No fighting, but Shimano or Campag?

[waffle]

Ive always had campag but tried out SRAM and it did feel vey nice

 

[wafflycat]

I have both. My road & tourer both have Campag. My hybrid & recumbent trike came Shimano fiited. I prefer Campag.

Edit: I also have a hen named Campag & another named Nolo...

 

[Ian H]

Lately I've fitted Campag gears, except for the tester which I bought s/h and is Shimano. Pedals are all Shimano of various kinds. Chainsets are TA or Stronglight or whatever. Mix-and-match - I hate the word 'groupset'.

 

[snorri]

I am no racer, I just want reliable and comfortable over anything else.

It sounds as if you want a Rohloff.

 

[Scoosh]

I have SRAM Rival, only having had down-tube shifters before.

One of the reasons for my choice is that, apparently, in Campag index levers/brakes there are something like 25* parts; in Shimano, there are something like 35*; in SRAM, it's 18*.
* all numbers approx but the principle remains

Also, if Shimano goes wrong, it is nigh on unrepairable, except by replacement.

This info was given by a much experienced (and respected ) bike tekkie guy who posts on this forum .

 

[Jonathan M]

If it makes a difference C+ this month look at three mid end groupsets from Shimano, SRAM, & Campag. They finally settled for Shimano for some vague reasons, but one of their tests were the actual time the drievtrain took to change. Campag was the quickest, OK we're talking fractions of a second here, but that is probably where the clunkiness somes from.

Cable run is cleaner, I believe Shimano have now gone to a hidden cable set up on Dura-ace, so it'll likely appear in the lower groupsets in coming years.

I'm not anti-shimano, got pretty much a full XT groupset on my MTB, but then I don't mind the inevitable components wearing out on an MTB, but I'd begrudge the same on my road bike.

 

[eldudino]

I've just got my first road bike and first taste of STI paddle shifters in the shape of 9 speed Tiagra's with a mix of Tiagra and 105 as the groupset. I'd hoped to get Campag Veloce but I bought second hand rather than buying new so the choice was limited. Having said that, I'm very happy with the shifts. Everything feels good and positive, well it did until I tried to 'tune' the gears and made them worse. LBS is sorting it later in the week. It's a completely different riding experience to the STI's on my workhorse MTB-based hybrid. I did a bit of asking around prior to buying and the guy in the LBS who's a campag, sram and shimano mechanic told me that Campag stuff is more liable to go wrong (every 5-10 years or so) but is fully rebuildable whereas shimano stuff isn't likely to go wrong but if it does then it's a replacement job. He also said that if shimano is going to blow up (shifters) then they normally do it in the first year and are replaced under warranty. The other thing he did say, and he was having trouble with a shifter at the time I was asking him, was that Campag close for a month or so in summer so you're fine if it breaks, just as long as it's between September and July!

I'll just have to get campag on my next bike and give a full comparison then!

 

[Scoosh]

I'll just have to get campag on my next bike and give a full comparison then!

... and SRAM on the n+1

 

[eldudino]

... and SRAM on the n+1

Naturally!

 

[Dave5N]

a lbs who stocks both (and so has no axe to grind either way) says that at each level, there's little to choose between the two systems. and he's a pro cyclist.

Who is that, ASEDETC?

 

[gavintc]

I have always used Shimano. But my wife has Campag on both her bikes. I needed to take her winter commuter for a ride recently and was pleasantly surprised at just how comfortable the gears were and how quickly I got used to the different levers. In sum, I think I would chose Campag. But having 2 Shimano equipped bikes and series of Shimano wheels, means that a change would be pricey.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

Who is that, ASEDETC?

chap in macc cycles. can't remember his name (he's not on the pro tour or anything).

 

[BigSteev]

I remember going through this choice about a year ago when I got my road bike. I always had Shimano on MTBs but I thought their road chainsets looked ugly and I didn't like the feel of the hoods or the gearchange method, so I went with Campag Centaur. Aside from the noisy cassette (which I now like as it reminds me to pedal more!), I've been really happy with my choice, and had no issues a year and 2000 miles later.
Having had a play on several set ups at the bike show last week I have to say that I loved the Shimano Di2 electronic changers but Dura-ace still look ugly to me and that I wouldn't allow the horrible clunky mess that is SRAM anywhere near my bike.
Rotor cranks however.......

 

[livestrong10_02]

prefer shimano myself. always found it reliable and prefer the sti levers to campag system

 

[repairtec]

I've got bikes with both Shimano and Campagnolo the only difference I can add to whats listed is that with Shimano levers for people with large hands there is a tendence to agravate any wrist problems you have, especially the carpal tunnel syndrome. Oddly enough I'm getting a Shimnolo set up sorted on the TT bike, like Jalabert an indexed front changer and a downtube rear or bar end Campag 'a la 1960's' is not as daft as it seems. I always think on factory assembled bikes with Shimano groups the bottom of the bars are too short.