Shimano vs. Campagnolo

[Jon H]

Here it is folks, a dedicated thread for debating the merits or otherwise of the S word and the C word.

Now stop hijacking every other thread with your misguided views on that Italian stuff.

[Sylv]

1)a) Style

[img]http://bikemart.com/images/library/site/campy_rec_240_05_p.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.nexternal.com/icycles/images/rd7700.jpg[/img]

Not much to separate them, but the Campag has to resort to carbon fiber to try and outweigh Shimano's sleek forged and brushed alloy - which loses style in my books for the ugly pulley cage - they should have tried harder, as the Shimano averages 183gm vs 188.

Shimano: 1, Campag: 0

[Andrew G]

Campagnolo Ergos = Sleek, attractive, descrete, stylish.

ShimaNO sti = Bloody great big cow horns with ugly cable loops.

P.S. Anyone who argues that you can't downshift on the drops with Campag obviously hasn't used them. I do all the time without any difficulty whatsoever.

Beer at luchtime? Who, me, never!

[-Adam-]

Its changing up on the drops Andrew thats the problem, and i have used campag quite a lot actually!

[Stu Merckx Man]

i can change up whilst on the drops with campag, just have to stretch a bit with the thumb

campag is the best though so its no suprise....

[-Adam-]

ay but its that stretching of the thumb that might cost you a race one day Mr Stu!

[Hal]

Thumbs! What are you doing? Yoga? Go get yourself some shimano kit.

[George]

I find that with Campag when on the hoods I have to physically move my hand position so my thumb can press the lever.

You only see this sort of naff design on the lowest of the range Shimano

Changing on the drops is easy with both Systems.

I do prefer Campag cable routing though and Campag feels a nicer low profile racing position to me.

I find Campag is more Clunky when I change gears, but I am a bit heavy on the gear change anyway

[Andrew G]

Oops meant shift up a gear.

Adam - Did you used to have a campag bike then switch or do you have a bit of a mix and match in your garage? Just wondered why you are so pro Shimano if you've used Campag, it obviously offended you in some way.
To be honest (silly baiting games aside) when I've ridden a shimano bike it was only the sti's I didn't like, too big for my small hands and no fixed position brake lever. Other than that I think the quality of both once you get to the mid-range stuff is good enough for nearly everyone except top riders and pros.

[-Adam-]

Andrew, my old bike is Campag equipped... since sold to a friend of mine. However he is galavanting around south-america right now. So im baby-sitting. Have been using it a lot in Liverpool. I don't have a major problem witht the shifting, it works, its just to clunky. Plus although i like the fact the gear cable is concealed with campag i don't like the thinking behind the shifters...

Also, the breaks are to be quite frank... sh1t!

I have even read articles with pro's who say having ridden a Record equipped bike for a while, when the get back on a Dura-Ace bile they always lock up the brakes first time out. As they forget how much more powerful than Record the DA brakes are! Obviously you can get better brakes than DA but as a complete groupset go's i think this is a major area where DA wins, and wins big!

[Jon H]

Right, this has really got out of hand. I was out riding this afternoon, went to change gear and my righthand STI was all slimey and horrible. When I investigated why, I discovered that a bird had managed to get a direct (s)hit all down the levers.

So whichever Campag fan has been training their pet pigeons for STI seek and destroy missions, be ashamed of yourself. It's not big and it's not clever.

[Sylv]

I've never even tried Campag - I just enjoy the winding up

[Ian A4size]

[quote]Right, this has really got out of hand

[Stu Merckx Man]

i think i must have jixnst myself when i said i had a campagnolo veloce that was still going strong from the 80s...

went for a training ride on it today whilst my normal bike is bieng repaired. it was working fine the whole time until out of nowhere in the middle of coulsdon (at the end of my ride thankfully), the rear hanger jammed into my spoked, with ripped out the skewers, bent the spokes, bent the chain, i think its recked some of the cogs (though hard to see at the moment), and bent the hanger ...

luckily i had my phone so i could get a lift home, but it was pretty embarrassing legging it down the street with a bike on my back towards the lion green carpark... one of the most cringey moments of my life.

[Steve B]

Have you seen the new Campag Record brake caliper.

Great braking power and a slight improvement in the looks too!

[img]http://i14.tinypic.com/67egqwp.jpg[/img]