New groupset Campagnolo?

[CharlesM]

How is Campagnolo today? I don´t wanna flame war, just asking those, who can compare...guys from my bike shop (they sell Bianchi and do sell Campagnolo) told me that they would not put Campagnolo on their personal bikes. It´s harder to tune and when tuned it lasts less compared to Shimano...they told me they would prefer Shimano 105 to any Campagnolo groupset..

Is Campagnolo front derailleur 100 percent OK with non Campagnolo chainrings or the performance is affected?
Is Campagnolo rear derailleur 100 percent OK with SRAM/Shimano cassette (I already have and my wheels have this rotor) or the performance is affected?

Thanks a lot!

I'm running a red 11 speed cassette on Campy Potenza right now... It's absolutely fine.

I'm running a Power meter with non Campy rings on a bike with a Campy chain and front Der and it's absolutely fine...

And I've got Campy bikes that have been running literally since before SRAM road was born (no slight against SRAM).


In short, I think the guys in your shop need training... again, no slight, but I don't notice a longevity gap between (blanket general terms) "Shimano" and "Campagnolo". There are functional difs that can come down to personal pref, but the rest sounds like trolling... (I will say there are build differences that require some knowledge and Shimano is much more common so gets much more training, but durability difs are pretty small if they exist at all from one part to the next)

[hannawald]

no trolling at all..

I am Sram Force 1 now. But I want to change to 2x11. Force 1 is perfect riding alone, but riding in a group with better guys is sometimes really challenging as I can´t find a proper gear. I was thinking about going electronics, but DI2 is complicated on my bike (I would need to drill my frame) and eTap too expensive. Ultegra is old and I there will be a new edition in half a year. I really like some ideas behind H11 and chorus is visually very nice groupset. I have tried levers and they seem fine. I don´t mind different system - I switched from Shimano to Sram with no problems, I have only one bike. I guess in couple of rides I will be fine.

I am thinking about powermeter and I don´t wanna be stuck to campagnolo buying campagnolo stages. Not many guys riding it here, so it would be hard to sell it and change in the future. I want some neutral brand so I may keep it when changing groupset..(though Campa cranksets are beuatiful..)..and I have a gxp bb installed (small plus for non campa cranks)

I have a SRAM/Shimano rotor, so I would be nice not to buy a new one, it would not be cheap so all extra items counts..

As I am looking for mechanical groupset and I am not able to service my bike, reliability is important to me..that´s why I am asking..Campa is beautiful, I appreciate its history and "soul", but if lacking reliability, it could not be my choice ..

[hannawald]

I just want to exclude a suspicion I have.. I like Alfa Romeo cars. Whenever I go around, my heart is beating. Lots of people say that they are nice but unreliable..if you ask somebody from Alfa Romeo club, a fan with knoledge, they will say that it is not true..you just need to put a proper oil inside, do this and that and in the end you have a reliable car..I mean - Alfa Romeo cars were just more "sensitive"..when you took care, they were ok. If not or you didn´t have the knowledge because you treated them as a family transport vehicle, you had a higher chance something went wrong...(Btw Alfa is much better these days than it used to be)... but is Campa like Alfa and need a special treatment or is more sensitive to something or it is simply the same as sram/shimano, no difference. Just set up properly and ride, keep the chain oily:) ?

[morrisond]

Not sure. These rim pads were for alu... And they were awesome.

If they're significantly better than the old ones they must be incredible. I did thousands of miles on the set that came with my Record brakes about 5 years ago and they still looked brand new when I got rid of that bike. By comparison the SRAM (by Swissstop) black pads that came with the Red brakes on the next bike were less powerful, more spongy, more grabby, more noisy and wore at least 3 or 4 times faster, all on the same set of wheels.

They are...

It's funny but both this launch and the last, despite all the flashy stuff shown costing multiples of multiples more money, pretty much all of the media, regardless of country, were commenting on the rim brake pads...

Godd Rim brakes on Aluminum rims were pretty damn good - Discs weren't really needed on Road Bikes until we all started obsessing about Carbon Rims..

[AJS914]

but is Campa like Alfa and need a special treatment or is more sensitive to something or it is simply the same as sram/shimano, no difference. Just set up properly and ride, keep the chain oily:) ?

It's not like an old Alfa. Yes, like you said, set up properly and ride. I have Chorus and can't remember the last time I had to adjust my cable tension.

[userfriendly]

How is Campagnolo today? I don´t wanna flame war, just asking those, who can compare...guys from my bike shop (they sell Bianchi and do sell Campagnolo) told me that they would not put Campagnolo on their personal bikes. It´s harder to tune and when tuned it lasts less compared to Shimano...they told me they would prefer Shimano 105 to any Campagnolo groupset..

Sounds like a load of unsubstantiated pish / bias. I have the exact opposite experience, but I wouldn't go round saying Shimano needs more tuning. I'm just more familiar with Campag.

Is Campagnolo front derailleur 100 percent OK with non Campagnolo chainrings or the performance is affected?
Is Campagnolo rear derailleur 100 percent OK with SRAM/Shimano cassette (I already have and my wheels have this rotor) or the performance is affected?

Can't tell you about the chainrings, but I've been using both mechanical and electronic Campagnolo rear derailleurs with Shimano 11-speed cassettes and it works perfectly fine.

[morrisond]

I'm running EPS with an SiSL2 Crank and KMC Chain - works perfect.

[tommasini]

How is Campagnolo today? I don´t wanna flame war, just asking those, who can compare...guys from my bike shop (they sell Bianchi and do sell Campagnolo) told me that they would not put Campagnolo on their personal bikes. It´s harder to tune and when tuned it lasts less compared to Shimano...they told me they would prefer Shimano 105 to any Campagnolo groupset..

Is Campagnolo front derailleur 100 percent OK with non Campagnolo chainrings or the performance is affected?
Is Campagnolo rear derailleur 100 percent OK with SRAM/Shimano cassette (I already have and my wheels have this rotor) or the performance is affected?

Thanks a lot!

Then the shop guys are missing some easy basics. Whenever I build a campy bike (2 of my own just recently) it gets the housing ends ground square, then it goes out for a ride to fine tune the cable tension......after that nothing needs touched for the 3 or so years until a rear cable might start to fray and need to be replaced.....longer duration for a front. This is for bikes both getting about 5K miles per year - I rotate between 2 of them.

[morrisond]

They can find all they need on Youtube - if you are even so-so with wrenches it's all there....The parts were designed so someone with almost zero Education or Mechanical knowledge making minimum wage can install them properly.

They just don't want to put the effort in to learn something different - but then again they are spinning wrenches in a bike shop - which may not be true for all Bicycle Mechanics but in my experience it's true for the vast majority and why I watch Youtube and do almost all my own stuff.

[russianbear]

Sounds like the guys at your shop aren't good mechanics or haven't read directions/been trained. The only time i need to fiddle with my SR mech set up is after I rerun all the cables or change something out like a different wheel or cassette. Even then it's not necessary half the time.

[AJS914]

I'll say it again, my biggest issue with getting 11 speed setup right was internal handlebar routing. I had these Zipp Vuka Sprint bars which were almost impossible to route the cables through. I think they make the setup sloppy. Honestly, I don't think I'll ever use internal routing again. I have no problem with the cables taped under the bars.

[hannawald]

Thanks everybody, it seems you all are satisfied with Campagnolo. So I will wait for Chorus H11:) It should be available soon (in May) so I hope eshops will list it soon so we know real pricing.

[leej88]

How is Campagnolo today? I don´t wanna flame war, just asking those, who can compare...guys from my bike shop (they sell Bianchi and do sell Campagnolo) told me that they would not put Campagnolo on their personal bikes. It´s harder to tune and when tuned it lasts less compared to Shimano...they told me they would prefer Shimano 105 to any Campagnolo groupset..

Sounds like a load of unsubstantiated pish / bias. I have the exact opposite experience, but I wouldn't go round saying Shimano needs more tuning. I'm just more familiar with Campag.

Is Campagnolo front derailleur 100 percent OK with non Campagnolo chainrings or the performance is affected?
Is Campagnolo rear derailleur 100 percent OK with SRAM/Shimano cassette (I already have and my wheels have this rotor) or the performance is affected?

Can't tell you about the chainrings, but I've been using both mechanical and electronic Campagnolo rear derailleurs with Shimano 11-speed cassettes and it works perfectly fine.

That's what I get all the time when I'm out on group rides.

There's always that special someone who'll roll along and say how unreliable Campagnolo is and how expensive it is etc...

Best way to go about that is to smile and agree with them.

[Hawkwood]

How is Campagnolo today? I don´t wanna flame war, just asking those, who can compare...guys from my bike shop (they sell Bianchi and do sell Campagnolo) told me that they would not put Campagnolo on their personal bikes. It´s harder to tune and when tuned it lasts less compared to Shimano...they told me they would prefer Shimano 105 to any Campagnolo groupset..

Sounds like a load of unsubstantiated pish / bias. I have the exact opposite experience, but I wouldn't go round saying Shimano needs more tuning. I'm just more familiar with Campag.

Is Campagnolo front derailleur 100 percent OK with non Campagnolo chainrings or the performance is affected?
Is Campagnolo rear derailleur 100 percent OK with SRAM/Shimano cassette (I already have and my wheels have this rotor) or the performance is affected?

Can't tell you about the chainrings, but I've been using both mechanical and electronic Campagnolo rear derailleurs with Shimano 11-speed cassettes and it works perfectly fine.

That's what I get all the time when I'm out on group rides.

There's always that special someone who'll roll along and say how unreliable Campagnolo is and how expensive it is etc...

Best way to go about that is to smile and agree with them.

Yes I must be doing something wrong, from Chorus 9 to the present day I've never had any problems setting up and running Campag, and it hardly ever needs retuning once set up. It's also easy to sell online for good prices when I get round to upgrading/messing about with my bike. I've commonly run mixes of Centaur, Athena, Chorus and Record with no problems, and my present set-up is Chorus ergopower levers, Chorus chainset, and Athena front and read derailleurs, and this works a treat.

[Seedster]

Your mechanics dislike for Campagnolo is probably correlated with their lack of familiarity with the groupsets.

My mechanical groupset works extremely well and I love EPS as well.