How do they compare? What’s the lineup?

y’know like XTR -> XT -> SLX -> LX -> Deore.

How does this work in the roady world? There seems to be soooo many chainsets made by FSA alone!

For Shimano it is…
Dura ace|Ultegra (previously Ultegra SL|Ultegra)|105|Tiagra|Sora

well there are 3 manufacturers for a start, sram, campy and then Shimano

Shimano goes something like this dura ace, ultegra, 105, Tiagra, sora
sram is red, force rival
and campag is for retro bikers only. not worth worrying about

and then you get components that only have serial numbers and don’t really fit into the ranges.

whats wrong with campag? I mean, I’ve never used it, only shimano stuff, but I’ve just ordered a bike with it on – have I made a terrible error?

There’s nothing wrong with Campag, just that for some people because Lance Armstrong has never used it, therefore it must be rubbish.

XTR = DuraAce = The dogs, just gotta have it, don’t need it, wins races.
XT = Ultegra = Perfectly fine, wins races.
LX = 105 = Perfectly fine if you don’t wanna spend much, wins races.

Each one is marginally heavier that the other.

Campag is only for special people, and should only be fitted to an Italian bike.

SB 🙂

Campag goes something like Xenon – Mirage – Veloce – Centaur – Record – Chorus (bottom to top)

I have a bike with each – and I quite like Campag, and at the moment it is quite competitive price wise with equivalent Shimano. I found it easier to start with Campag as I found the thumb lever action closer to using MTB shifters than the Shimano levers. Horses for courses.

(None of my bikes are Italian, btw)

chorus is below record. we have super record now as well with 11 speeds!!

its all gone a bit spinal tap has campy

Shimano is Dura ace,Ultegra SL ,Ultegra,105,Tiagra,sora then some other basic shite thats not worth bothering with.

Campag goes something like Xenon – Mirage – Veloce – Centaur – Record – Chorus (bottom to top)

It’s actually more like (top – bottom)…
(11 speed)
Super record
Record
Chorus
Athena carbon
Athena alloy
(10 speed)
Centaur Carbon
Centaur Alloy
Veloce
Mirage
(9 speed)
Xenon

Edit : And compared to Shimano the shifting is somewhat agricultural. Some people prefer it that way for some reason 🙂

Daffy the majority here are just taking the piss out of you. Eg. campag for italian bikes, campag for retro bikers campag shifting is agricultural, (truly a load of shit) etc.The truth is there is now very little difference between manufacturers equivilant groupsets, it comes down to personal choice and what sort of discount you can achieve.Oh and calling campagnolo campy indicates your either american or some no nothing dipstick ( probably same thing really).

Its also considered bad form to mix components from different levels within the product range. OK to use a third party chainset and you may get away with throwing on some Zero Gravity carbon brakes (if you have an extra £850 going spare) but beyond that it is heresy 😆

I’m considering my first foray into road biking, but I have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about.

based on your last statement go shimano or SRAM, Planet X or Boardman

I have full dura ace on my current bike but much prefer campag ergopower levers to shimano stis. People seems scared of campag as it seems to change more often and one years stuff might not be compatible with the next. I welcome the campag hate as in the most part its completely unjustified and hopefully next time when im looking for a used road bike the italian bits will make it cheaper.

Campag hubs , record 8 speed cassette, triple rear mech, ergo levers .
Shimano 105 chainset and front mech. ( burn him) but it’s a cheap old 531 touring bike.
I was told, unsure if true that the campag freehub, had to carry a campg cassette . I do like campags front mech graduations, allows fine tuning . Also there is a similar actuation ratio clash issue between campag and shimano, like SRAM / shimano

I don’t get on with Campag shifters as my hands are big and the shifter gets in the way of my thumb (it sticks out of the side of the hoods). All the reviews I’ve read report absolutely nothing wrong with it.

If you’re just getting into road, as I did this year, it’s unlikely you’ll be buying a bike expensive enough to have SRAM kit on.

I’ve got a Giant Defy which come with a Shimano Tiagra groupset (equal to Deore). I’m quite sure that spending a lot more money on a high-end carbon job with a gucci groupset would make no difference to my riding.

“”I was told, unsure if true that the campag freehub, had to carry a campg cassette””

Yes that’s true – so you can’t swap the wheels between a shamano and campag very easyily, it either requires a non propriatory casette from an obscure manufacrurer or a change of freehub bodies.

I run the old 10 speed record, 10 speed chorus, and 9, 10 speed dura ace, 105 set ups. The campag has more of a definate ‘clunk’ into gear, which i prefer, put nothing shifts as smooth as Dura Ace (best with Dura Ace chain i’ve found).

I prefer the campag thou, and i like the way you can go to higher gear with the thumb clicky thing. Also I find the Campag brakes nicer, although i run the older solid ones on the chorus and i’ve got those Mavic ones on the record, which are ok.

Have to agree thou, shamano on an OLD italian bike is just wrong, like cheddar on spagetti carbonara!

I like cheddar on carbonara.

whats wrong with campag? I mean, I’ve never used it, only shimano stuff, but I’ve just ordered a bike with it on – have I made a terrible error?

it all depends on the lever shape and the thumbshifter. I have to move my hand off the hood slightly to get my thumb on the lever (campag) which i don’t like so use shimano as the hood shape fits my hands better

I hate using campag shifters- that sticky out thumb thing ala sora is just so un-natural to me in anything but pootling along mode… Having said that, their nice broad hand rests are more comfy than shimano…

SRAM is a nice balance of broad hand rests and useable in all hand positions shifters.