[Closed] Campagnolo owners

I run Campag on my road bikes and Shimano/SRAM on MTB. You can use 12sp chains from KMC etc on Campag and other consumables you can get from other manufacturers, the exceptions really being newer 12sp Cassette and electronic shifting (very expensive parts with campag). Also your wheel choice may be more limited. Road bike stuff doesn't wear out like MTB and I like the aesthetics/performance of campag.

Got a (now oldish) Super Record groupset on my summer roadbike. Ergonomically, I far prefer it to Shimano - hoods are slimmer and brakelevers that don't try and move sideways when you attempt to grab them are ace.

The shift is quite clunky/agricultural compared to my 105/ultegra/disc winter bike, but the brakes are brilliant- way more modulation than the RS 685 discs, and properly powerful if you pull the
lever hard.

There's an old trope that "Campag wears in, Shimano wears out". Not sure how true it still is, but I got a solid 10 years out of my previous 10S Record group, which I bought second hand - needed an ergopower rebuild, but the parts are available for thet.

The only issue I've had is that the BB goes squeaky about once a year - not a difficult job to sort, but mildly annoying

Looks nicer too (IMO), which is vital of course!

I've been running Chorus 11 on my ti road bike since 2009. I really like the shape of the hoods and the positive feel to the shifts, even if they aren't quite as slick as the Shimano equivalent.

The 'only' issues I've had were with the cranks - the non-driveside one fell off when the crank axle snapped due to a crack, which I think propagated from the Hirsch joint, which seems like a really bad idea and can also cause issues with sideways play as the only mechanism to stop this is a wavy washer. I replaced them with a set of Dura Ace, so now have Shimano cranks and Campag everything else. Not as pretty as the original carbon cranks, but arguably less likely to smap, touch wood.

The only other issue I had was when the return spring failed on one of the shifters. I bodged it temporarily with a ring of inner tube, but was able to replace the mechanism without swapping the entire lever.

I sometimes use a Shimano 11-speed cassette on a Shimano freehub - spare wheelset - and that works fine too, so you're not always 100% 'locked into' Campag even if you do go that way.

If you ride an Italian bike, of course, it's compulsory and good for the soul 😉

Yup until 3 years ago I was exclusively Campagnolo. I've gone eTap now on best bike.
I have 2005/6 Record/ Chorus 10spd on my cx bikes and it's been very reliable. Both groups came off road bikes that had done ten to twenty thousand miles and with new hockey wheels and rings has been very reliable since.
The Ultra Torque chainsets have (for me) been reliable and changing the bearings is quite easy.

I have 11 speed Record on my summer bike and love it 🙂

I had centaur on my old bike with bb7 btakes, and really miss it. Shimano stuff is nice, but the campag hoods and shifters feel nicer and the whole set-up is very consistent and positive feeling.

The updated 11 speed Chorus/Record/SR stuff they released in 2015 is the peak; see if you can find some of that discounted, or secondhand? It works almost perfectly with Shimano cassettes as well.

The 12 speed stuff is supposed to be functionally even better, but from what I've seen, the quality has gone down slightly e.g. Chorus no longer has carbon parts on the shifters or mechs.

I run full Potenza on my road bike. My chain, however, is now KMC, and my current cassette is a Miche as it had the range I wanted.

I don’t know about MTBs, but if you’re talking road, then Campag is your friend!

12 speed Chorus is mostly carbon but most "forged" rather than the "weave" of earlier Chorus/Record. 12 speed does work very well but like most 12 speed stuff it needs careful setting up

I have Record 10 speed and it's perfect. The only thing I've needed to do is change cables (inners and outers) after a few years. I changed cassette and chain for a Chorus wider ratio and that works perfectly too, although because each cog has 10S stamped on it made me think I'd been sent a Shimano 105 one.

A riding buddy has EPS on his Pinarello and that's perfect too. Although he did mess it up once by pressing the adjusters while riding along resulting in dodgy shifts and another time his battery conked out about 30 miles from home because he didn't know he needed to recharge it every year or so! At least it places itself into a low gear as a dying breath.

Thanks for your input. All very positive then.

Thanks for your input. All very positive then.

Well yeah, apart from my cranks breaking in half I guess 🙂

Oh yeah, I seemed to have glossed over that 😂

Chorus and above looks good. I've used some of the lower end stuff and it isn't up to 105/ultegra standard.

+1 for campag rim brakes, they're SO good (at least mine are)
My road bike and my wife's road bike have the same rims, but her brakes are shimano and a far less pleasant to use than my campagnolo setup, in term of feel, modulation, and plain stopping power.

I have 11 speed super record and 10 speed record (and Shimano). I prefer campagnolo. The ergonomics are better, you can do multiple shifts in either direction and it appears to be better made. The shift is more clunky than others but in a solid and reassuring way in my opinion. Looks are subjective but I like it. Spares seem to be available generally as are campagnolo service centres.

I’ve had a Veloce Groupset on my Enigma since 2012. It’s nice, the brakes are excellent but I can’t say I’ve noticed much difference to other brands. Shimano DI2 is something else though...

Campag Super Record on the good bike and Campag Veloce on the work bike

Campag is nice, a little clunky but feels solid, brake lever ergonomics are great and they are my favourite brake lever shape

Over the years Ive had Campag, Shimano and Sram road groupsets and Campag comes out near the top for me

The best groupsets Ive currently got are in this order

Shimano Dura Ace & Ultegra DI2 (lovely shifting, no need to trim front mech)

Campag Super record (great brake lever shape, can shift down 3 cogs in one press of the thumb shifter)

Sram Rival (double tap feels nice, solid shifter lever feel)

Campag Veloce (same as the super record)

Shimano Ultegra & 105 mechanical shifting (crap brake lever shape, hate having to shift the whole brake lever to change gear, especially when also braking to come to a stop)