I've got Campy on two bikes, one Record and one Chorus gruppo. I honestly feel like the Chorus performs a little better than the Record. I was wondering if this could be because, as far as I know, the Chorus FD is steel and the Record is Titanium. I know there are those that ride Force FD's on Red gruppo's for this reason. Could the same be true here?

Other differences in the bikes are that the Record is on a bike with internal cable routing and has a Super Record cassette, while the Chorus is externally routed with a Chorus cassette.

Both bikes are always professionally tuned.

Any thoughts?

FYI - Record is alu and carbon cage. Chorus is an all alu cage. SR is same as Record except for 2 Ti bolts.

I don't notice a difference and I have bikes with both. But in the long run the Chorus is cheaper to replace when the day comes that the alu cage surfaces (inner face of the inner cage) wear down quite a bit......but that said I've not seen the wear to be all that bad either.

What you feel might also be subtle differences in how the ders are positioned differently (height and rotational postion)....or the ders are from differenct model years.....as they made a change a couple of years ago with the inner linkage to stiffen things up.

Hi,

How on earth are you going to feel the difference between two FDs? They either work or don't or one of them is not set up correctly.
That, or the problem is stemming from something else entirely.

Ciao,

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Yes you can use chorus fd on record gruppo. As a matter of fact, many pro teams using campy setup their bikes like that. The reason is most likely for durability reasons. Alu cage is more durable

than carbon cage. Less likely for the cage to snap if there is a crash, etc...

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Wasn't suggesting that I could tell a difference in the two. Just wondering if one having more flex than the other could be a contributing factor.

Yes, do it. I have on all my bikes for the last 5+ years. 9speed, 10speed and 11speed, no problems ...

Well, I had SR, R and now ride Chorus on my Canyon and like the Chorus group the best of all mentioned before. Especially the Chorus shift lever perform much better with a more positive feel/ click during shifting in my opinion. Hey, that's just what I think, so please don't get to exited about it!
Cheers

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I also mix and match. As stuff has worn out or broken through crashes I've replaced it with either spare bits I've had knocking around or what seemed the most sensible or cost-effective option at the time. The current result is that I have Chorus FD's on two bikes - one is a Record/Chorus mix and the other is more of a Record/Chorus/Centaur mix!

Cant say I've ever noticed a difference between the various component levels above that which comes with age and wear: a brand new chorus drive train feels crisper than a 5 year old record setup, etc. It could be that if you feel there's a difference between a Chorus and Record fd, it could well be to do with that specific chorus fd being in better condition in some way than that specific record fd.


jon

OP, what year is the chorus and record? Campag has made some improvements since the inception of 11 speed. The original 11 speed stuff had a very soft/mushy feel, and it was improved to a more positive (ala 10 speed) feel over the last couple of years. You are right, when 11 speed first came out some pros used chorus fd because it was stiffer so it shifted better. Now shifting is improved so you don't see that much.
With regard to internal cabling, I did some work with a company that sponsored a couple of second tier belgian pro teams, and when the riders used a frame model that came with a choice of internal or external cables, they all chose external, due to etter shifting.

Some of the earlier R & SR FD cages had plastic links at the bottom of the cages that snapped or disengaged from the connection to the outer cage at the bottom tip. The original SR mech I had from the first SR line broke within about 1k kms.

Chorus FD has metal running from the outer cage across to the inner cage, with a screw fixing. Its more robust - so in a certain way, its a better unit.

Later R / SR cages seem better & the link piece perhaps a little more robust (I've had 3nr break, but haven't broken the latest most recent one which has done about I'd estimate 8k kms without problem).

FWIW the original SR FD I had from sometime around late '09 completely failed last year with the outer face plate snapping in half on a upshift (potentially exacerbated by 3x bottom link pieces failing). The break should be covered by warranty, but I would personally struggle to justify buying the SR FD again when C can be had for a much lower price & given the limited £/gramme difference. That FD had seen about 30k kms of use across rolling terrain, so it might be that it had just had its day.

Both gruppos are current models. Installed in the last six months.

Interestingly, I've had different models of Ultegra and Dura Ace on the Shimano side. But the most reliable shifting I think I may have ever had was an old 105 group. Never hiccuped or missed a beat.