I agree everyone should use whatever he likes. For me it is:

Mechanical Campagnolo Record or SR only for Italian bikes. 1. Campy 2. Shimano 3. Sram for French/Belgian/German etc. bikes.
1. Sram 2.Shimano 3. Campy for US bikes.
1. Shimano 2. Sram 3. Campy for far east bikes.

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Wilier Cento Uno
Colnago Master X-light
Wilier 18carati

If would get a full setup right now, I think it would be Campy Record EPS.... the Super Record EPS would be nice, but the price difference is too great to justify. The real bummer is the rumors that the Athena EPS will not be compatible with the Record EPS (different wiring), a combination of those two would make it a bit more affordable

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"Suddenly the thought struck me; my floor is someone elses ceiling" - Nils Ferlin

Record with ceramics and the Ti spindle on the cranks.

Or Di2

and you were going so well apart from the last two words!

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Wiliers: Cento Uno; Cento SLR; Imperiale, Zero 7 (all Super Record 11sp naturally)

I was in Eurobike recently and tried Di2 in both flavors DA and Ultegra, later a SR and Athena EPS.

Moneywise I fell in love with Athena, exactly same shifting as SR but much cheaper, same price level as Ultegra.
If money no object of course SR EPS.

Tried mechanical too.. Shimano or Campagnolo, your taste.

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Experimental Prototype

campy mechanical is my choice. anything chorus and up.

I used to ride shimano (6500,7700,7800) and its "too smooth" shifting for me. i like the "Clunk" when i shift (which is why i run SRAM on the mtb).


Oren.

Campy Chorus, the do it all, durability, style and soul king; with nods to R and Super R if I wasn't a tubsie.

Dura Ace 7800. Best group ever (with the exception of the boat anchor pedals.)

Reports are that 9000 is up to par, but I'm yet to ride it.

Super Record (mechanical) - until EPS has ironed out all the glitches - then Super Record EPS

I did a new build this summer and went with D-A 7900. I wanted to do Campy S-R, but could not get 180mm cranks together with a compact 34/50 rings. So, D-A was my only option with that combo.

Had I known Campy was releasing the 52/36 180mm I would have waited for them. I also would have considered SRAM Red, but no 180mm cranks.

My assumption is the shifting performance on all the groups from 105 to S-R are all "good enough." So the choice really comes down to weight, cost, aesthetics and compatability with wheels you already have.

I was going w/ DA Di2 for my next build until I test rode DA 9000 mechanical. DA 9000's front shifting is 95% as good as 9070's but w/ more feedback. The rear shifts faster and again w/ more feedback. Now I'm a bit confused because 9000 mechanical is $2k cheaper and simpler/cheaper to maintain. However 9070 has the ultimate bling factor. I suppose I have couple more months to think over.

I personally could not go past the new SRAM Red because it looks so good and I still think there is a huge appeal of mechanical groups. I'm a big sucker for ceramic bearings and Red has them throughout the whole group. SRAM has done a fantastic job here with the front derallier and tidying up previous gripes with their Yaw concept. Also, with it being so quiet and efficient, I really cannot see the merits of electronic shifting. Not to mention its so fantastically light, I cant see why we would fork over the huge premium for a little bit of wiring. However, I have only ridden the Ultegra Di2. I say this as a disclaimer so I don't set all the diehard electronic gearing fans off.

Well said sir. Campy do rather splendid ceramics too in their R and SR, so I migrated a little SR ceramic to my Chorus. I've got no bones with Sram, prefer em to DA.

swapped my Super record jockey wheels (which are ceramic) for some Token ceramics - and saved 8g!

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Wiliers: Cento Uno; Cento SLR; Imperiale, Zero 7 (all Super Record 11sp naturally)

I'm so glad you said that because I am quite a Campagnolo fan and I am well aware of the ceramic bearings and to be honest it would be my first choice for a build. I believe that as a build, it is very rewarding as it has quite a mechanical feel which I believe would be a constant reminder that the Italian craftsmanship residing between your legs was in part built by you. I see it as quite romantic.

Sorry, I didn't know how to use the quote function.