mind going 9 speed (and why would you?), then the early 00 Veloce 9 were very good and can be had as NOS on Ebay for 50-60 quid

rolf_f

ugo.santalucia wrote:

If you don't mind going 9 speed (and why would you?)......

Thought you'd be along soon! And yes, living in Cambridge, it could be argued that 9 is excessive!

Incidentally, I slightly inadvertently got a new front mech for my Ribble that turned out earlier than I expected from the phots - prob about 2006. Pretty similar to the current ones but the cage seems to be plated steel. Which seems a much better idea than the bendy alloy of the current ones that distort if ever the chain decides to jam during a shift (yes, I know - it shouldn't happen but it has!). We'll see if it genuinely is better.

mm1

Luke,

I have some spare bits of "old" campag (square taper cranks and bb, brakes etc) - give me a shout if you're interested.

Monty Dog

I would look around for 9 speed - it's not quite old enough to be collectable and the components like chains and cassettes are cheap. The 2nd generation Ergos are a big improvement on the first for comfort too. Chorus, Centaur and Daytona would be my choice - Record always attracts a premium.

rolf_f

Don't think there is any difference. I think the 10 speed ones only got labelled so to show off that the groupset was 10 speed! Mind you, you might find those on Ebay listed specifically as 10 speed will be cheaper.

Monty Dog

10 speed mech fine with 9 speed Ergos IME - when you race CX you soon get to find-out which works with what!

ugo.santalucia

Actaully in my hoard I have a front (band on) and a rear Daytona derailleurs... don't really need them... drop me a PM if you want them