Okay, well here's what I've noticed:

*Campy riders LOVE Campy and HATE Shimano. Shimano riders don't really care that much.

*Shimano is over-engineered. They achieve incredibly smooth shifting through the use of eleventy million springs and what not in their shifters. Complex systems will have complex failures, so when Shimano craps out, it really craps out. However, Shimano has sort of that high-tech-trumps-all, new school consumerist attitude, where you shouldn't expect stuff to last many years since by then "vast improvements" will have been made and you'll want to upgrade.

*Campy is under-engineered. It's noisy as hell and when you shift, it's a bunch of crunchy ratchets and levers. The shifting is not "smooth." But it has a very solid feeling to it. Centaur braking feels better than Dura Ace, IMO. And Because Campy is a bit more minimalist, it is rebuildable, albeit at a ridiculous price. What's really cool is their website has plenty of tech advice for using their products, whereas Shimano gives you the ol' "see your local dealer" hook.

*Shimano has a better downshift, Campy has a better upshift. The ratchet button is awesome in a sprint.

*Campy sucks for small hands. Meanwhile, Shimano has gone to these bizarre knob-hoods that are supposed to be super ergonomic, but every time I lay my hands on them it just feels totally uncomfortable.

*SRAM Force seems like a sort of hyrbid. It has Shimano's ergonomics and squishy braking with a really cool, but strange shifting mechanism, all at a ridiculous Record Carbon price.

I still ride some Campy stuff that I bought in the 80's. I've had to replace my Shimano derailleur 3 times in the last 5 years and the shifters twice. Yet I also broke a Campy pedal spindle and bent a Campy crankarm just from my usual vigorous workouts during my heyday in the 80's. Now I'll just buy what I can afford, although Campy stuff looks sweet.

Campy rules 8)

besides I hate the double lever thing with Shimano and the dam cables hanging all over the place drives me nuts. Campy needs a bit more attention on setup but I find it's well worth it. I'd rather run Centaur than Dura Ace any day. especially on a race bike that will get used and abused...

But if it's a Sunday pimp ride, Record all the way, there is no compairison, well, ok.... Campy needs to update the crankset but hey you can't rush perfection :wink: That's what FSA is good for huh?

justin wrote:Just throwing it out there. I was a mechanic before I was a racer, so I have my own opinions, but I want to hear what others think...

Campy, for the levers. You can be all wrapped out in a sprint and nip that upshift button, you can't really do that with Shimano. Plus I prefer the way the brake levers track only front-back with no side-side pivot, which feels slop-slop to me.

Everything else is probably a wash. There is this thing about being able to rebuild campy but for the price of some of those replacement parts you're better off buying new on a last-year's closeout.

R4L

I think you need to spark the conversation by saying something like "Campy sucks, Shimano rules." Maybe then someone will care...

Yeah, I was expecting it to-- but nobody cares.

Meh.

This thread is going to get long and painful