Road Cycling - Record vs. Chorus

As a pair to the Dura Ace vs. Ultegra question, I'd like to ask the same of Campagnolo's leading two gruppos.

I was especially interested in the comments that, despite its name, Dura Ace is great, but less durable than Ultegra and that the weight savings is perhaps only worth the extra money if it is for a competition bike.

Your 2 cents? (I'll gladly take 2 U.S. cents, 2 Eurocents, 2 Canadian cents, 2 Australian, 2 pence, or whatever--heck I'll even take 2 pfennig, or 2 centimes, 2 lira even though they are obsolete!)

Cheers,
Jamie

According to Campagnolo (and many other sources) the only difference between Record and Chorus is in the materials used. The engineering design is the same. Record uses carbon in a lot of places that Chorus uses alloy.

The bottom line is weight, however I wonder if some of the bits in alloy are actually sturdier than their carbon counterparts.

Of course, there is also another minor difference ... price. ;)

Cheers...Gary

Like gary said...

The other difference is that, while the quality control on Chorus [like Ultegra, DA, Centaur, whatever] is done by samples -- one in a thousand, or something like it -- every single Record component undergoes a QA inspection.

Agree with all of the above. According to Campy differences
other than materials used is in fit and finish. You basically get
Record performance without all the flash for less cost.
The weight difference between the 2 groups (and excluding
the CF crankset) is 189 grams.
mechanical differences i.e. bearings vs bushings, don't appear
until the centaur/daytona group, mechnically chorus and record
are the same.
I won't speak about durability other than to say I'd rather
rest my butt on a Ti seatpost (195 grams) than a composite
post (180 grams), and in a crash I think the chorus levers
will fare better than records CF.

Marty

DA less durable than ultegra?That's just B.S.

It would appear that DA would last longer than Ultegra. Does anyone have any HARD evidence proving one way or the other that one group is a longer-lived component than the other? Most of the posts I've read seem to be an "assumption" rather than a fact. There is one difference that we can agree on as being true, price and weight. I don't think there is anything to worry about when it comes to Dura Ace failing. Unless you plan on keeping this bike for 2o years while putting in the miles, spend to your hearts content and go with Dura-Ace. DA is not low quality (look at the price :) ), and the weight benifits really don't matter that much, so to me its like would you want your food on a silver plate or a gold one, not much difference.

Hey, this is the campy comparison, the Shimano
is 2 threads back!

:roflmao:
Marty

And I bet my 20+ year old campy Nuvo Record drivetrain
will still be running in another 20 years!

:roflmao: It sure is.

(it helps me to remember that 454 grams is approximately 1 lb)

Uh, DA is LESS durable than Ultegra? That is the dumbest thing I've heard in a while. DA has real metal internals and bearings. Ultegra goes plastic bushings on internals and there is a quality difference in the way they go together.
Durability is the ONLY reason to go DA over Ultegra! In what world would Shimano make Ultegra less durable? Who was the bright bulb that threw that rumor around?

Chorus and Record are about the same. I would say the Chorus rear derailleur is more durable because the Record carbon part may flex/crack in time (although I can't prove that). It just SEEMS more likely to fail than Chorus (but I don't think either would over the life of use of 10-15 years+).

Yeah, Record's price is up there but man, it looks 100x better than anything else out there. Let me just say this:
The Acura NSX performs as well as a Ferrari 328... but you don't see a 328 for under $150,000. NSX? $20-30K. Hey, in this price range you have to have it all- performance, durability,looks and passion. The only one that fits that bill is Record.

Geez, Louise. If the difference between Chorus and Record is a mere 189 grams, then for me the price is going to dictate going with Chorus. No doubt, Record is simply beautiful, but Chorus is no ugly duckling either. Given that I am a lightweight as it is, I have never been a weight weenie. Heck, if I keep my beer consumption in check, then I'll save more than 189 grams.

But, then again, I won't be riding Record, alas. The bragging rights go out the window.

Cheers,
Jamie

I've looked at all this too since this winter I'll be building a new bike. My old cannondale can be traded for a new caad5 and from there I will build it campy. I'll most likely go with chorus because the $500-$600 difference in price for the gruppo is not justified for a mere 189 grams. Would I pay $100 more for this? Sure. But somewhere you have to draw the line between cost and benefit. Record sure is nice though, and I'm sure if money were no object then I'd go with it. Any idea why Cannondale does not equip its bikes with much campy? I've used campy on my two lifelong roadbikes and the stuff never breaks and never dulls. I suppose I could give Shimano a chance, and DA seems pretty nice, but things Italian are wonderful, especially when built with more durability than an Alfa Romeo! Viva Campagnolo.

Here are the weights that Cbike lists on the different groups. I've left out the headset and the seatpost, mostly because not all the groups have them and there are better choices for less money (that weigh less as well).

Included are the crankset, bottom bracket, front hub, rear hub, front derailleur (braze on), rear derailleur, cassette (12/25S, 11/23C), chain, brake/shift levers, brake calipers, pedals.

Record - 2909g - 6.41lbs
Chorus - 3070g - 6.77lbs
Centaur - 3283g - 7.24lbs

Dura Ace - 3081.5g - 6.79lbs
Ultegra - 3385g - 7.46lbs

The biggest weight savings in Record is using the Ti cassette (the all Ti, except for 11t cog) which saves a good 70g, the crankset and bottom braket (non carbon Record model) saves the next at about 30g a piece. But Record gives back 20g with the brake calipers and the pedals. The rest of the weights are fairly even, maybe say +/-5g....

If you really like the look of Record you can pick up the Ergopower levers and the rear derailleur, then your price difference is less than $200.

Andrew

And take a look at the price on the Ti cassette alone.

Cheers...Gary