Campagnolo components
The dead of winter is the time that folks are thinking about a new bike for the next season. I'm dropping this entry to suggest if you are thinking about this, look at a Campagnolo groupset. It's not hard to find Shimano-vs-Campy advocacy on the 'net and if you want that, google will find it quickly, I'll try to avoid advocacy and simply relate the features and my experiences with both. Im leaving SRAM out of this article for two reasons, first, I've never ridden on SRAM, second SRAM designs their gear to be interchanged with Shimano, their cassette and chain dimensions are identical, as such I expect their maintenance requirements to be identical.
Up until 3 years ago, all of my riding was on vintage stuff, standard 3/32" chain and 6 cogs on the rear/freewheel. I rode this setup on my '83 Peugeot in my first two '06 triathlons, looking on with envy at the more modern gear that's most folks were riding. I'm still riding that bike, although it's now my second-choice commute/work bike behind the fixed gear.
In early winter of '06/7 I found a great titanium triathlon bike at an attractive price on Ebay, outfitted with 9 speed Shimano. Over the course of the next two seasons I ran up a little under 6000 miles on that bike, (along with another 2500 miles ridden on the trusty Peugeot). I liked the bar-end shifters, and was quite amazed at how well indexed shifting worked. True, it needs adjustment every so often to keep running smooth, but that's a fine trade off against having to reach down to the down tube for shifting.
Over the course of the next 2+ seasons I found I could get about 2000 miles from a chain (I check both using Park's go/nogo gauge and by measuring chain 'stretch' over a 12" length*). This is about the same life I get from 3/32" chain on my Peugeot.
In late '08 I put together a new bike, selling the tri bike (for more than I'd paid for it, always nice). I decided to go with a road bike, and commenced with research into a groupset, choosing to go with Campy in part because I've always lusted after it but also because what I read about the features sounded right on the money for what I wanted. I've now gotten in a year of riding on it.
Summary:
Because so few bike manufacturers spec Campagnolo groups on anything but the high-end bikes (Bianchi would be a rare exception), to get the long term cost advantages that campy offers, you pretty much have to select a frame and component set and build the bike or have it built, this is going to cost more up-front. The break-even point is hit if you're going to keep a bike for 4 years or longer. Select the full article below for the details.
Because so few bike manufacturers spec Campagnolo groups on anything but the high-end bikes (Bianchi would be a rare exception), to get the long term cost advantages that campy offers, you pretty much have to select a frame and component set and build the bike or have it built, this is going to cost more up-front. The break-even point is hit if you're going to keep a bike for 4 years or longer. Select the full article below for the details.
Features (note! up-shift means shifting the rear to higher *smaller* gearing):
The most obvious difference visible to the rider is the cassette-shifting mechanism. Where Shimano combines the down-shift and brake into one lever, using the small inside paddle for up-shift. Campagnolo makes the down-shift using the paddle behind the brake lever and up-shifting is done with a lever under the thumb on the inside of the mechanism. Campagnolo's shifting mechanism has one killer feature that's not available from Shimano (nor, I believe SRAM but I've never ridden on SRAM) -- As of '09, Campy shifters (down to the Centaur group) let you jump across several gears in a single shift movement. Most Shimano's will do this when down-shifting but because they use a ratchet/escape mechanism internally, they are limited to a single gear at a time on upshifting. I LOVE this feature, I use multiple-space shifts nearly as often as I will jump a single gear. In a race this is an actual advantage, you can index up 3-4 gears for a sprint in a single move. In daily riding it's still a great convenience, say when rounding the top of a rolling hill, you can go from climbing gear to accelerate/downhill gear in a single sweep of the thumb. This is a feature that New England riders will appreciate! The other major difference between Campy and Shimano is their approach to construction and again it's most noticeable in the shifting mechanism. Shimano's shift/brake mechanism is a sealed unit, while Campy is open and easily serviceable. Similarly, Campagnolo continues to use cup and cone adjustable bearings in their wheel hubs, while Shimano and virtually all other makers use cartridge bearings. Campy did go to cartridge bearings in the bottom bracket which is a sensible place to do so, as BB's are harder to adjust. However, their Ultra-Torque integrated BB simply blows away the Shimano offering, the bearing design is simple, elegant and stiffer / lower friction than Shimano's (also lighter in weight if you go for the carbon fiber offerings). In the drive-train proper is the least visible but perhaps most significant difference. Shimano uses significantly thinner teeth in their chainrings and cogs. This makes Campy's rear cassette a good bit heavier than Shimano/SRAM, but they more than make up for that weight difference with all of the other components being lighter. Costs and Maintenance
Each way has it's strengths and weaknesses. Shimano's shift lever mechanism is sealed from the elements and doesn't need any service. The obvious corollary is that it *can't* be serviced, you can't even send these back to the factory for fixing. If something breaks inside you have to replace it wholesale (and outside of the 2 year warranty that's gonna be pricey). Campagnolo levers don't need rebuild very often, however they should probably be lubricated every 1-2 years, and might want a rebuild every 4-8 years. If you upgrade frames you might well choose to move your groupset over onto the new frame. At this point in time, framesets continue to evolve and improve faster than component technology, so while most good quality frames bought in the last 5 years will certainly last you 10 or more if you want, there might be some solid motivation to upgrade. Supposing a re-build every 4 years at $90 per pair (or free if this is the kind of work you like to do while watching a movie), you could keep the same set of levers in good working condition for a minimum of 10 years (and so far, Campy does still supply parts for shifters that old). Shimano levers by all accounts don't last that long. I can't swear to the longevity of Campy's new crank/bottom bracket with external bearing setup because it's only been out for 3 years but the construction looks solid to me so we'll see. What their design does bring to the table is a stiff and low-interference crank that Shimano does not offer. But what has simply AMAZED me is the low wear rate of the campy chain. In 2000 miles of riding, the chain wear is under .06%, on Shimano / Sram 9 speed chains at the same mileage and using the same ways to clean and lube the chain, every chain I've used has been worn to the 'generally accepted' limit of .5%. That's nearly 10 times lower chain wear/stretch. The apparent reason for this is that in going to 10 speeds, Campy made their chain side-plates thinner, rather than the sprockets. This means that the bearing surface dimensions inside the chain are significantly larger, which is probably the reason for the lower wear. I also expect the cassettes and chainrings to last longer than the Shimano offerings, again because they're a good bit wider. Also, Campy sells a far wider range of individual cassette-cogs so that you can replace a single cog, rather than replacing the entire cassette. As far as I've been able to see Shimano only makes some of the smallest cogs available as singles -- admittedly these are the most likely to wear out fast but that depends on your riding style. Tradeoffs / Downsides
After tires, the chain and cassette are the parts of the bike that are replaced most often, making these last longer is a big cost and maintenance savings, of course as with any design choice it's not without some downside. You really want to use only a Campy chain on a Campy drivetrain, Wipperman and KMC make chains that can be used on Campagnolo sprockets and Simano/SRAM chains definitely don't work well. This in turn means that you can't take advantage of SRAM's fast-link, Campy chain must be riveted and can't easily be removed, e.g. for cleaning. However, chain's don't need to be removed to keep them clean and most people prefer not to. Also, in 10 speed, SRAM's fast-link isn't designed to be dismantled anyway (you can do it with a little ingenuity). I have read that the KMC and Wipperman fastlinks can be used on original Campagnolo chain so those are viable options for maintenance. Across the board, much to my surprise, Campagnolo groups cost less than Shimano groups of a comparable weight. However, there's a catch. Shimano simply own's 95% or so of the market for road components. If you're going to buy a bike, few bikes are offered at all with Campagnolo components and even fewer in the more affordable Centaur / Veloce price ranges. So if the only bikes you can actually buy with Campy are in the $9000 and up price range, Campy components are in effect not available. Sadly the only alternative is to spec a frame, spec campy group and put it together yourself or have the shop do so (which they certainly will but the cost of those components are going to come out to significantly more money than the comparable bike that you'd buy from Specialized, Trek, Cannondale ... equipped with components that Shimano significantly discounts when those companies come to them ordering by the hundreds or thousands. Over the long haul, I think putting the bike together from components will be cost competitive, but only if you plan to keep the bike in question for long enough to accrue the savings. The last major difference between these makers are the ergonomics. If the Shimano (or SRAM) levers fit your hand better then that's the best reason to buy them, same thing goes for the differences in shifting mechanism, if you like Shimano's lever design or SRAM's double-tap then those are very likely the best groups to ride on.
The most obvious difference visible to the rider is the cassette-shifting mechanism. Where Shimano combines the down-shift and brake into one lever, using the small inside paddle for up-shift. Campagnolo makes the down-shift using the paddle behind the brake lever and up-shifting is done with a lever under the thumb on the inside of the mechanism. Campagnolo's shifting mechanism has one killer feature that's not available from Shimano (nor, I believe SRAM but I've never ridden on SRAM) -- As of '09, Campy shifters (down to the Centaur group) let you jump across several gears in a single shift movement. Most Shimano's will do this when down-shifting but because they use a ratchet/escape mechanism internally, they are limited to a single gear at a time on upshifting. I LOVE this feature, I use multiple-space shifts nearly as often as I will jump a single gear. In a race this is an actual advantage, you can index up 3-4 gears for a sprint in a single move. In daily riding it's still a great convenience, say when rounding the top of a rolling hill, you can go from climbing gear to accelerate/downhill gear in a single sweep of the thumb. This is a feature that New England riders will appreciate! The other major difference between Campy and Shimano is their approach to construction and again it's most noticeable in the shifting mechanism. Shimano's shift/brake mechanism is a sealed unit, while Campy is open and easily serviceable. Similarly, Campagnolo continues to use cup and cone adjustable bearings in their wheel hubs, while Shimano and virtually all other makers use cartridge bearings. Campy did go to cartridge bearings in the bottom bracket which is a sensible place to do so, as BB's are harder to adjust. However, their Ultra-Torque integrated BB simply blows away the Shimano offering, the bearing design is simple, elegant and stiffer / lower friction than Shimano's (also lighter in weight if you go for the carbon fiber offerings). In the drive-train proper is the least visible but perhaps most significant difference. Shimano uses significantly thinner teeth in their chainrings and cogs. This makes Campy's rear cassette a good bit heavier than Shimano/SRAM, but they more than make up for that weight difference with all of the other components being lighter. Costs and Maintenance
Each way has it's strengths and weaknesses. Shimano's shift lever mechanism is sealed from the elements and doesn't need any service. The obvious corollary is that it *can't* be serviced, you can't even send these back to the factory for fixing. If something breaks inside you have to replace it wholesale (and outside of the 2 year warranty that's gonna be pricey). Campagnolo levers don't need rebuild very often, however they should probably be lubricated every 1-2 years, and might want a rebuild every 4-8 years. If you upgrade frames you might well choose to move your groupset over onto the new frame. At this point in time, framesets continue to evolve and improve faster than component technology, so while most good quality frames bought in the last 5 years will certainly last you 10 or more if you want, there might be some solid motivation to upgrade. Supposing a re-build every 4 years at $90 per pair (or free if this is the kind of work you like to do while watching a movie), you could keep the same set of levers in good working condition for a minimum of 10 years (and so far, Campy does still supply parts for shifters that old). Shimano levers by all accounts don't last that long. I can't swear to the longevity of Campy's new crank/bottom bracket with external bearing setup because it's only been out for 3 years but the construction looks solid to me so we'll see. What their design does bring to the table is a stiff and low-interference crank that Shimano does not offer. But what has simply AMAZED me is the low wear rate of the campy chain. In 2000 miles of riding, the chain wear is under .06%, on Shimano / Sram 9 speed chains at the same mileage and using the same ways to clean and lube the chain, every chain I've used has been worn to the 'generally accepted' limit of .5%. That's nearly 10 times lower chain wear/stretch. The apparent reason for this is that in going to 10 speeds, Campy made their chain side-plates thinner, rather than the sprockets. This means that the bearing surface dimensions inside the chain are significantly larger, which is probably the reason for the lower wear. I also expect the cassettes and chainrings to last longer than the Shimano offerings, again because they're a good bit wider. Also, Campy sells a far wider range of individual cassette-cogs so that you can replace a single cog, rather than replacing the entire cassette. As far as I've been able to see Shimano only makes some of the smallest cogs available as singles -- admittedly these are the most likely to wear out fast but that depends on your riding style. Tradeoffs / Downsides
After tires, the chain and cassette are the parts of the bike that are replaced most often, making these last longer is a big cost and maintenance savings, of course as with any design choice it's not without some downside. You really want to use only a Campy chain on a Campy drivetrain, Wipperman and KMC make chains that can be used on Campagnolo sprockets and Simano/SRAM chains definitely don't work well. This in turn means that you can't take advantage of SRAM's fast-link, Campy chain must be riveted and can't easily be removed, e.g. for cleaning. However, chain's don't need to be removed to keep them clean and most people prefer not to. Also, in 10 speed, SRAM's fast-link isn't designed to be dismantled anyway (you can do it with a little ingenuity). I have read that the KMC and Wipperman fastlinks can be used on original Campagnolo chain so those are viable options for maintenance. Across the board, much to my surprise, Campagnolo groups cost less than Shimano groups of a comparable weight. However, there's a catch. Shimano simply own's 95% or so of the market for road components. If you're going to buy a bike, few bikes are offered at all with Campagnolo components and even fewer in the more affordable Centaur / Veloce price ranges. So if the only bikes you can actually buy with Campy are in the $9000 and up price range, Campy components are in effect not available. Sadly the only alternative is to spec a frame, spec campy group and put it together yourself or have the shop do so (which they certainly will but the cost of those components are going to come out to significantly more money than the comparable bike that you'd buy from Specialized, Trek, Cannondale ... equipped with components that Shimano significantly discounts when those companies come to them ordering by the hundreds or thousands. Over the long haul, I think putting the bike together from components will be cost competitive, but only if you plan to keep the bike in question for long enough to accrue the savings. The last major difference between these makers are the ergonomics. If the Shimano (or SRAM) levers fit your hand better then that's the best reason to buy them, same thing goes for the differences in shifting mechanism, if you like Shimano's lever design or SRAM's double-tap then those are very likely the best groups to ride on.
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