# Difference between Centaur and Veloce Cassette?



## DaveG (Feb 4, 2004)

Can anyone describe the difference between a Campy Cenatur and Veloce 10 speed cassette (besides about 60 bucks). Why is the Centaur cassette so much more expensive? Its probably about time to replace my existing Centaur cassette, but being cheap I am not excited about dropping >$100 for a lousy cassette


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## flakey (Feb 8, 2003)

*carriers vs. individual cogs*



DaveG said:


> Can anyone describe the difference between a Campy Cenatur and Veloce 10 speed cassette (besides about 60 bucks). Why is the Centaur cassette so much more expensive? Its probably about time to replace my existing Centaur cassette, but being cheap I am not excited about dropping >$100 for a lousy cassette


the difference is that the Centaur has the last two cogs on a carrier similar to Chorus and Record. Veloce has all individual cogs. I cant explain the reason for the big cost difference.


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## weiwentg (Feb 3, 2004)

DaveG said:


> Can anyone describe the difference between a Campy Cenatur and Veloce 10 speed cassette (besides about 60 bucks). Why is the Centaur cassette so much more expensive? Its probably about time to replace my existing Centaur cassette, but being cheap I am not excited about dropping >$100 for a lousy cassette


I believe the cogs are identical. Centaur's last 2 cogs are pinned together. Veloce has cheesy plastic spacers, Centaur has alloy. Veloce is available in junior ratios, and is not available in 11-23.
why is Centaur pricier? no one has any idea.


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## C-40 (Feb 4, 2004)

*alternatives...*

If only one or two cogs are worn out, consider buying just the cogs you need.

http://www.branfordbike.com/cassette/cog16a.html#item1

This site has Centaur 10 cassettes for $95.

http://www.labicicletta.com/edatcat/us/tlsstore.cgi?user_action=list&category=Cassettes

Nashbar has the Veloce 10 cassette for $65.

I don't understand why this is such a big issue on this site. A properly maintained cassette lasts a long time. The cost of tires is far greater.


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## Ken (Feb 7, 2004)

DaveG said:


> Can anyone describe the difference between a Campy Cenatur and Veloce 10 speed cassette (besides about 60 bucks). Why is the Centaur cassette so much more expensive? Its probably about time to replace my existing Centaur cassette, but being cheap I am not excited about dropping >$100 for a lousy cassette


Since I went triple on my Record equipped bike I couldn't justify the cost of buying Record, Chorus or Centaur for the sake of saving a few grams of weight. I bought my first Veloce cassette this year. The first time it's available in 10 speed. The only difference between Veloce and the other cassettes is that when putting it on the hub you have to deal with more loose parts. It all rides the same though.


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## DaveG (Feb 4, 2004)

I think the reason its a big issue is that many of us (including Campy diehards) think that Campy is gouging us. And yes, I will agree with you that tires are an overpriced wear items, but at least there you have choices. Why 10s cassettes cost so much more than 9s ones, is beyond me.


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## Eric_H (Feb 5, 2004)

*Functional difference*



Ken said:


> Since I went triple on my Record equipped bike I couldn't justify the cost of buying Record, Chorus or Centaur for the sake of saving a few grams of weight. I bought my first Veloce cassette this year. The first time it's available in 10 speed. The only difference between Veloce and the other cassettes is that when putting it on the hub you have to deal with more loose parts. It all rides the same though.


There is a difference, apart from weight. Having the larger cogs riveted together in pairs on an alloy carrier helps to disperse the point load of the cog onto the freehub body under heavy loads (ie, climbing a steep hill in 39x23). With individual cogs, the larger cogs can notch the freehub body, especially if it is aluminum like Record. I guess you'll find out if this happens when you take your Veloce cassette off in the future.

On a related topic: Can anyone explain why Campy only chooses to make the 12-23 10spd cassette in Record and Veloce, but not Chorus or Centaur? I rarely touch the 11 on the 11-23 and ditto for the 25 on the 12-25. I mostly use 12-25 for training and 11-23 for racing, but I would really prefer a Chorus 12-23 and gain the 18T.


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## Ken (Feb 7, 2004)

Eric_H said:


> There is a difference, apart from weight. Having the larger cogs riveted together in pairs on an alloy carrier helps to disperse the point load of the cog onto the freehub body under heavy loads (ie, climbing a steep hill in 39x23). With individual cogs, the larger cogs can notch the freehub body, especially if it is aluminum like Record. I guess you'll find out if this happens when you take your Veloce cassette off in the future.


I've yet to use the Veloce cassette on my Record freehub body. Was wondering if this notching behaviour damaging to the aluminum freehub body? If so, I would think Campagnolo
would give us warning wouldn't they? I've heard of a notching warning when using Dura Ace 10 speed freewheel hubs with 9speed Dura Ace cassettes. But I've never heard of such problems with Campy.


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## Eric_H (Feb 5, 2004)

*Not sure*



Ken said:


> I've yet to use the Veloce cassette on my Record freehub body. Was wondering if this notching behaviour damaging to the aluminum freehub body? If so, I would think Campagnolo
> would give us warning wouldn't they? I've heard of a notching warning when using Dura Ace 10 speed freewheel hubs with 9speed Dura Ace cassettes. But I've never heard of such problems with Campy.


I'm not sure if it would be a problem. I only have experience with Chorus cassettes on either Chorus or Record freehub bodies. The Campagnolo website shows the Veloce hub as having a "light alloy freewheel body", so I'm guessing they don't see it as a problem. Campy's splines are much deeper than Shimano.

The only hub I have personally owned that has notched was a 1st generation (circa 1995) Mavic Cosmic freehub that was Shimano compatible. Using a Dura-Ace 8spd cassette, I did find some gouges in the freehub.


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## AJS (Aug 7, 2003)

Eric_H said:


> There is a difference, apart from weight. Having the larger cogs riveted together in pairs on an alloy carrier helps to disperse the point load of the cog onto the freehub body under heavy loads (ie, climbing a steep hill in 39x23). With individual cogs, the larger cogs can notch the freehub body, especially if it is aluminum like Record. I guess you'll find out if this happens when you take your Veloce cassette off in the future.


Excellent point.

I have no idea why the price difference between Centaur & Veloce exists, other than perhaps an extra labor step involved with slapping the last 2 cogs together on Centaur.(?) The cynic in me says it's just the name - if you were to take 2 identical parts and label one Veloce and the other Centaur, the Centaur is always going to be more $. 



FWIW - *For very aggressive Campy pricing go to www.greenfishsports.com. Sam there has Centaur 10 cogsets for $82.95, but no Veloce's as I initially wanted. The cassette came to $70. with the 'package' price, which makes me think I could have almost gotten 2 Veloce's considering his pricing. I just stopped in Wednesday and picked up the Centaur cassette, as well as shifters, rear der., Record Ultra chain, (all 10v) and Zondas for $683. (Good-bye ShimaNO 9v, hello 16T gear on 12-25!)*

I don't think you can beat those prices anywhere unless you can get dealer cost. Kudos to _Juanmoretime_ for turning me on to Greenfish. 

Only thing is if you want Record, he's pretty much out of it for now, but still has some Centaur and Chorus left. He's down to just Zondas and Neuts for wheels. No Campy hubs at all. But he'll be placing a Campy order in Sept., so if you need other than what's in stock I suggest waiting a couple of months. I'm hoping he picks up a few of the (hopefully) soon-to-be-released CT cranksets and new Centaur BB.

BTW - as most of us know, Campy stuff is going up all the time due to the dollar/lira/euro relationship. Grab what you can now!


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Original Record design*

The original Record cassettes (ca. 1998) were all loose cogs. I've used a mix of loose cog cassettes and "clustered" cassettes for 60K miles (9 speed), with no damage to the aluminum freehub body. I've used Veloce, Chorus, and Record cassettes - they all seem to shift the same.


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