4 ms·

I have a 12 year old Shimano Ultegra groupo that has needed very little upkeep and has a lot of miles on it. My newer shimano out performs my newer SRAM on my

by taude 4y ago

I have a 12 year old Shimano Ultegra groupo that has needed very little upkeep and has a lot of miles on it. My newer shimano out performs my newer SRAM on my mountain bikes. Was Shimano new to the cycling industry 35 years ago, maybe they were bad then? I'm sure that was a glory day when Campi was the gold standard or something (I hear this from the old timers). I wish my newer SRAM stuff was as durable as my Shimano, because it was less expensive.... I'm even now waiting longer for a new road bike just so I can get shimano on it, rather than having SRAM on it and be delivered maybe next month....

PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago
It's not so much the tech (though I'd argue it has never been as good as Campagnolo) and more the behavior of the corporation over the years. BTW, at least for road bikes, Campgnolo is still the gold standard, and not just because you need a lot of gold to own it.
- taude 4y ago
  Haa...funny, I only ever heard of Campi as more Itaian stuff that breaks a lot. Even my hard-core buddies who were Campi fans, have gone away from it on their bikes. I know there's a sexy appeal to it. I might have to look at it sometime when I have more disposable income.
  - caycep 4y ago
    You have to find a network of campy dealers, but then it's fine. They engineer the entry level groups to have the same feel as the higher end, and the cheaper stuff might be more reliable because they don't use as much exotic lightweight materials. But I think you can get Veloce at around the same price as 105, Chorus is in between ultegra/dura-ace prices. Overall, my experience is that Campy reliability is really good...just you have to know how to tune cable tension and use the right torque settings. And you can (or were able to) rebuild stuff easier than SRAM/Shimano. There's some give and take, of course - Shimano's cranks are known to have a delamination failure, but Super Record' front derailleurs are known to be a bit finicky, etc etc etc. But things have been so thoroughly bug tested over the past 4 decades it's really splitting hairs.
  - PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago
    Full disclosure: I hate the appearance of modern campagnolo group sets. I think they ruined the elegance that was so present in the late aughts. They still work very, very nicely though. I would likely not put them on a new bike though, just because of the aesthetics.
- taude 4y ago
  You've now sent me into the Campgnolo worm-hole, BTW.

by taude 4y ago

PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago

It's not so much the tech (though I'd argue it has never been as good as Campagnolo) and more the behavior of the corporation over the years. BTW, at least for road bikes, Campgnolo is still the gold standard, and not just because you need a lot of gold to own it.

taude 4y ago
Haa...funny, I only ever heard of Campi as more Itaian stuff that breaks a lot. Even my hard-core buddies who were Campi fans, have gone away from it on their bikes. I know there's a sexy appeal to it. I might have to look at it sometime when I have more disposable income.
- caycep 4y ago
  You have to find a network of campy dealers, but then it's fine. They engineer the entry level groups to have the same feel as the higher end, and the cheaper stuff might be more reliable because they don't use as much exotic lightweight materials. But I think you can get Veloce at around the same price as 105, Chorus is in between ultegra/dura-ace prices. Overall, my experience is that Campy reliability is really good...just you have to know how to tune cable tension and use the right torque settings. And you can (or were able to) rebuild stuff easier than SRAM/Shimano. There's some give and take, of course - Shimano's cranks are known to have a delamination failure, but Super Record' front derailleurs are known to be a bit finicky, etc etc etc. But things have been so thoroughly bug tested over the past 4 decades it's really splitting hairs.
- PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago
  Full disclosure: I hate the appearance of modern campagnolo group sets. I think they ruined the elegance that was so present in the late aughts. They still work very, very nicely though. I would likely not put them on a new bike though, just because of the aesthetics.
taude 4y ago
You've now sent me into the Campgnolo worm-hole, BTW.