SRAM and CAMPY users give me your feedback

[Kathi]

I love Campy, too! Very comfortable for my tiny hands.

One disadvantage of Campy cranksets is that there is no 165 mm crankarm. I use the Specialities TA Carmina crankset instead. It works just as well but my LBS said I could have shaved a few more ounces if I could use the Campy crankset.

I'm not a weight weenie and my bike weighs 15.4 lbs so I don't care about shaving off more weight.

And Campy is repairable. When I had my Aegis tuned last year the springs in the shifters were bad so the LBS replaced them. It cost less than $15.00 for the repair.

[FreshNewbie]

So, I see a lot of Chorus fans, however all of Bianchi's women's bikes or their steel models come with Veloce components. Are they also good or Chorus is much better?
Right now I have all 105 on my bike, if I were to buy a new bike I wouldn't consider anything below Dura from Shimano family. However, if I went with Campy on my new bike, which groupset should I be looking at ?

[mimitabby]

Centaur gives you the most bang for your bucks according to all the experts I spoke to. I was going to get Centaur until i fell into an amazing deal with some slightly used Campy Record stuff for my bike that is currently being built.
On the other hand, folks with Veloce (like me) seem to love what they have!

[IFjane]

Right now I have all 105 on my bike, if I were to buy a new bike I wouldn't consider anything below Dura from Shimano family.

I cannot speak to either Campy or SRAM because I have only ridden with Shimano on both mountain and road bikes. I have Ultegra on my new bike. I swapped the drivetrain over from my old bike. I have had zero problems with it and it is about 7 years old now. Regarding upgrading to Dura, when I asked my LBS about doing just that, he told me that he would stick with the Ultegra because I would get more bang for the buck with it. In his opinion, the upgrade is not worth the money I would spend. He feels ultegra is the workhorse of the Shimano group. I have confidence in what he says because he rides with all three (Shimano, Campy & SRAM) on various bikes of his own.

[indysteel]

So, I see a lot of Chorus fans, however all of Bianchi's women's bikes or their steel models come with Veloce components. Are they also good or Chorus is much better?
Right now I have all 105 on my bike, if I were to buy a new bike I wouldn't consider anything below Dura from Shimano family. However, if I went with Campy on my new bike, which groupset should I be looking at ?

According to Bianchi's website, the female line that are Campy speced use Campy Mirage, which is one of the lower-end groups. That's not to say that there's anything wrong with it but it's not on the same level as Shimana D/A. As far as comparisons go, it's a little bit like comparing apples to oranges, but Record and Chorus are on reportedly on the same footing as D/A. Veloce is somewhere between 105 and Ultegra. Centaur is comparable to Ultegra. But I say that believing that all of Campy's groups perform well.

I have a 2006 Bianchi Eros Donna that came stock with Mirage. I changed a few things out to Veloce because I didn't love the plastic on the Mirage brifters and wanted smoother shifting in the rear. I don't race so I don't really need ultra-quick shifting, and everything on the bike works suits my purposes. I have about 3,000 mile on the bike, and she's needed very little maintenance.

I'm curious as to why you wouldn't go with anything less than D/A. I know a lotta happy Ultegra users out there.......

[FreshNewbie]

Indysteel,
I want my next bike to be steel, my dream would be titanium but that's really out of my pocket right now. As for your question regarding Ultegra, I don't really have any particular reason not to go with Ultegra. I road a bike with DuraAce and it was so much smoother than my Shimano 105 (2005). If I find a well fitting steel bike with Ultegra I would definately go for it. When it comes to test riding next year I will have to try both and decide what I lilke best. So far Campy sounds attractive because of durability aspect. I have my bike for about a year now with 1400 miles on it so far, the shifting is not very smooth, especially on a hill. I don't have any complaints, so far I didn't have to fix anything but I think I will outgrow 105 pretty fast.

[indysteel]

FreshNewbie, I, too, wanted a road steel bike and was really frustrated at how few options there were, especially since I ideally needed a women-specific bike. When I bought my Bianchi last year, I only had the Eros Donna, a couple of WSD Shimano speced LeMonds and two bikes by Burley, from which to choose (I admittedly didn't look at Jamis or Colnago). Neither LeMond nor Burley make those particular bikes anymore, so there are even fewer options now.

I wasn't thrilled to buy a bike with a lower-end groupset, which is one of the reasons that, from an emotional perspective, I decided to do some modest upgrades. The most important factors in my decisionmaking, however, were still the frame and fit. While I have very little to compare it to, I like my ED and feel like the components have been adequate for the type of riding I do.

Unfortunately, short of getting a frameset only or going custom you likely won't find a lot of stock steel bikes from which to choose and even fewer (if any) speced with D/A, Chorus or Record. You might want to look at Gunnar's steel frames in that regard. They're reasonably priced and you could build them up to your own specifications. As happy as I am w/ my Bianchi, I wish I would have investigated that option a bit more.

If and when I get another bike, I'd like to go the custom route and have it built up primarily with Chorus. Sigh.....

Good luck!

[aleia23]

I bought a Bianchi Eros (not the Donna) last August with mostly Campy Mirage components (I replaced the crankset with Mirage 2 months ago) and love Campy. I had the Shimano 105 groupset on my Trek bike and have noticed that the shifting is so much smoother with the Campy especially at higher speeds. My husband has the Veloce on his 8 yr old steel Bianchi (with many miles) and swears by it too (never has had to replace anything except for the chain). It is all a matter of personal preference, but I would choose Campy any day.

[FreshNewbie]

Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions!
Indy, I know what you mean. I spent a lot of time yesterday just lurking websites and I must say I am pretty dissapointed with options. Unless I find a bike shop that would swap the parts (with me paying the difference) looks like there are very limited options out there. Don't take me wrong my bike is still pretty new, its 2005 Specialized Vita multisport with all 105 shimano but I think somewhere in the end of 2008 I will want a new bike ( I would already get one ). Looks like going custom is a best option but it's pretty expensive. Well, I guess for now I should hope that in 2008 someone will come out with a bike I want Thanks,

FN

[indysteel]

Here's an interesting thread from today on roadbikereview.com's forums about why some pro teams use Chorus and Ultegra intstead of D/A and Record.

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=93606

BTW, you might have to register for roadbikereview.com to read it.

[alexis_the_tiny]

Digging up this thread again. My groupset is beginning to sound rather omnious and I want to change it before it fulfills one of those horrible hallucinations I wrote about back in college of a vehicle on a road exploding into rivets and metals bits. I run a 105 groupset on it right now. What would be a rough equivalent for the Campys? Veloce? Athena? Chrous?? I'm totally confused. I vaguely remembered someone had a comparison of Shimano groupsets and cards, wish there was something like that for Campys and SRAM as well.

[warneral]

I went from tiagra/sora to Campy Chorus. BIG difference! LOVE my campy components!

[emily_in_nc]

I had Campy Chorus on my go-fast bike I sold a few years ago, and it is absolutely the best gruppo I have ever used. Would use it again in a minute if given half a chance. Easy shifting, fit my hands well, a huge improvement for me over Shimano Ultegra, which I had before.

I have bar-end shifters now due to the V-brakes on my Bike Friday (which is set up as a touring bike), and I like them fine, but I do miss my Campy. It was like "butta".

[melonyogloo]

Have been using Campagnolo components since 1992. I have to say that I have not use any other brand in regular basis and my opinions may be biased.

1) Campagnolo currently produce 11 speed group and 10 speed group:
Super Record, Record, Chours, Athena = 11 speed
Centaur, Veloce, Mirage = 10 speed

2) People say Campagnolo Veloce = Shimano 105 = Sram Rival , Centaur = Ultegra = Force, Chorus = Dura Ace = Red, and Record is in the league of his own.

You can buy Veloce group from England for about US$522 + $25 shipping from:
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/groups..._GS&type=RIBMO

But you still need a new rear wheel or hub body though.

For more information on Campagnolo, you can go to www.campyonly.com