Road Cycling - Ultegra Guy Thinking about Going Chorus...

Another Shimano/Campy thread....please point me to an existing thread if appropriate.

My current project will need a groupset sometime around the end of the year. I have always been an Ultegra guy but this new project is sort of a dream scenario - custom '04 Lemond Tete de Course - and I'm waffling between the coming 10 speed Ultegra and switching over to Campy Chorus. My gut tells me that the cost will be approximately the same with the Ultegra group being so new and not discounted.

Some people say don't mess with what works and others say it's worth it to own both....

55/Rad

I am in the exact same boat as you, i am either going Dura Ace 10 or Record early next year and i cant decide, although i do have plenty of time. i like how the Record is all carbon and ****

I would not like carbon components. I like the durability of components that you know are still going to be good in 10 years. I do prefer campy myself though

I think it depends on what you are more comfortable with. I think they are both quality components. Have you used Campy before? Do you prefer shifting using the thimb lever that Campy shifters use? It is all personal preference. I'm sure you will hear from Campy folks that "Campy breaks in, and Shimano breaks down".

I repleace my bike every 2 years or so and will be racing next year, late this year maybe.

I know it's mainly a matter of preference on which camp (no pun intended) you choose. The one thing I've been told by owners of both is to choose one (Shimano / Campy) and not to switch back and forth or have different bikes w/ the different components...I guess it can get confusing when you are on the bike as to which way to operate it.

What about DA or are you only considering U-10?

Perfomance has Shimano on sale, plus you can find 20% coupons, plus 10% Team perfomance discount .. I'd look at DA 10 if I were you.

I have Campy Record 10s and before that I had '00 Record 9s and before that I had DurAce 9s. I've recently ridden a '04 equipped DurAce bike and here is my take:

The DurAce shifted slightly better than the Record 10s (quicker/smoother) not much better but enough to where I noticed. The thing that I didn't like was the hoods and shifting ergonomics. The Campy system is more comfortable for me and frankly much more elegant in it's design. I also hate the fact that Shimano doesn't route the cables through the bars.

DurAce works well and is priced less than Record. The gruppo's weigh about the same and from what the "Shimano" people tell me the BB design of the new DurAce is stiffer than the Campy design.

BTW I'm a Campy snob so take this for what it's worth!

I also hate it that my cables are not run through the tape on the bar, because that means the top of the bar is that much smaller because my bar is notched for campy cables. I also prefer the lack of chunkiness of the campy hoods.

What about DA or are you only considering U-10?
I am a bargain hunter. All of my bikes were bought used and parted together through various deals and negotiations - I love this process. Ultegra is the best bang for the buck. I love the DA and the Tete de Course certainly deserves it (it comes w/it stock) but the truth is, I think it's expensive and at my ability level, I'll never truly maximize my appreciation for it unless I buy it for about 1/3 what it normally goes for.

I'd rather buy a brand new 6500 Ultegra groupset on-sale from Performance with the added 20% off for the coupon and the team points - this deal can't be beat even buying used on Ebay.

55/Rad

Get 10s chorus with the alloy chorus shifters.

You may or may not find this of interest:
http://home.att.net/~thetandemlink/stivsergo.html

It was something I threw together on a rainy afternoon in part to satisfy my own curiousity and to benchmark my thoughts for future reference.

I've been using Ultegra since 98. I too am building up my dream bike, but the only demo-able one I could find had Campy shifters. It took about 2 seconds for my hands to get comfortable on the Campy hoods and about 2 miles to get used to the "backwards-ness" of Campy shifters (i.e., the little lever does the exact opposite thing). I'm going the Campy route.

Another friend of mine went the opposite way -- Shimano shifters fit her hands so much better that there was no way she was going back.

My advice? Find a bike with Campy components to demo. If your hands are not immediately telling you that Campy hoods are more comfortable then stick with Ultegra. Otherwise, go the Campy route.

Livingood - thank for the link - very informative.

Kevin - great advice and I honestly hadn't thought of it. What are you building?

55/Rad

I've ridden with both Shimano and Campy and find the Shimano more to my liking. My current bike has Ultegra and they don't miss a beat. I weigh around 200 pounds so am not prepared at this time to pay a premium for lighter weight components.

Given that the TDF boys use both Campy and Shimano, I doubt anyone can successfuly challenge the quality of either, so it's back to personal preference.

(man, how's that for sitting on the fence?)

Kevin - great advice and I honestly hadn't thought of it. What are you building?

55/Rad

I'm building up one of these -- http://calfeedesign.com/tetra.shtml. Fully custom. Should come in to just under 18 pounds with just plain old "normal" components (i.e., 32-spoke wheels, Campy Centaur for all but the hubs). I don't know how I'm going to last until October when it should come in. It's getting mighty chilly here in central Massachusetts by that time, but I'll have to push it outside a couple times. :)

Two other things to think about when deciding on Chorus (nice!) vs. Ultegra (nice!):

* What are the costs of maintenance (cassettes, chains, etc.) for each gruppo? E.g., a 'genuine' Chorus cassette is very pricey, where Shimano stuff tends to be cheaper. On the other hand, you might be able to find good alternatives for Chorus: Veloce cassettes, Wipperman chains, etc.

* Do you already own many tools for working with either brand? Then you should realise that they are often not compatible with the other. (Although my friend and I have managed to install a new Campy chain with a 'normal' chaintool.)

Well, provided you're okay with the Campy shifters, and acounting for economics & availability, the nod may go ever so slightly towards Chorus. U-9 is getting tough to find, U-10 isn't out yet, and when it is, demand will be high. Supply will likely be sketchy, and the price was already set to go up for U-10, so the price difference may be close to a wash.

Two other things to think about when deciding on Chorus (nice!) vs. Ultegra (nice!):

* What are the costs of maintenance (cassettes, chains, etc.) for each gruppo? E.g., a 'genuine' Chorus cassette is very pricey, where Shimano stuff tends to be cheaper. On the other hand, you might be able to find good alternatives for Chorus: Veloce cassettes, Wipperman chains, etc.

* Do you already own many tools for working with either brand? Then you should realise that they are often not compatible with the other. (Although my friend and I have managed to install a new Campy chain with a 'normal' chaintool.)

Also, if you travel with your bike (or take long rides away from your home base) you might want to consider what the local bike shops on your routes will be most able to fix in an emergency. In the U.S., a nearby shop will almost certainly be able to repair Shimano, but the less stocked ones might have difficulty with Campy. Reverse that in Europe.

Stephen