Is the Campagnolo Centaur Gear change supposed to feel like treacle ?

[HarryTheDog]

My 8yr old bike which has Shimano Ultegra gears ( a year old) the frameset has now started to flex and creak ( not suprising I have beaten the hell out of it) so my son has offered his Battaglin as a replacement which has Campagnolo Centaur gears.( 6 years old but hardly used) The frameset is great, nice and stiff, however the gear change to a harder gear feels much harder than the ultegra and feels like there is a real drag on it within the lever. The change down with the little thumb lever to a easier gear tends to feel like a real clang. I have checked that the derailleur is moving freely and the cable slides through all the outers freely as well.
It feels similar with the front derailleur lever. Seems to be the levers on both.
My son says it has always been like that and is happy with it. I can of course just move the groupset off my old bike but I would like to keep it all Italian. I have never used campagnolo.
So the question is, is there anyone with experience of both groupsets and does the Centaur just feel like this compared to the Ultegra? if so I can't put up with it, if not is there a common problem with the levers?

 

[Roadrider48]

I too don't like that thumb shifting arrangement. That's why I haven't ever used Campagnolo.
But, many people rave about it.
I just don't like the look of it, to me it looks cheap and the operation is clunky.(played with at bike shop)
I could be wrong, but the look of it puts me off mainly.

 

[Viking]

The only problems I've had with Campag gears has been a reluctance to change to a smaller rear cog (using the right thumb shift). That was cured by fitting new inners and outers. Cable routing at the bars is a potential cause. I route both cables via the front although some bikes are set up with the gear cable routed along the rear of the bars.

 

[HarryTheDog]

Cable routing is fine and can push and pull the inner cable all the way through the outers and the lever itself , with the lever in the hardest gear position and the cable itself going straight through the lever mechanism and out of it. Its the lever itself that seems to be causing the problem. I am leaning towards just moving the groupset across as I have loads of Shimano wheels and only 2 campagnolo rear wheels.

 

[cyberknight]

I too don't like that thumb shifting arrangement. That's why I haven't ever used Campagnolo.
But, many people rave about it.
I just don't like the look of it, to me it looks cheap and the operation is clunky.(played with at bike shop)
I could be wrong, but the look of it puts me off mainly.

I always like the look of campag but now my right thumb has the start of artheritis im sticking to shimano/ sram as im trying to limit wear and tear .

 

[Roadrider48]

I always like the look of campag but now my right thumb has the start of artheritis im sticking to shimano/ sram as im trying to limit wear and tear .

Yeah, it's just a personal thing mate. I am not keen on the thumb shifting arrangement.

 

[fossyant]

I'd change the cables and outers anyway.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Campag is smooth as silk on shifts, either cables (Probably) or a mechanical fault.

 

[HarryTheDog]

We can close the thread now, after much tinkering the right lever mechanism was definetely causing the friction , probably due to my heavy handed son.( his hobby is powerlifting) So I have shifted the entire shimano group set across and consigned my old frameset etc to the parts dump in my shed.

 

[Crandoggler]

SRAM is the only real 'heavy' shift I've felt. Both shimano and Campag have always been light.

 

[midlife]

I like the sound of my Campag Mirage, reminds me of the 70's as people can hear me changing gear 2 miles away

Shaun