# Camp vs Shim



## Air23 (Sep 21, 2007)

Hi 
What groupset do you prefer for your road bike Campagnolo Centaur or Shimano Ultegra???


----------



## eugkim (Jul 29, 2007)

It depends on your preference. If you want Campy, then it's ot an issue. You need to try them for yourself. I love the look and feel of Campy, so I use Record. However, I remain impressed with the smoothness and ease of Shimano shifting. There isn't even a big diffrernce between 105 and Ultegra. If I hadn't yearned for the Italian stuff for years, there's probably no question I'd use Shimano.


----------



## rellimreeb (Jul 29, 2007)

Long time Shimano user, first time Campy user here. Like eugkim, I have wanted Campy stuff for years, so I recently made the switch from Ultegra to a Chorus group. 

I much prefer the ergo and lines of the Campy hardware. The hoods are much more comfortable than my Shimano group was. I just love how the bar to hood transition is perfectly flat. That flat transition, coupled with an ergo bar that I have gives me all kinds of very comfortable hand positions. I also prefer the crisp shifting of the Campy RD to Shimano. But I think the Shimano shifting is a little cleaner from small ring to big ring in front. This isn't a direct comparison since I didn't have a compact setup w/ my Ultegra group. And, while I like the unlimited trim of Campy, I kind of miss the indexed left shifter Shimano has. Campy "Quick Shift" or not, it takes a pretty wide swing of the shift lever to move from the small to the large chainring. But the shifting is very positive, and I don't have any issues dropping chains off of the small chainring, which happened occasionally w/ my Ultegra setup, despite my best efforts at setup. I would shy away from the Centaur shifters (07 models anyway) because they don't allow you to jump up or down multiple cogs. That is a great feature of the Campy hardware, and a differentiator between Campy and the competition. I would use whatever model/year shifter you can afford that has that feature. 

One gripe I have about Campy is that whomever is in charge of the graphics department is on crack. I'm not sure I really need to know my right shifter is "10 speed", my left shifter is "QS", my crankset is "Ultratorque" with little teeth, or my "Q factor" is 145mm. The Campy engineers design such beautiful gear, then the graphics group just goes apeshit outlining every single feature. It's just not necessary. I know what I bought. I prefer the subtle graphics the Shimano groups have.


----------



## clm2206 (Sep 12, 2006)

Hi

If weight is your concern, choose Centaur upgraded with Chorus cassette and Record chain. This combo is only 30 grams heavier than DuraAce groupset, and much cheaper as well. 

Regarding performance, I'd rather noisy shifts rather than butter-made chains.

Regards


----------



## Davoosie (Mar 17, 2007)

If I wanted cables running all over my handlebars I would install a Ethernet router on my stem. I guess the Shimano levers were designed by IT guys.

I use Centuar on my cross bike and Record on my road bike. I can tell the difference between the groups, especially the shifting, but I must say the shifting on the Centuar is about on-par with my friends Dura-Ace levers. Record is no contest.

One of the biggest benefits to the Campy drivetrain is the "Campy Clunk". When I ride a Shimano bike I have to look down to see if I switched gears or not, with campy I just listen.


----------



## wankski (Jul 24, 2005)

if it were me, i'd buy the centaur and swap out the shifters w/ chorus or buy the parts seperately. - cos that's what i did.

This is my preferred gruppo, do-able for less than 800USD, and really indistinguishable from record. multishift and nice top of the line alloy cranks (which i prefer)... bang for the buck, best gruppo in the world... there is no functional difference in any of the other parts... in fact some parts are superior (eg, steel cage of the fr.derailleur instead of alu for chorus and carbon! for record)... just buy the chorus shifters, totally worth it. (ball bearing multi-shifting).


----------



## dbmather (Apr 18, 2006)

+1 on advice from Wanski. I'm running mostly Centaur, with Chorus shifters. Works great, I think a significant improvement over the Ultegra I previously had. If you're looking at 2007 Centaur, as opposed to 2006 or earlier, you'll see a number of threads here about the 2007 Centaur shifters being a downgrade from prior years and recommending going with Chorus shifters. Chorus allows shifting multiple gears with one push of thumb trigger, 2007 Chorus shifters does not. I started with the 2007 Centaur, swapped out for the Chorus shifters, and like it much better. Worth the additional cost, at least to me. For 2006 or earlier, the Centaur shifters were just fine, and you can likely pick them up on line pretty cheap.


----------



## Chompers (Feb 3, 2004)

I had to use friction for a while Ultegra Deraileur & cassette. It worked OK but then tried a Campy Cassette, it worked a lot better. 

I seems Shimanos cassettes are design to have special teeth pick up the chain, while chain cassettes allow the chain to travel through. The problem being once those few shimano teeth wear, your cassette is effectively worn out, while the Campy cassette will last a lot longer because they allow the chain to channel through the gears. It just seems Shimano's primary objective is design a part to wear out. To be fair though I do get a lot or wear from the brake/shifter . . . which ironically are broke on that bike right now, but no fault of Shimano's.


----------



## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

Air23 said:


> Hi
> What groupset do you prefer for your road bike Campagnolo Centaur or Shimano Ultegra???


the fish


----------



## supermex (Aug 12, 2006)

I just bought a complete Campy Xenon Group from Pro Bike Kit for 290.00. It shifts almost as good as my 105, Ultegra setup. Way cheaper too. I think that it is Campys bottom of the line, but the attention to detail is amazing for low end stuff. I'd rather drive a low end Ferarri than a high end Toyota.......oddly enough I have a garage full of Hondas, kinda ironic.


----------

