Campagnolo's wearing in as Shimano's wearing out?

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Turbo

Clueless member
Location
West Yorkshire
Heard a friend of mine say this today. Never had a single item of Campagnolo on any of my bikes so wouldn't have a clue. Is this true?
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Heard a friend of mine say this today. Never had a single item of Campagnolo on any of my bikes so wouldn't have a clue. Is this true?
I have been using a Campagnolo Athena groupset (original version) since 1999 and it is still going strong. The shifter ratchets are just starting to get a bit sloppy now after 16 years all-weather use, but so far shifting has not been affected. The rear mech is still ok. I broke the front one after about 12 years (my fault). You wouldn't expect brake callipers to wear out, and they haven't!

I've had Campagnolo Chorus on my Cannondale for about 12 years and that is still immaculate, but it has only had about 1/4 of the use that the Athena has, and mainly in good weather.

I haven't used Shimano road groupsets enough to comment on them. Shimano MTB groupsets have been pretty good for me.
 

MrPie

Telling it like it is since 1971
Location
Perth, Australia
Changed to Campag Athena about 4 years ago after around 6 years with Ultegra....coveted a Wilier with Campag from afar and decided to take the plunge. Ultegra was absolutely fine - no real issues apart from the brakes were a bit sticky and finicky from time to time. 20 thousand mile later and the Athena works perfectly. No nonsense with the brakes either.....plus I think they grip a bit better than Shimano. Campag has more 'feel' while Shimano is just a tad cold. Personal preference I guess.

Would I buy again? Just did.......C60 with Record on order from Maestro Mike. So excited!
 

bianchi1

Guru
Location
malverns
I have just end up buying the components that were on my first bike (all those years ago). Once you have all the tools that only work on one set of kit or want to run two or more bikes and swap over the wheels without changing cassettes it just makes life easier.

I have draws of broken parts in the garage that I can scavenge parts off as I need them and mostly they are not transferable across manufacturer.

That said, campy do keep you on your toes my making subtle changes to some things, new brake pad holders for example which mean they are not usable across group sets......it is pretty tho.
 

Onyer

Senior Member
I thought another saying was:

Campagnolo is pretty, Sram is light and Shimano works.

Seems about right.
Campag is pretty - I'm looking at Bianchi with Record groupset. I have only ever used Shimano and the new Ultegra and 105 are great - very smooth and slick. Campag comes with a price premium though.
 
I have a mixture on my 1994 Dyna-Tech 755Ti

Ultegra STI group, but with a Campag Chorus b/b & chainset

The b/b still spins smoothly/effortlessly, despite never being opened/regreased

The brakes/gears are still smooth, & on original (Teflon liners??) cables, thus still working fine
The hubs are still running good (possibly greased about 4 times??)

The Ultegra headset was replaced about 10 years ago, with a Stronglight though

The only issue is a slight stickiness/reluctance to change up the block (higher-gear), but I guess that 20 years is a long time past the design life, and any internal lubricants have long since dried out??


Also, it's got (polished) Ritchey stem & seat-pin. they're still in VGC, barring a sticky patch on the seat-pin from a light-bracket, when I relegated it to a work-bike
 

Drago

Legendary Member
And I've got a bike with scrappy cheap Huret rubbish from the 70s that still works flawlessly. 20 year old well maintained cycle parts (chains and cogs excepted) working perfectly after 2 decades of fairly normal use should be a normal expectation, not something to get excited about.
 
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