When I was shopping for my road bike components one of the best things I was told was this: "Campy is just breaking in while Shimano is wearing out." Also another plus to Campy is you can actually buy and replace all the "little" parts that may break or wear out where as with Shimano you can't replace the "little" parts you have to replace the whole thing.....whatever that means! LOL I'm a total dufus when it comes to mechanical stuff so Campy made sense to me.