Road Cycling - Campagnolo Veloce vs. Shimano 105

The LBS here in Germany has a Giant OCR Team bike that I can get for about 1K. I have been looking for something with the 105 groupo though and this has the Campagnolo Veloce . I don't know anything about this set though. As far as trying it I am so inexperienced I don't think I could give a fair judgement yet. Looking for some opinions from the experts.

I belive Veloce is probably comparable to 105, however its really your own opinion. Everyone likes campy better or shimano better. I think campy stuff will last a little longer and a bit more reliable. However thats just my opinion

B1105 got it, veloce and 105 are comparable in quality, take it for a test drive see what you think. Which you prefer shimano or campy comes down to personal opinion.

I have campy veloce. And i love it. Get it.

Most people, that Ive spoken with, who have ridden both, think the Veloce is slightly better than the 105. The 105 will be far easier to maintain, and locate parts for.

Originally posted by ~LongRider~
Most people, that Ive spoken with, who have ridden both, think the Veloce is slightly better than the 105. The 105 will be far easier to maintain, and locate parts for.
excuse me?
I thought the shimano stuff was mostly throw away, if it
breaks you can't fix it, as opposed to the Veloce.
You won't find parts for shimano stuff coz it ain't available.
That said one does see more shimano than campy but
thats just marketing (IMNSHO), the campy stuff is out there
one just needs to know where to look.

Marty

I'd prefer Campy, but be aware that you cannot get the variety of cassette gearing with Campy that is available for Shimano.

Any bike shop I walk in has 105 components sitting in the case. They always want to special order Campy stuff. I hate waiting on orders. For that reason, Id go 105, even if it is slightly under Veloce. That is what I meant.

Originally posted by lotek
excuse me?
I thought the shimano stuff was mostly throw away, if it
breaks you can't fix it, as opposed to the Veloce.
You won't find parts for shimano stuff coz it ain't available.
That said one does see more shimano than campy but
thats just marketing (IMNSHO), the campy stuff is out there
one just needs to know where to look.

Marty

actually theshimano are out there as well. You just have to know what part you want by visiting the Shimano website and pulling off the applicable .pdf file ans nipping off to yur LBS and say;" hwy please order the following. 3 days later LBS call up and says, They've arrived.

MOst LBS can't be bothered to order those spares anyway and only seem to be willing to do so with Campy stuff.
Then you have to wait 3months for the spares.

IME 105 is better than Veloce and is closer to Daytona in performance.
of course the Campy lovers/Shimano Haters try to notch the Shimano stuff down a peg but those who have used either know what the score is.
105 is also better in terms of stock availability

I'd prefer Campy, but be aware that you cannot get the variety of cassette gearing with Campy that is available for Shimano.

I'd say that is false, unless you want to start talking about MTB level gearing. In that case, yes you will be hard pressed to find a 13-34 from Campy, for "typical" road gearing, then the differences will be minimal if any at all.

My biggest issue with Campy is not with the groupset, the reliability, the availability of parts, etc (most people are going to upgrade long before they wear anything out that needs to be special ordered, etc). It's simply the wheels out there that you can buy. Half the wheels you buy today don't come Campy compatible. There are solutions to that, like Wheels Manufacturing I believe sells a Shimano cassette spaced for Campy, but it's quite pricey (compared to a standard Campy cassette), and it's still not 100% (issues with freehub width).

Andrew

As for wheels, it's harder to find cheap Campy wheels when you go higher end it is not that difficult to find them. Mavic has campy wheels.. Spinergy has campy wheels.. etc.. Yes Wheel Manuf and American Classic makes them. the Wheel man ones start off around $120 , while the American classic are around $90.. So price is not that much higher then a campy cassette. Now if it is 9sp you can get a shimano cassette and spacers to convert it over.. ro just leave it as is and will work very well with shimano drivetrain.


If you ever need parts Branfordbike carries virtualy every part you could ever need for youre campy stuff.

American Classic also used to make a cassette that would fit a Shimano hub body but was a 10 speed Campy compatable unit. That means you can throw it on any Shimano wheel and, presto chango, you've got a Campy wheel.

Like many have said, test ride the bike. If you like the feel of Campy stuff and the frame is the right size, you're money.

Actually I was looking over the Wheels Man/American Classic cassette and it's compatible with quite a few wheel choices, there are still a few wheels it has problems with as the 10spd cassette won't fit on the freehub, but there aren't very many of those wheels (lists Shimano wheels, Chris King hubs and Spinergy Spox). It doesn't list any problems with the 9spd.

Andrew

I really wanted a set of King/Mavic wheels, but they sent me a detailed email about how Campy should change their hub design so they wouldn't have to make bearings just for Campy stuff. I was disappointed, but I'll live.

Campy freehubs basicaly have deeper splines so manufactures of hubs have to use different bearings for campy freehubs vs. shimano so some don't do it.

It will be interesting to see when Shimano comes out with their 10sp how well there cassette works with Campy 10sp drivetrain.