Shimano to Campag

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baldeagle
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 11:40 pm

by baldeagle

Any love for campag in here lads? I have my eye on a winter frame at the minute. I can get 20% off a chorus groupset from CRC. My plan would be to take my groupset off my good bike and put it on the winter bike and then put the new campag groupset on the bianchi. Keep the good bike all italian and lovely and stylish ! Is it just down to preference or is there any evidence that campag is better or worse than shimano.

I am currently using 50/34 and 11-28. What is the difference in campag 50/34 12-29?

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c50jim
Posts: 1015
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2006 4:42 am
Location: Calgary

by c50jim

I have Campy on all 10 of my bikes. My sons have it on their road bikes as well.

If you're happy with Shimano, there's really no great reason to change. Campy chains and cassettes might last a bit longer and I prefer its shifters with the button and fixed brake lever. Chorus 11 is working great on three of my bikes and is almost the same as Record and Super Record, just slightly heavier.

I don't understand your question re 11-28 and 12-29. Campy does also have an 11-29 that would be closer to the 11-28 except you'd have 26-29 as your two lowest gears instead of 25-28. 12-29 gives you a 16.

jimborello
Posts: 283
Joined: Sun May 31, 2009 5:07 am

by jimborello

Damn reaally 10 bikes??? Wow you are my hero jaja I have 6 and Im sure Ill get kicked out of the house if I buy another one.

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WMW
in the industry
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Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2012 2:59 pm
Location: Ruidoso, NM

by WMW

One thing to note is that you can run S11 cassettes, chains, and wheels with a C11 drivetrain. Much cheaper.

I like Campy shifters. Got around 35k miles on some Chorus 11 and they are flawless.

Another thing to note is that Campy changed the geometry on Chorus and Record derailleurs and shifters for 2015 and you can't mix them with earlier versions.
formerly rruff...

graeme_f_k
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by graeme_f_k

c50jim wrote:
I don't understand your question re 11-28 and 12-29. Campy does also have an 11-29 that would be closer to the 11-28 except you'd have 26-29 as your two lowest gears instead of 25-28. 12-29 gives you a 16.


Not sure if CRC have the bigger discount on 2014 or 2015 Chorus ...

11-29 is only recommended for 2015 11s CH through SR though.

It might be worth saying, esp as readers of this thread might be looking at it, that 11-29 *may* work on 2014 on some rear hangers / rear triangle designs but depending on the frame, there may be issues around top jockey / biggest sprocket clearance ... and if the hanger is long enough with a 2014 RD to allow the top jockey to clear the 29 with chain length set for an 11, there may be issues with shift accuracy in the middle of the cassette due to the difference in the way that 2014 & 2015 RDs pulls the chain around the cassette. We played with it a bit in-house on a couple of frames (both 55 cm, bang in the middle of the frame specification ranges for angles etc, so nothing oddball) so that we could advise from experience & it could be made "meh, it's OK" but not "Yes! Perfect!" ... depends a bit on expectations, I suppose.
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audiojan
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Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:38 pm
Location: New Hampshire

by audiojan

We have 16 bikes between myself and my wife… All but one has Campy on it (my BMC TMR01 has Di2 since it has the integration for it). Wouldn't switch it out for the world! My wife has two bikes with 52-36 with 12-29 cassettes and I have two bikes with 50-36 Q-rings with 12-29 cassettes. Around where we live, we truly need that bailout gear! Climbs topping 25+% is just plain painful… :-)
"Suddenly the thought struck me; my floor is someone elses ceiling" - Nils Ferlin

Geoff
Posts: 5395
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2003 2:25 am
Location: Canada

by Geoff

I am the first to say that I prefer Campagnolo, but I also have to say that Shimano Di2 is really good. Fortunately, Casmpagnolo EPS is really good, too (I personally think it is better than Di2, save for the battery). The Campagnolo mechanical groups are better than Shimano mechanical groups, in my opinion. While they may be down in pure power, I really like the modulation that you get with Campagnolo.

BlackMadone
Posts: 234
Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 6:12 pm

by BlackMadone

I moved from Shimano Ultegra/DA to Campag Record and the difference between the systems are startling! They work completely differently and both have their positives and negatives. That being said I would make the change to Campag again without question. I'm running 53-34 and 28-11 but we don't have have any mountains so I'm to change it to a 53-39 11-23.

Herb5998
Posts: 327
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 12:24 am

by Herb5998

Currently running 52/36 with multiple cassettes, but my best all around wheels are using an 11-29, great ratios, plenty of bail out gears and smooth shifting


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RussellS
Posts: 916
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 1:31 am

by RussellS

Shimano cassettes have 32 large cogs. Campagnolo has 29 large cog. May or may not be important to you. I have 9 and 10 Campagnolo components and Shimano 10 components. Mechanical. All work very well. Switch amongst the various shifting systems frequently. Never a problem. Also have a Shimano 10 electronic bike. Its a little different, but not much.

AJS914
Posts: 5392
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:52 pm

by AJS914

I'm a Campy guy and have upgraded everything to 11 speed and sold off all my 9/10s stuff. I like the ergonomics of the 11s hoods better. The extra gear is a minor bonus. Shimano or Sram work fine. It's really a preference thing IMO.

I run a 12-27 or 12-29 and have a 50/34 on one bike and a 52/36 on the other. 50-12 is fine for me. I don't need to pedals at 50mph down hills anymore.

I just started using the 12-29. It's nice to have the extra two teeth in the back when doing lots of climbing and the grade kicks up. I really try to keep the cadence up between 85-95rpms which, of course, is a big change from when I started cycling and we rode up everything in a 42x23 and then later a 39x25. Higher rpms keep me fresher and saves my back.

baldeagle
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 11:40 pm

by baldeagle

At the minute I use 50/34 11-28. I use the lowest gear a lot when climbing as I prefer to try and spin on climbs. But then I also spin out on descents when in the highest gear! Not sure what the best gear would be. I am nearly convinced that I will be changing to Campag. The next question will be Chorus or spend the extra and go for SR.

AJS914
Posts: 5392
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:52 pm

by AJS914

Chorus - best bang for the buck - almost identical functionality. Most of the weight savings is in the ti cassette (2 ounces) and crankset (3 ounces). The three ounces less of the crank costs $300 extra. You do get ceramic bearings but you can get aftermarket ones for $50. Saving the 2 ounces on the cassette costs an extra $200. The whole SR group costs about $900 more. I say put that money towards wheels or other weight weenie parts.

benzebub
Posts: 354
Joined: Thu May 07, 2015 1:24 pm

by benzebub

I "switched" (still have Shimano on my back up bike) from Shimano to Campagnolo a couple of months ago.
I really like it (2015 Chorus), shifts are clean and crisp and I like the ergopower hoods.
you won't regret going to campa

But, in the end, all of the higher end groupsets (ultegra/DA, chorus/record/SR) these days perform really really good and I don't think you'll get performance gains choosing one or the other. It all comes down to looks and ergonomics (fit of the hoods, lever action,..), IMHO.
But I could be wrong

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MJB
Posts: 173
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:17 am
Location: bottom edge of Australia

by MJB

Any of the contemporary mid to high end Shimano or Campagnolo groupsets will perform smoothly and quietly over a long period of time if they are well tuned and more importantly kept clean and lubed.

I have ridden Shimano Dura Ace 7900 and Ultegra 6700 and now run 2 x Athena 11 bikes as well as a Record 11 bike and a Super Record 11 bike. All of these sets perform well. I admit to adoring Campagnolo, the thumb shifter is a deal breaker for my battered hands, but the Ultegra 6700 brakes were the most powerful with best modulation from my experience.

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