benkoh9531

Hi all,
Decided to start this topic as it's somewhat of a compilation of information that I gathered after tons of google searches and etc to finally get it right for myself. Also i do appreciate the amount of times bikeforums.net appeared and the discussions helped with the progress of my installation as well. Thank god.

I trust there are others out there whom may also be on the same setup as I am and will eventually face the same headaches too....

Here's the scenario.

Bike = Wilier + Campy Veloce 10spd (2008 model) Gruppo

Here's what happened

1. I bought a carbon wheelset off ebay - popular MATRIX CARBON WHEELSET (can find this easily on ebay as it's a hot selling item). Told the seller that i'm running campy 10speed.

2. He packed it up, shipped it over, i was so happy it arrived so fast and everything was cool. By default, the wheelset comes with shimano freehub so he added in the campy freehub for me as well. Packaged with brakepads for carbon wheels too & skewers & rim tape & valve extenders. Really a good deal for what i paid.

3. Brought to a bike shop, wanted to install it to try it out immediately...realized 1st headache... only CAMPAGNOLO VELOCE brakes are BOLT BRAKES which is a 1 piece thing and doesn't come as BRAKE CARTRIDGE & BRAKE PAD. (All others no such problem , CENTAUR and above series). Which means I can't use the brake pads....as i got no brake cartridges...

4. So 1st problem, either i get the BRAKE CARTRIDGES alone , just to use the brake pads...or i buy new brakes & carbon brakes pads off ebay again...after a local hunt for the BRAKE CARTRIDGES where I bought my bike from , he says he's got no specific stock for it and if he takes it off a campy centaur, he'll have 4 missing from that gruppo.. Zzzzz....no choice...hence went to eBay to search for it, found TONS of SHIMANO BRAKE CARTRIDGES and other OEM compatible...but none were campy...ARGH.... until i finally chanced upon a seller which sells as 4 pairs & 8 brakepads (meant for 2 bikes) of carbon brakepads + cartridges for CAMPY...THANK GOD.

5. Just when I thought i finally did it and time to install my new wheels to play..I told my local shop that I wanted to have the facility of changing wheelsets as and when i want on my own so that I can decide to use carbon or alu wheels for rides....he suggested gettning another cassette for my carbon wheelset and yet again..came another headache...the veloce 10-speed cassette alone costs almost $75 USD whereas...a shimano equivalent or compatible is easily sourced and found on eBay!!! ARRGH!!! when does it stop....

6. Gave up...decided my cash is burning too fast...so I went to hunt ebay for the cassette unlocking nut, hunted almost as crazy as everything popped up SHIMANO and yes...i found my solution and i bought an ICETOOLZ unlocking nut for campy. It looks significantly different !!! Needless to say...i bought a chain whip as well to unlock it...

7. Now that everything is in place...my bike is finally ready with the carbon wheels and can run great...but in the process, i came to realize that using a basic level of CAMPY (VELOCE) , isn't very compatible when it comes to aftermarket stuff and etc which you hunt easily off ebay and such. I figured if i was on shimano...i probably won't have so much trouble getting these wheels to work and spending so much extra minor cash here and there.. which also amounts up to alot !!!

Last but not least...any campy veloce 10speed users here?
Deciding to change to a carbon wheelset? Be prepared!!!

Cheers!

DaveSSS 

Your first problem is expecting to find anything you need on E-bay. E-bay is always hit or miss. There are many good online stores where you can find whatever you need, fast.

Koolstop, for example, sells both brake pad holders and holders that include pads. Minor problem, IMO.

Many wheelsets include a lockring. Campy sold cassettes that require a 12-13T lockring, without the lockring for years, but switched back to providing lockrings last year. Only 2008 and older cassettes with a 12 or 13T first cog should come without a lockring.

Prices for Campy parts bought from US based sellers increased by 50-75% last year. The only cheap places to buy Campy parts and groups now are in Europe. Ribble and Shiny bikes are both good sources.

A Veloce cassette is $38 from Ribble.

Zef

Nice writeup. Here is some feedback though:

Campy and Shimano both make great stuff, although there seems to be large camps polarized towards each direction. I have a bike that is entirely campy (record), my wife has a bike that is entirely shimano (dura-ace and ultegra) and I have second bike that is a mix of old shimano 600ex and campy athena/chorus. So although I prefer to ride campy, I have no real beef or bias against either company.

The problem you described with the veloce brake pads could have been predicted had you checked for component compatibility. Brake pad retainers/holders for Centaur/chorus/record could have easily been purchased from an online retailer that specializes in campy parts.

I recently bought a couple of campy 10sp cassettes off ebay for decent prices. They are there and not hard to find. Perhaps your search terms are off. As the tool you referenced for removing the cassette lockring does not normally go by that name. The tool could have been purchase for less than $5.00 online at performancebike.com or in one of their stores; in fact the price for this tool has been at around that price for over a year.

You are correct that not much aftermarket stuff is compatible with campy, but that is not something that is akin to low end campy like veloce, it is the same for all the component groupos on up to super record. Campy is relatively compatible with campy though...with the exception of mixing certain older year group parts with some recent ones. But the same is true for Shimano and SRAM. The basic rule of thumb is that drivetrains (cranks, derailleurs, cassettes) need to be from the same manufacturer or the user should expect some complications in setup and use unless they find a workaround to bridge any gaps in design compatibility.

Campy tends to run a bit more expensive than other manufacturers. Actually their prices have come down a bit these past couple of years while shimano's prices have risen. BUT, campy stuff tends to maintain a higher price on the used/aftermarket market than shimano because the stuff tends to last longer and is fairly rebuildable by the user. Shimano STI shifters are not generally rebuildable when they wear out and parts are very hard to find, although there are a few people who offer a rebuild service for them, the average person has found that they can not get them back together once taken apart.

As you found, the amount of shimano stuff on ebay is plentifull, that is because campagnolo's user base is relatively small compared to shimano. Campy parts have been perceived for a long time as expensive. Shimano made themselves a household name a long time ago and there are many more bikes on the market that come with shimano stuff than campy.

While looking for good deals on record parts while building up my current ride I often thought about scrapping the project and selling off what I had bought and starting over with dura-ace stuff. I found campy record stuff on the used market to be a bit more costly than used dura-ace. In the end I built a complete record 10sp bike (except the pedals are chorus) with only a couple of lightly used component for less than $1900 (and that includes saddle, bars, wheels, etc.). The deals are out there on new and used components if you have the time and patience to hunt for them.

I think the largest lesson to learn from your experience is to think through what you want to do and make sure to research in as much detail as possible before spending the cash. Sometimes it is hard to predict what issues might pop up and you just have to roll with it. As you learned, it could be an expensive undertaking.

Good job, and good luck with your new setup.

-j

HillRider

+100. E-bay is a good source for the very knowledgable buyer who knows exactly what to ask for and what they need and it's an expensive and misleading trap for the tyro.

Right, you can get either Shimano or Campy compatible holsders and replacement pads from Kool Stop to replace your brake shoes. I've done this on several sets of older Shimano brakes that came with brake shoes and I'm sure the same substitution can be done on any Campy brake set.

Here is Kool Stop's web page. Scroll down to the road brakes: https://www.koolstop.com/brakes/index.php

These items can be obtained at most LBSs and from Bike Tools Etc., Loose Screws and other mail order dealers.

Kimmo 

I spotted a link to that Ribble mob a few days ago, and cackled with glee at the prices of Campag bits.

Sweet! I'll be turfing my STI for Ergo sooner than I thought : )