I’m shopping around for a new road bike and one of the shortlist has a Campag Veloce group set. Giving it a spin on the turbo trainer in the shop I noticed the shifting was quite brutal, almost agricultural. Is this just the way Campag stuff is? Granted it may not have been set up perfectly, but even my barely serviced 12 year old Shimano STIs are smoother.

An old saying is that Shimano wears out and Campag wears in! May have true once, don’t know now. I like my Campag on the road bike though. Mostly Centaur with some Record carbon cranks I got half price – all Centaur on winter bike.

One man’s ‘agricultural’ is another man’s ‘positive’ 😉

But sounds maybe badly set up to me.

Campag is a bit clunkier shifting IME.

“Campag wears in” is utter BS.

Campag has always had a more postive action than Shimano. However it sounds like it was badly set up. It should be smooth after a few miles.

I felt like I had to back off for the gears to change. I’m sure a lot of it was set-up, but as I alluded to in the first post, my current road bike has old and fairly-bottom-of-the-range STIs that have had minimal servicing and just seem loads smoother. The Campags felt more like my mountain bike after a winter of Peak District grit had got inside the cables. Not sure I want a road bike with equally fettle-some gears. Shame, ‘cos it’s a lovely bike.

Definitely shouldn’t be as rough as that. It isn’t as smooth as Shimano, but its still very fast, and tbh, I prefer the more positive feel.

It should be smooth. I have a bike with 12yr old Chorus9 spd, 6yr old Record 10spd and a bike with Record 11spd. They all shift beautifully. It’s probably the way it’s been set up.

Given a choice I’d go low end Shimano over low-end Campag any day of the week. I’ve got Veloce on the training bike and its a bit…er..rough to say the least. It also needs a lot of maintenance to keep it running smoothly. I’ve got the new 105 on another bike and that doesn’t need nearly as much fettling.

Top end Campag is a thing of beauty, Chorus upwards is spot on. The cheaper stuff I’d avoid if at all possible.

🙁
Not what I wanted to hear. The one thing I love about riding my road bike is the lack of fettling I have to do

I have a mix of Veloce and Centaur on my cross bike – previous owner built it that way. I find the “positive” shifting action really encouraging when it’s covered in mud in some muddy park in November.

Has made me contemplate moving away from the light action of my Ultegra equipped road bike….

I was a bit worried when I bought my Wilier due to the Campag Athena groupset, as I’ve always used Shimano in the past. The Campag is very “positive” and sometimes I miss the silky smooth Shimano changes but I can live with it.

I’m not convinced silky smooth and positive are mutually exclusive. I can’t help thinking “positive” is a euphemism for “clunky”. I’ve never found Shimano STIs to be unpositive but they sure were smooth.

I think I’m just looking/finding reasons for choosing one bike over another

I’m not convinced silky smooth and positive are mutually exclusive. I can’t help thinking “positive” is a euphemism for “clunky”. I’ve never found Shimano STIs to be unpositive but they sure were smooth.

It’s how Campag users attempt to justify their purchase while secretly wishing they’d bought Shimano. 😉
My Dura Ace is extremely positive, it’s also virtually silent and perfectly smooth.

Campag users

attempt to justify their purchase

?? Open your eyes and look at the Campag parts. Bike art. 😀

Bike art

I know some roadies like to hang their pride and joy on the wall, but mine’s for riding 😉

Not what I wanted to hear. The one thing I love about riding my road bike is the lack of fettling I have to do

My 9 speed Campag Veloce is a winter bike that hasn’t been touched in terms of maintenance for a few years now. Ridden in all kinds of weather, never had an issue.

Admittedly the thumb shift down a ring is a bit KER-LUNK but never misses a beat. The newer stuff has a lighter click to the shifters, so much so that I think they went a bit too far a year or two ago and there was a lot of complaints.

Old school Campag Ergo is great because it’s still serviceable, the newer style is throwaway like Shimano and SRAM if it breaks badly. And you get double and triple compatibility in one shifter with the ability to trim the front mech. Newer versions might be ‘better’ but it’ll be a while before I have to worry about that.

Somtimes I do wonder about my memory. Doh. I have a 9spd Centaur winter road bike that has had no maintance apart from a new chain/cassette over the last two winters. I shifts very well.

Maybe I’ve just tried to blank it from my mind 😳

Low end campag is way better than low end Shimano IMO less maintenance and lasts much longer. Its much less fussy about cable changing, you can trim front mech and multiple shifting.

However the last groupset I bought was when they were all Ultra Torque and lower end is something else now.

Asking this kind of question on Interwebz will only lead to conflicting answers and trolling…

I run veloce on my road bike. It is hassle free so that comment about it needing more mainanence is not my experience but it maybe someone elses. Campy veloce shifting is smooth when riding. The shifter is abit ker cluink but you get used to that. You do however get the lovely campag levers which are so easy to use and comfortable.

The power torque BB’s/cranks work just as well as ultra torque. The only thing is you need a spoecial crank puller too to get the L/H crank arm of. The bearing puller tool is aslo campag specific. I have bough the Cyclus tools and they are not cheap. Shimano system is better in this respect but that is the only thing I can find in it favour but I am a biased campophile. You will have to try it and see for yourself as everyones opinions are biased in some way or form.

Also campag have as new triple chainset in veloce if that’s your thing.

I have campag ‘mirage’ which I think is their lowest group set.
I bought the bike second hand a year ago and it is fantastic. Never even had to adjust. Seems to be much more reliable than my mates 105 and ultegra. Gear changes are super sharp, and the brakes very strong.
Let’s face it, ‘campagnolo’ sounds much nicer than ‘shimano’, and the logo is a work of art.

It also needs a lot of maintenance to keep it running smoothly.

Rubbish, perhaps you should learn to set it up properly, I only have to tinker with mine if i change cables. And that’s veloce on one bike and super record on another!