Bicycle Mechanics - Campy Chorus Broken Shift Level

Left shifter. Campy Chorus Gruppo 2006 with less than 1000 miles! Normal operation. Shifter broke right off during a regular training ride. Never been crashed or abused in any way.

The last campy equipment I owned was on my 1973 Bottechia, which I still own. Still works flawlessly. So I am a bit surprised by this failure.

Has this happened to anyone else? It is under warranty and I will be visiting my LBS tomorrow, but I wanted to share this with BF and see if it is a common problem.

first time i've seen that.

I hope it isn't common. I have the same brifters on one of my bikes with about 3500 miles.

I have several racers using the Record version. I have seen some issues, but that is not one of them.
That is an easy part to replace.

Left shifter. Campy Chorus Gruppo 2006 with less than 1000 miles! Normal operation. Shifter broke right off during a regular training ride. Never been crashed or abused in any way.

The last campy equipment I owned was on my 1973 Bottechia, which I still own. Still works flawlessly. So I am a bit surprised by this failure.

Has this happened to anyone else? It is under warranty and I will be visiting my LBS tomorrow, but I wanted to share this with BF and see if it is a common problem.

I don't think it's a Campy problem as much as a CF problem. My old Chorus 8 sp brifters were all aluminum, levers and shifter. They had thousands of miles and too many rebuilds to count. Not one break like that. CF is cool and the IN material right now. IMO, it doesn't work as well as aluminum. Fix the brifters. Sell them and buy some Veloce brifters. :D You will be penalized a few ounces at best. That's a small price to pay for the extra durability. Good luck.

Tim

Thanks for the replies. It is good to know that it is not a common problem. It is also good to know that it is an easy part to replace.

Funny thing about this is that I am not a weight weenie. The gruppo is on an all steel Mondonico. I won't tolerate cf forks. I am positively frightened by carbon fiber. The kind of failure I experienced was so sudden and unexpected. But I got the Chorus gruppo because it was highly recommended by my LBS. I really trust these folks, and I really had no real experience with cf so I went with it.

This failure does little to alleviate my fear. I am going to have it repaired and see what happens. If I heard stories of this happening regularly, I wouldn't hesitate to "down grade" to an all metal brifter.

I really don't think you need to worry. One customer has three Record* equipped bikes and averages around 400 miles a week. He is very big on maintaining cadence and runs thru G-springs like crazy but he has never broken that lever (I have had to replace one due to a broken spring, and the steel "mount" that it pivots on cracked on another)

*The Record and Chorus are the same except for the carbon finger patch on the Record.

Thanks again. I took the brifter to the LBS today and they had never seen the failure before either. These folks sell lots of campy gear.

There were no questions asked. They replaced the lever and I'm back riding within 2 hours. They did say that campy was slow with rma's / warranty issues, but that was their problem and should not be mine.

I love these folks - Yellow Jersey in Madison, WI. Been in business since the 70's and they really do appreciate their customers.

Thanks again. I took the brifter to the LBS today and they had never seen the failure before either. These folks sell lots of campy gear.

There were no questions asked. They replaced the lever and I'm back riding within 2 hours. They did say that campy was slow with rma's / warranty issues, but that was their problem and should not be mine.

I love these folks - Yellow Jersey in Madison, WI. Been in business since the 70's and they really do appreciate their customers.

I find the service there is great. A few friends of mine disagree, but I find they actually listen, and usually do most work same-day.

recursive -
People either hate or love Andy at Yellow Jersey. Tim will give you the shirt off of his back. I have always found them to be professional, non elitetist, and very very knowledgable about bikes, old, new and everything inbetween. Some students of mine go their for their BMX gear, and they swear by these guys.

I have heard from friend of my wife who visited them for a custom Waterford and Andy just walked away from her. She went to another dealer and Yellow Jersey lost a $6K sale! I heard he did the same thing with a fellow teacher who he knew for 20 years! So maybe he has his really, really bad days.

Andy must be the mechanic.

Mechanics often become mechanics because they understand and deal with mechanical things well. Inversely, we often do not handle the variable whims and unpredictability of the human mind so well.

I don't think it's a Campy problem as much as a CF problem. My old Chorus 8 sp brifters were all aluminum, levers and shifter. They had thousands of miles and too many rebuilds to count. Not one break like that. CF is cool and the IN material right now. IMO, it doesn't work as well as aluminum. Fix the brifters. Sell them and buy some Veloce brifters. :D You will be penalized a few ounces at best. That's a small price to pay for the extra durability. Good luck.

Tim

That part is plastic, not carbon


*The Record and Chorus are the same except for the carbon finger patch on the Record.

Not true. The index gear has a special teflon coating and is drilled out.

Has this happened to anyone else? It is under warranty and I will be visiting my LBS tomorrow, but I wanted to share this with BF and see if it is a common problem.

Yes, this happened to me with a 2001 Campy Record shifter after 5 years. The lever a non-reinforced plastic part. Due to a poor front derailer setup, I had been using a lot of force to shift to the big ring. This was probably a major contributor.

When you're properly set up, you should not have to use much force at all, just a little more than on on the left side.

The bad news is that you can't replace the lever without completely disassembling the innards. The good news is that the part only costs about $15, as I recall. I had to order it online, because the only dealer around here stocking Campy parts didn't have it, and claimed they never saw one break before !

That part is plastic, not carbon

Carbon is plastic, albeit carbon reinforced, but plastic none the less.


Not true. The index gear has a special teflon coating and is drilled out.

While it is true that Campy tweaked the internals on Record brifters, it really is the same basic unit all the way down the line. Until 2005 or 2006 Record and Chorus shared ALL the same internal parts. Truth be known Mirage and Record also shared ALL internal parts except the bearing. Centaur and below used a bushing. Chorus and above used a ball bearing. Other than the bearing/bushing and 9 sp vs 10 sp, Mirage and Record shared the same internals. That is why Campy coated the internals of it's Record brifter. They had to justify the huge price difference between the two.

Go to Branford Bike and check out the parts diagrams. You will see that about 75% of the parts in a Mirage brifter have the same part # as a Record. If you put the carbon brake levers and upgraded to 10 sp, you couldn' tell the difference between Mirage and Record brifters.

Tim